Restaurant: Antonios
Location: Santa Margherita, Italy
Date: June 27, 2011
Cuisine: Ligurian
Rating: Best we had in Liguria
I did my best at internet research to pick this restaurant in the heart of “downtown” Santa Margherita. It was #2 on TripAdvisor. Now this is a review source that I take with a block of salt, but in reading the reviews I got the feeling I’d like the place — and I was right.
You can see a hint of the quaint little garden inside. Like the rest of Liguria it was a little steamy, even late at night (the weather was 88 degrees and 100% humidity, shades of my youth in Virginia).
The “pre-bread” which look like donut balls but tasted salty — and delicious. After all, they were fried.
The regular bread.
We started with a romantic glass of “special cocktail,” which was probably more or less a Kir Royale.
A special appetizer of raw seafood. Two types of prawn, tuna tartar, and some yellowtail like lighter fish. It was all delicious and exceedingly fresh.
Another nice local white.
This was a marvelous example of a very traditional ligurian pasta. Cheese inside, with “salsa con le noci” which is a pesto of walnuts, milk, butter, flour and pepper. Totally delicious.
An unusual “seafood lasagna.” This was a fairly typical lasagna with a kind of lobster/shrimp ragu. Also wonderful.
Branzino Genovese. Fresh local sea-bass baked with a thin scallop of potatoes.
This was a fairly simple meal, and only for two (so less photos) but the food was pretty impeccable, showing a light seafoody Italian with just a hint of modernity. All very much to my taste. Bravo.