What!!? Sambuco is made with elderflower??
All these years I shied away cause I thought it was made with an anise-type spirit…now I’ve learned, thank you, Lambretta76, that Sambuco and Sambuca are two very different flavors!!!
My first tipple in Bari, come October will be an “Hugo spritz”…is that a known thing in the south now??
Yes! The pizza place we looked for last night was in Taormina. We trained south today. Totally agree - Ortigia is so perfect.
I liked it better than an aperol spritz myself, not that I am averse to those.
Taormina was al ost always chips and nuts. Ortigia so far has had these little mini pizzas and (oh my goodness, so good) these little possibly fried bits of dough with cheese and an anchovy inside. We got a plate with 6 pieces with both rounds of drinks! Couldn’t finish! We are both such salt fiends and went nuts for the anchovy and olive freebies.
Thank you for this. I love a good dive bar (sort of the flip side of my love for a fancy hotel bar) but not sure if Lulu will buy this idea. We’ll walk by and see what happens.
We loved dinner tonight, really sleepy so I’ll write it up tomorrow. Some tourism shots. Sad that the t shirt guy was surprised I was from the US when I liked his Never Again Fascism shirt. But I get it.
OMG! We had a couple of local HH beers at the bar on the right in this picture. The owner was a hoot!
Love that!
By the time it got to dinner all those free snacks had done some damage to our appetites, but we had a reservation at Sicilia in Tavola, which I had loved last time I was here. We skipped dessert, and got an appetizer and pasta each. Lulu started with a salad with anchovies, I got a special of fried sardines, which turned out to be stuffed with a tomato and breadcrumb mix. The breading was tougher than I had expected, and I thought it was just ok. Luckily a really lovely salad came along with it, very typical with fennel and orange, so refreshing. Lulu’s pasta had anchovies, bottarga, and capers. Mine had sea lupines (which are apparently tiny clams, and delicious), bottarga, and wild fennel. The pastas were heavenly.
The pottery / dishware looks gorgeous too!
I noticed it also, it reminds me of the exterior of a clamshell, so very complementary to the food.
The service was so warm, and the woman running the place so enthusiastic about the food and the wines. It was charming to watch her interact with people once the room got rocking.
Really fabulous dinner last night at Apollonion Osteria da Carlo. For 45 euros each they just keep bringing out courses of whatever is freshest. It was a fun experience, and the food was delicious. I won’t remember what everything was, but here are pictures.
We were started with raw stuff. Lulu was a little nervous about the crustaceans, but tried everything and liked it. I had mentioned I wasn’t up for an oyster, and they brought the small pile of swordfish instead. The garlic bread was especially good with our next course - mussels with tomatoes and almonds (I thought I detected mint, Lulu thinks it was parsley). These were plump and fresh. Maybe the best mussels I have ever had. And dipping the bread into the juice was a real treat.
Next up was cuttlefish with a red pepper sauce, and fried calamari and some sort of fried fish. Lulu had her first experience of getting the fish off the bone and did an impressive job.
Holy cow, another course! Pasta with a tuna and swordfish ragu. A few raisins in the sauce made me understand the whole Sicilian raisin thing. Delicious.
Dessert was included! Lulu got a watermelon granita that was out of this world. I got the tiramisu, which was way more custardy than I have ever had before. I don’t like custard, so this was a miss for me. A couple glasses of limoncello for us, and we said a very happy goodby.
This feels like a must if you find yourself in Ortigia.
Amazing food, what a marvelous experience for you and Lulu ! Will make for wonderful memories.
done using kitty cat method.
Wow! You and Lulu are going to remember this one for a very long time! I’m really enjoying your reports and it looks like you are also getting fabulous weather!
Everything looks great, and a bargain at that price!
I’m skittish about raw shrimp myself.
I miss Italy so much. I keep trying to Toronto Italian-style when I get a chance, to give myself a mini vacation. LOL
This morning I ordered a Sicilian cookbook that should beat me home. Trying to keep the memories alive. I get it!
