Sardinia :: All Things Andy Gavin

Archive for Sardinia

Eating Baja – Somu

Feb01

Restaurant: Somu Ristorante

Location: Piazza Ventaglio, 07021 Baja Sardinia SS, Italy. +39 349 120 0682

Date: July 4, 2022

Cuisine: Italian 1 Star

Rating: Very nice

For second Sardinian 1 Star and final meal in Italy we trekked 20-30 minutes to the town of Baja Sardinia.

The restaurant was a touch difficult to find, as it was tucked away down at the harbor piazza (where there was no parking).

Finally we located it.

The have this gorgeous sea-side patio.

So we had this table looking over the bay/cove.

Amuses. Crunchy rice crisps with tomato and basil. Delicious and looked like jellyfish.

Rice crisps with steak tartare.

Veggie “tartare.”

Rice crisps in various flavors like saffron and squid ink and tomato.

Pork Jellies. Cute little piggies.

Vegetarian bites.

Refreshing fruit and wine “soup” (cold).

Brioche like bread.

Butter and lard.

Mushroom butter.

The menus. We had a bit of an issue at first where they really wanted us to all have the same menu — and since some people were vegetarian/pescatarian that really wasn’t going to work. This was unusual for a Michelin starred restaurant. I think it was the particular person we had as a manager came over and completely changed the tune and was very accomodating.

Amuse of oyster with various flavors.

Vegetable creams with basil oil.

Crispy Sardinian Bread.

Grisini.

Bread.

Carne Salata. Strong meaty and briny flavors with sesame.

Tomato terrine.

Black Garlic Ravioli. Lovely pillow-like texture, nice pasta bite, and great flavor.

Egg yolk.

Gluten free version.

Green tomato risotto. Very interesting flavor and perfect creamy texture.

Spaghetti.

Kid pasta 1. Was almost sweet.

Kid pasta 2.

Red Mullet. No hint of fishiness.

Risotto with sweet and sour peppers (from identity menu)

Suckling Pig. Great texture.

Stuffed vegetable.

Pre-dessert.

Pecan.

Beans, oat milk, and citrus.

petite fours.

Gluten free petite fours.

Chocolate cannelés.

Liqueur soaked pastry balls.

Passionfruit jelly.

Chocolates.

Overall, a fabulous fancy Italian meal. Not quite as approachable as ConFusion, as Somu was slightly more complex and cerebral, but really good. Lovely setting too.

For more Italian dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Eating Baja, Eating Sardinia, eating-italy, Italian cuisine, Sardinia, Somu, Wine

Eating Porta Cervo – Renato Pedrinelli

Jan28

Restaurant: Renato Pedrinelli

Location: Piazza degli Ulivi, snc, 07021 Porto Cervo SS, Italy. +39 339 649 5114

Date: July 2, 2022

Cuisine: Sardinian Italian

Rating: Tasty

Another night in Sardinia, another Italian restaurant.

Renato Pedrinelli was well rated and conveniently located only a mile or two away from our hotel in a large ritzy shopping plaza near the Porto Cervo marina.

As usual for summer dining in Italy we ate al fresco, coperto be damned!

The menu.

They bring by a selection of barely or recently living sea creatures for your perusal.

Sardinia usually features crispy breads.

2018 Argiolas Vermentino di Sardegna Cerdeña. Gotta drink local.

Burrata pugliese e pomodorini. Burrata with cherry tomatoes.

Half lobster Catalan style. I was a bit apprehensive given all those raw tomatoes, but somehow with the acidity and the onions it was pretty awesome.

Classic penne pomodoro.

Paccheri with fish ragu, bottarga and courgettes. Cheesy and a bit fishy. Nice bite.

Sea Bream with tomatoes, olives, and capers.

Filleted.

Overall, while nothing spectacular, this was a solid meal. Everything in Porto Cervo is a bit focused on a tourist set — not necessarily American tourists (we didn’t see many of those) but mostly mainland Italians or other Europeans.

For more Italian dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Eating Porta Cervo, Eating Sardinia, eating-italy, fish, Italian cuisine, Italy, pasta, Porta Cervo, Sardinia, Wine

Eating Alghero – Macchiavello

Jan26

Restaurant: Ristorante Osteria Macchiavello

Location: Bastioni Marco Polo, 57, 07041 Alghero SS, Italy. +39 079 980628

Date: July 2, 2022

Cuisine: Sardinian Italian

Rating: Tasty

We drove across Sardinia to visit the lovely town of Alghero.

Picked this attractive lunch spot just by feel and menu.

The menu.

They always have solid bread in Italy.

Burratini con petali di pomodori marinati, basilico e zenzero. Burrata cheese with marinated tomatoes, basil and ginger. As you can see, Sardinians, like other southern Italians, love their tomatoes (and they are some of the best tomatoes in the world)!

Simple pasta with the obligatory pomodoro sauce.

Culurgionnes di Oliena con pomodoro e basilico. Home made Sardinian egg pasta filled with potatoes, pecorino cheese, and mint served with basil and tomato sauce.

Spaghetti lla chitarra neri. Home made cuttlefish ink pasta cooked in parchment paper with mussels, clams, red prawns, scampi, small crab, octopus, squids, in a sauce of basil, cherry tomatoes, and a dash of chili infused olive oil.

Delicious with a strong briny flavor, a bit of sweetness, a hint of heat, and lots of seafood. Crab and shrimp shells were soft enough that they could be chewed through. Pasta was very thick and al dente. The shellfish stock cooks down with the tomatoes into a wonderful blend.

Overall a nice local meal in a great setting.

For more Italian dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Alghero, Eating Alghero, Eating Sardinia, eating-italy, Italian cuisine, Italy, Macchiavello, pasta, Sardinia

Eating Porto Cervo – Clipper

Jan24

Restaurant: Clipper Ristorante

Location: Via della Marina, 10, 07021 Porto Cervo SS, Italy. +39 0789 91644

Date: July 1, 2022

Cuisine: Seafood Italian

Rating: Solid (this is Italy) but nothing amazing

Online various people seemed to insist that Clipper was the best restaurant in Porto Cervo and “quite a scene.” Not sure I trust “those people” too much anymore.

The outside was cute enough.

They specialize in fresh seafood like many restaurants all over the coast of the Mediterranean basin.

Inside is cute but casual. They had a fairly bustling bar.

The menu.

Something fishy about these plates.

2020 Capichera Isola dei Nuraghi IGT. We ordered it again. After I tried some other Vermentinos I went back to ordering Capichera!

Crispy Sardinian bread.

They had gluten free bread (and crackers) but it was all packaged. A far cry from Confusion, but still they had it.

DOP Buffalo Mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and EVOO.

Plate of Sardinian cheeses.

Antipasto of fresh seafood, including various shrimp-like creatures, clams, oysters, etc.

Sauces for the crudo.

Simple Spaghetti pomodoro.

Linguine all’astice with half a live local lobster. Very fresh tomato sauce. I was to have this basic dish a bunch of times in Sardinia and it was delicious every time. Really nice straightforward Italian pasta.

Spaghetti with tomatoes, fior di latte.

The other half of the lobster grilled with potatoes and beans.

Random packed cookies and candies.

A free degistivo.

Confusion was a much better “deal” at 2x the price of Clipper. But Clipper was enjoyable enough. Just basic good local Sardinian food done for the higher end tourist audience. Not fancy exactly, but perhaps a bit International. Like most decent kitchens in Italy it was totally enjoyable, if not exactly exciting. Not totally sure why this place was considered by so many online as “the best” though.

For more Italian dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Eating Porto Cervo, Eating Sardinia, eating-italy, Italian cuisine, Italy, pasta, Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Seafood, Wine

Eating Porto Cervo – ConFusion

Jan22

Restaurant: ConFusion

Location: Promenade du port Via Aga Khan 1, Via Porto Vecchio, 1, 07021 Porto Cervo SS, Italy. +39 340 120 9574

Date: June 30, 2022

Cuisine: Modernist Italian

Rating: Amazing, one of our best meals of the trip

Having learned my lesson about relying on “non foodie” sources for restaurant reservations, particularly tourist centric ones like TripAdvisor, I went right back to Michelin for our first night in Sardinia with this modernist Italian 1 star in the heart of Porto Cervo.

Porto Cervo is straight out of a James Bond film — literally The Spy Who Loved Me.

Confusion overlooks the main square.

It features gorgeous, if a touch overdone, al fresco dining.

Nice details including the moist toilets that “inflate” when water is added.

2020 Capichera Isola dei Nuraghi IGT. This was my first introduction to this stellar local Vementino. I ended up visiting the winery and sending home a couple of cases.

Parmesan puff with a liquid center. Amazing.

“Pasta” twist with salmon roe. Delicious briney quality.

Crisp with eggplant mousse.

Gluten free amuses. Olive, gluten-free version of the eggplant, and tuna.

The menu.

Trio of tomato things.

Tomato gazpacho with avocado mousse. Absolutely amazing.

Cured tomato.

Crisp with cheese and tomato flavor.

Bread sticks.

Gluten free crisps.

And with this we finish the AMUSES!

Simple pasta. My son thought this was one of the best he’s had. He ordered two.

Sea bream tartare, bread and cucumber salad, and yellow tomato gazpacho. Awesome mix of flavors and textures.

More bread.

Special butter spread.

Poached and crispy egg, caviar, truffle, sesame asparagus, Parmesan fondue.

Risotto with raw red prawns, marinated in vinegar with veal nerves, and licorice powder.

More excellent local wine.

Another great bread.

Seaweed wrapped in nori seaweed, green curry sauce, turmeric lentu bread.

Sardinian cheeses, mostly pecorino.

The plated spread.

Parmesan.

Bread for the cheese. Lots of bread tonight!

Pre-dessert of white chocolate and vanilla. Lovely soft texture.

Chocolate gelato with strawberries.

Faux apple with apple mousse.

Raspberry and chocolate.

Deconstructed gin and tonic.

Petite fours. Passionfruit and raspberry.

More in the drawers.

Gluten free petite fours.

The check came in this cute box.

Not actually bad for such an epic meal with 4 people. And there was even a E15/pp coperto (an Italian charge for sitting outside, fairly standard actually).

Overall, Confusion was quite amazing. The setting was fabulous, the service smooth as room temperature Normandy butter, and they did an incredible job of adjusting to dietary restrictions and needs. But primarily, the food was just simply wonderful. In retrospect, and a bit at the time, I’m bummed that we didn’t come back and have a second meal here. Highly recommended and probably more enjoyable than the 2 and 3 stars I ate at during this trip.

For more Italian dining reviews click here.