Restaurants and a trip to Capo San Marco
Over the past couple posts I have neglected to write about some of the places we had dinner at and that is unforgivable because they were memorable experiences.
We finally got to go to the restaurant down the road, Le Gourmet, for dinner. When we got here they were closed for renovations and just reopened last week. We've gone there at least once during our stays at Verdetecnica. It one place I know I can get lepre, wild hare, ragu. Cathy won't touch rabbit or hare but I had it multiple times in Malta, it's a common source of meat there, and when I can get it here I usually don't let it pass by. Le Gourmet has two large reception rooms for weddings and parties as well as the family style restaurant downstairs and a wonderful terrace, for when it's summer.
Fresh fettuccine with lepre ragu at Le Gourmet
On our trips to Romana Villa Casale there is a trattoria, La Ruota, on the Villa Casale road about a half kilometer from the highway. They have rabbit, roasted, on the menu and I had it on our previous trip there about 6 years ago. This time we just wanted a light lunch so I had to pass, with sorrow. It has Michelin decals on the door from several past years and the food proves it out. Sorry, no photos from there.
Sunday we headed down to the port to try and eat at one of the three locally popular restaurants that specialize in fresh fish. Unfortunately our first choice, Porto San Paolo, was closed for vacation till the 14th. so it'll have to wait for another night. We then went up the street about a block to La Lampara but it too was closed. They didn't even have a sign stating why or when they'll be reopen, so I guess that's going to be a bit more trouble to try.
We then hit our third choice. Down closer to the private marina and by the hotels located next to the small fishermens' port is Italia Restaurant da Nino. It's a small place, maybe seating 30 people on the second floor of a remodeled house. Ever since our host Toto told me that we can get sea urchin pasta I've been looking for it. First in Mazara del Vallo at the Baby Luna, then in Marsala when we stopped for lunch on our second Sunday here. Both had it on the menu but it was not available. Well, at Italia I had my choice of Pasta con Ricci di Mare or Pasta con Sarde. The Sarde was prepared much like what Mario has at La Fontana in Seattle except they use almonds instead of pine nuts. I took the urchin, con Ricci, since they had it. We both ask about umi, sea urchin, when we go to sushi restaurants and have gotten lucky a couple times. Raw urchin tastes like the ocean smells, fresh salt air scent fills your mouth and nose when you eat it. The cooked urchin has a different flavor. Stronger and not a salt air scent but it is definitely worth trying. Toto told us the best urchin is when you get it right off the dock. Most of it is jarred and has a different taste but getting it fresh is not easy. Porto Paolo just outside of Menfi has the proper seafloor levels and sometimes, when the sea is calm enough for the divers, you can get it off the peddlers with the card table but you have to be there early and hit the weather right. I didn't take a photo at the start of my meal, which I regret because it looked much better at that time.
The last part of my Pasta con Ricci de Mare at Italia Restaurant. The little red elements are the urchin
Last night after driving to Capo San Marco to check out the beaches we had a chance to sit with Toto and Pascale and chat. When he heard of our trip to the port for dinner and how we ended up at Italia he enthusiastically endorse our choice, saying that the chef was really good. We'll be back, you can count on that because I want to try the con Sarde. Hopefully fresh swordfish, spade, will be available soon. Too much of the seafood, like calamari and spada, are only available frozen, surgelato, at this time. We're looking forward to the fresh stuff so much because this town has a large fishing fleet, both commercial and small.
Yesterday, as I've written a couple times we headed out to Capo San Marco. There are beaches and some small housing developments just west of Sciacca on the cape. There are some roads down to the beach but you need a GPS map device to find them. There are some stupendous views on the way down but few places, if any, to stop and take photos. The roads are narrow, only one lane wide in many places and sometimes in pretty bad condition. Some of that I'm sure was due to the recent storm. Things take a long time to get repaired around here. Many places have nearly half the road caved in from landslides. Some appear to be much older than 2 weeks ago.
Anyway, there are some nice houses for rent and/or sale on the hillsides over the beaches. We may consider this area for a residence when the time comes. It's only about 20 minutes from Sciacca so getting to a city for shopping and restaurants would not be a problem. Hell, we would often drive that far to get to dinner in Seattle. Unfortunately neither of us took our cameras and all we had was my old iPhone 4S. I didn't get any shots at San Marco beach but we did head a bit east to Renella beach. It was far more developed than San Marco, although the beach is not as nice and sandy. It's pretty rocky and didn't have the surf that Spiaggia San Marco did. If you want to find it on Google Maps pull up Sciacca and pan to the west around the obvious cape. Google shows San Marco as Localita San Marco. Renella is just west of Contrada Foggia.
Renella from Lungomare Giovanni Procida
Today we drove to the archeological park at Selinunte. This time we took our cameras and we have a real pile to post but since it's nearly 10 PM I'm calling it quits for the day.
Ciao for now.