NNTP-Posting-Date: 26 Nov 2003 11:28:12 GMT X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1158 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1165 Xref: usenet.INS.cwru.edu rec.travel.europe:590565 rec.food.restaurants:58250 AlterDad wrote: > Any suggestions for really nice restaurants in Salerno, Italy? My > wife and I will be going out to dinner with friends and family for our > 29th weding anniversary. Hi, I will translate for you some posts from it.discussioni.ristoranti, the italian newsgroup about restaurants. if you or soem friends can read italian, check it out. they are both from Fabio Fiorillo, a native of the area now living (IIRC) in Rome, and very active in testing famous italian restaurants and writing his detailed opinions to the NG. Restaurant Cenacolo - Visited: 10 january 2003 Undoubtedly, and since many years, the best address in town. Surely, the only one to constantly offer a medium-high level kitchen and a good selection of raw materials. It is located in front of the 11th century Cathedral, in the centre of the city. The only hall is length-stratched and gives room to no more than 35 persons. The cutlery, table laying and glasses are good-level ones. We are 2, they serve us the menus, listing 5 or 6 appetizers, same quantity of first-courses and 4 fish-based main courses and 5 meat-based courses. There's no desserte menu (later voice presented). We choose from the menus, but there are also "full guided-menus". 1) My appetizer is a classic "parmigiana di alici": fried and browned anchovies filled with mozzarella cheese, with tomato sauce and grated parmigiano-reggiano on the dish. Good sish, undoubtedly. 1a) My table companion instead chooses fried pumpkin flowers, filled with ricotta cheese, saying they're very good. 2) As a first-course I choose crespelle (like french crepees) with apple and pork filling, in chocolate & chestnut sauce. A risky combination even if, all things considered, a well result 2a) my companion instead chooses "linguine" (like flat-section spaghetti) with crabs and sea-food un a beans-velute'. Good raw-materials, slightly made heavy by the beans. 3) as a main-course (due to the sea-storms there was only 1 dish course available) I take a beef fillet with anchovies sauce. The meat is from the breeder Cecchini (and you can feel it) but the sauce didn't seem me so much a good outcome. 3a) the other table companion orders a sea-bream fillet in orange sauce. Good, but here, too, the sauce did someway cover the excellent raw material. 4) Our dessert has been a good "pastry-custard" pie with caramelized sauce. We drank a Cometa Planeta white wine (25 euro) and a Passito from "Cantina del taburno", offered by the restaurant. Overall expense: 25 euros for each of us. A good experience in a very scarce local area where, I must repeat, good kitchen is not well considerde and there are mainly pizzeria's and low-cost restaurants. The place has been rated 15/20 on the Restaurant Guide of the Newspaper Espresso and 79/100 by the Gambero Rosso guide. Another one is "La Caravella" in Amalfi. Some creativity and a solid kitchen technic. It is a bit more expensive (80 euro per person) and is slightly better awarded by the guides: 16/20 for Espresso, 84/100 for Gambero Rosso, the "best restaurant in the south of Italy" for Edoardo Raspelli (a famous restaurant-hotel guide writer). Other than these two restaurants, by looking at the newsgroup I think there's not so much else to look for in the area. Regards, and good travel, Vilco
Italy