Noto - Food or Cement?
I'd read all about Noto - considered one of the great food regions of Sicily – I had to go. This would be my 2nd to the last stop before leaving Sicily and I decided to make it all about food.
The drive from Trapani took close to 5 hours, but I managed to avoid most of the road construction that I kept running into over the prior weeks. I stopped outside of Palermo to go to the bathroom and loaded up on water, some potato chips & a big, old candy bar. Paolo had packed up some of those yummy Trapanese sandwiches so I thought this assortment would get me through the day. Not! Around 1pm and at least 2 hours from Noto, I was starving. I stopped at one of those great Italian Auto Grills (highway rest stop) and found a hot bar. They were grilling up steaks & pork chops – and my excitement for meat took over all rational. I asked for a pork chop with roast potatoes & sautéed spinach. What a MAJOR disappointment, as the meat had not even been seasoned with salt & pepper and the same seemed true for the vegetables. A VERY disappointing start to my “all about food” three days in Noto (well, at least I hadn’t arrived in Noto yet!).
Two hours later I arrive in Noto and the GPS seems to be doing a great job of getting me to where I need to go. I had communicated with the B&B host earlier and he told me to program in a Piazza near the B&B. My last turn instruction was a one way street – going the wrong way – so I had to alter my route and the GPS decided to not help me out. After a couple of attempts “to circle” the area, I gave up & called the host. He asked me what street I was on and said to stay put, he would come get me. About 3 minutes later, Salvo, arrived to save the day. He introduced himself, jumped in the passenger’s seat and guided me to the “Piazza” to park. At this point, it’s prudent to mention that even if the GPS had not steered me off course, I probably would not have found “the piazza”. This was like no piazza I’ve ever seen. It was really more like a hill with 7 or 8 parking spots – no square, no signs, no way!!
Salvo, being the well raised Sicilian man that he is, grabbed my big bag & my carry-on and starting walking down the hill. I followed and we made our way past the piazza and down a flight of old, cobblestone – and quite steep – stairs. About ½ way down, we stop in front of this gorgeous, red, blooming bougainvillea and a pretty cool door to the B&B. Inside, it just go better!
Turns out Salvo and his partner, Nico, had bought the place 4 years prior and completely renovated it. They left a ton of the old architecture, most notably the tile floors, and added a ton of modern touches. Turns out Salvo was in advertising and Nico was in fashion and they both lived & studied in Florence & Milan and fell in love with Noto on a vacation and pretty much bought the place on the spot. Salvo runs the B&B and still does advertising from home; Nico’s an interior designer. Their aesthetic taste – beautiful!!! The pictures I took do not do this place justice – it is super cool & really gorgeous. The kitchen alone should wine some awards. You can see 2 pictures of the old floor that they kept under the huge island and my breakfast spread on the island in my photo gallery. My suite was spectacular – incredible bed, huge shower with rain showerhead and a great view of the Mediterranean (about 3 miles away).
After I settled in, I asked Salvo to show me on the town map where the 3 best restaurants were. He asked if I cared how much they cost and I said no – after all, this was to be the “food focused” part of my trip and I was going to enjoy it. He ranked them in reverse order . . in other words, I would hit third best on night 1, second best on night 2 and save the best for last!
Night 1 – Restaurant #3 - VICARI
Tuesday night and I’m of course hitting the restaurant pretty early. I find Vicari’s sign at the entrance to a small alley and go inside. I ask if they have a table and of course, they do. I’m the 2nd guest in, as the only other table seated is a couple with a baby girl (maybe a year old, but she wasn’t walking yet). The waiter hands me the menu – it’s in Italian only – and I am determined to read this thing and order without help.
I find a yummy sounding appetizer with asparagus and a poached egg . . . and I’m in. The main course gives a bit more pause, but I select a dish that sounds pretty good with shrimp. I order a glass of white wine & a bottle of water and start to enjoy the bread & bread sticks that they’ve brought over . . . and then things get comical!!
This 30-something man is seated next. He orders and then immediately goes to work on his phone! He continues “working” throughout his meal – taking small breaks only when his food is served.
An Italian couple is seated in front of me and they go into a pretty long discussion with the waiter – about EVERYTHING. Wine, food, the weather, what they ate for breakfast, the names of their children . . . honestly, I don’t know what they were really talking about but they sure were manipulating the wait staff’s time!
My appetizer arrives and it’s beautiful & delicious, but kind of lukewarm. A couple of points off for that!
Then a German couple is seated and I have a great view of them & their table. She is gorgeous, I would guess about 45 years old has this great smile & bright, red lipstick. I catch her eye a few times and she smiles & seems friendly. Her partner is about 75 and seems worldly and kind. They take a lot of time to scrutinize the wine menu and end up ordering 2 different wines. The waiter pours them some tastes and he ends up asking for something else. Of course, he’s quickly accommodated – it’s that kind of restaurant.
My appetizer is cleared (I didn’t complain about the lack of heat!) and a family of four is seated right next to me – and they are American. I enjoy hearing English, but more so, the banter of these two teenage girls & their parents. They neither speak, nor read any Italian – so they are struggling with the menu. I’m just about to offer my assistance when the waiter comes over and the mother asks for help. Believe it or not – the waiter ends up going over the ENTIRE menu with them in DETAIL. This takes about 10 minutes . . I gotta say, this guy is REALLY patient. First the Italians, now the Americans!!
The girls really just want pasta with red sauce (keep in mind, this is NOT the kind of place that has this simple type of food – but the waiter says he’ll ask the chef to improvise something – which he “kind of” does – but it’s not quite what they girls wanted – but they end of eating most of it anyway).
I also have noticed that a lot of the tables are playing with their “ambiance light”. This is a light stick of sorts that somehow balances on the table and has a ball at the top for light. They must have been battery operated, as they were turning them on by twisting them at the end when tables were seated (mine was lit before I sat down). Little did the waiter that sat the American family know – but the waitress that was working the floor with him had traded the American’s light with the German couple’s light – because the German’s wasn’t working. This of course made for an interesting obsession by the Americans and their waiter to try to get this thing working. I could have stepped in to help clear that mystery, but frankly it was more fun to watch!
All this time, the original couple with the baby are in full “baby entertaining” mode – as this child has definitely hit her patience with “sitting at a table in a nice restaurant, waiting for my parents to eat 4 courses, dessert bribes won’t do it” LIMIT! She’s up, she’s down, she’s climbing, Mom takes her outside, Dad takes her outside, food keeps arriving, they even order dessert just for the baby and it arrives and it’s TOO fancy . . . they really just want gelato for her. But they say, it’s OK, leave it and we’ll eat it later (I think they were British, but I wasn’t close enough to hear all of the conversation).
My entrée arrives and it’s a bit of surprise. I realize I don’t actually read Italian only menus as well as I thought. There’s one prawn on the plate and a bunch of fish coasted in bread crumbs. The fish is strong, there’s 2 different kinds, and I’m sure one is mackerel (one of the oiliest & strong flavored fish you can get). The sauce is really good, as are the vegetables and I make myself enjoy it all – after all, I’m in Sicily in a fancy restaurant, so no complaints.
I pass on dessert (can’t remember why at this point) and ask for my check. About that time the German man gets up to go to the bathroom at the precise moment that the kitchen drops something big and there’s a huge crash. The man looks around, both startled & embarrassed and the pretty German woman & I catch each other’s eyes and just start laughing out loud! He collects himself & heads out to do his business; the woman & I just keep smiling & giggling!!
I start to walk back to the B&B and realize I’ve turned up the wrong stairway – I’m one block over from where I’m supposed to be. The stairway covers 4 city blocks uphill, so I turn at the 2nd street to make my way over to the right one. Big mistake!! Three very mean, very loud dogs come barking and they want to eat me! Their owner comes out and grabs the biggest one & then another and is screaming at both them & me. It seems that there is no way to exit to the other street from this crossover and the dogs know better than I, that this is not a thoroughfare and I had better not even try to get through. My heart is still beating fast & hard when I arrive back at the B&B.
VICARI . . . Rating: 7 for food; 11 for entertainment!
The next day, I decide to explore the town. Noto is called the City of Cement, but the architecture is Baroque and it’s amazing – so the cement thing is kind of easy to overlook. Besides, the churches are INCREDIBLE. As I’ve said before, you’d think I’d become religious with all the time I spent in churches on this trip – but the art is absolutely mind boggling and you really can’t help but gawk!
It’s laundry day – so I need to find a lavenderia. Salvo has no recommendations, as he uses a commercial one outside of town for all of his B&B linen. I find one on the internet and walk about 12 minutes to find it. The lady is nice and since my Italian pertaining to laundry has gotten better we agree on delivery tomorrow at a per garment cost; she even counts my dirty underwear!
I spend the day shooting pictures, climbing lots of stairs to church roofs and bell towers and alternating with little naps back at the B&B (all that hill & stair climbing is exhausting). Gelato & pastry are fortifying and I’m pretty sure I missed lunch that day. I forgot to mention that I was the only one at the B&B that first day and Salvo put out this amazing spread just for me. I ate quite a bit of breakfast, probably why I could forgo a formal lunch!
That night I decide to hit Salvo’s next restaurant recommendation.
Night 2 - Restaurant #2 – MASSUMO
I’m the first to arrive that night and they can easily accommodate me! It’s a pretty space and Salvo told me that the chef & owner is the mother of the chef at the place I’ll be eating at tomorrow night.
Tonight the menu is both in Italian & English, and the choices are plentiful and there are so many dishes I’d like to try. Tonight, I go all out and order FOUR courses. I also drink 2 glasses of wine, a liter of water and a grappa (I’ll save that little tale for later).
Next seated – a 2-top of young lovers. These two could not keep their hands off of each other and kept kissing. I’m sure they were on their honeymoon.
My antipasti arrives and it’s the BEST octopus I’ve ever had in my life. Michael Chiarello’s at Coqueta in San Francisco comes close – but this was truly the best. Tender, flavorful, plentiful and served on creamy potatoes. Yum, yum!
The restaurant is busy up and no one seems to have a reservation. The 2-tops & 4-tops are filling up fast and I realize this is a pretty popular place – mostly locals I believe, as the town wasn’t very crowded with tourists that day in the off-season. Just across from me they seat this family of 4. The mother is Asian and is speaking English to the two boys who are about 7 & 8 (maybe a little older, but I’d bet not). The Dad is going between English & Italian (with the waiter AND the boys) and they are all (including the boys) very smartly dressed. The father & boys all were wearing scarves around their necks tied in that European fashion (Scott could teach you how to tie them like this – as he learned in Paris!) and before sitting down, they all pulled them off and neatly draped them over their chairs. I realize these kids are VERY well behaved and have VERY sophisticated palates. They are excited about the grilled swordfish and both start with orange & onion salads. They even eat European style with knife & fork for all bites AND have great table manners. Far cry from what I witnessed the night before with the two American teenagers!
My primi arrives: Parpadelle with artichokes, fennel & prawns – pretty tasty indeed.
The last table to be seated seems to be a reservation that the wait staff has been waiting for. I think they were regular and/or special customers and were celebrating something big. I hadn’t seen this much food at a table during the whole trip – but thinking back this is what most people would consider “quintessential Italian eating” if they were to see it. Platters of food just kept coming and the wine never stopped flowing. Wish I could have joined them!
It’s course #3 – I’ve skipped the secondo and gone straight to salad. Have I mentioned I’m getting quite used to the salad coming after the meal? It really is refreshing & cleanses the palate – setting you up for dessert. I had the same orange & onion salad that the boys had – delicious. Can’t go wrong with anything citrus in Sicily – it’s SO good!
They offer dessert & I’m all in. I decide on a ricotta tart with dried fruit. Now, I’ve mentioned in previous posts that the ricotta over here is sheep’s milk and IT IS SO MUCH BETTER than the crummy, tasteless cow’s milk stuff we get in America. I make a mental note: Gotta find some sheep, gotta find some sheep’s milk ricotta when I get home! I kept noticing all these attractive bottles of liquor on the front bar and asked the waiter what they were. Grappa – in various varietals. I decide I must have one – so I select the one made of moscato grapes (one of my favorite dessert wines). WOW – have I forgotten the grappa Scott & I had in Greece! This stuff cleans out the pipes and will get you high in 2 seconds flat. It reminds me of moonshine (not that I recall ever drinking moonshine, but I can imagine). I try to get it down, but I just can’t – but I don’t want to have to try to explain to the waiter what a horrendous mistake I’ve made, so I look around to see if anyone’s looking – and I pour about ½ of it onto my cake. I think that might minimize the nose-clearing effect – but I’m wrong again. Thank God I poured it on one part of the cake only – so I simply ate around it and left a little bit of grappa soaked cake for the dishwasher. Problem solved – kind of!
I ask for the check and waddle out the door. After all that food, 2 glasses of wine & a liter of water, I’ve forgotten to go to the bathroom. The last half of the walk back to the B&B was a little uncomfortable – but at least I turned up the “right” flight of stairs!
MASSUMO . . . Rating: 9+ for food; 10 for wine; -1 for grappa!
The next morning I go down to breakfast. Salvo has put out another awesome spread, and someone is speaking English. I turn the corner and see a nice couple and say, “wow, you’re speaking English”. They introduce themselves as Marty & Lynne from Australia. Come to find out Marty’s American and while Lynne’s Australian, they’ve met in California, worked in Silicon Valley and lived & raised their family in Santa Cruz! They moved to Australia to help care for Lynne’s father a few years back. They’re excited to hear I’m from Half Moon Bay and want to hear all about my travels through Sicily. We spend about an hour & half talking with Salvo trying to listen in to our quick & funny English!
I give Lynne & Marty some suggestions of places to explore and take off to pick up my laundry. Before going downtown though, I go farther “up the hill” to check out a church that Salvo said I must see and see if I can make a reservation for dinner at Crocifisso (a Michelin rated, but not starred restaurant) – the best in town according to Salvo. I run into Lynne & Marti a few blocks from the Lavenderia and mention I’ve made this reservation and ask if they’d like to join me. Lynne’s quick to say yes, but Marty asks if they can check out the menu & get back to me. Of course! I go on my way. I pick up the laundry and stop by a famous little café (Caffe Costanzo) for a piece of pistachio & chocolate cake and it does NOT disappoint. (The day before I’d stopped into the other famous pasticceria in town called Café Sicilia which is supposed to be the rival of Pasticceria Maria in Erice for the best pasticceria in Sicily). Now that I’ve eaten at all 3 – I’d have to say Caffe Costanzo was the best. So much for travel guides!
I hit a few more churches & climb up some VERY narrow steps to a bell tower. I have to stop for traffic coming down on my way up and am warned to hurry up as the bells are expected to start chiming in 10 minutes. I make it to the first landing & decide that’s far enough as I have to maneuver back down those very narrow steps. Besides, I’m starting to get hungry.
I stop at a little street café to have some lunch and enjoy a rustic antipasti plate with some of the best eggplant I’ve ever tasted. What do these Sicilians do to eggplant to make it taste SO good?? I have to find out. As I’m enjoying this little spread, Marty comes out of the restaurant (I was eating at an outside table) and says they’ve left me a message at the B&B and they’d love to join me for dinner! Yeah, English speaking companions for dinner. I get a call from Scott about some business stuff and then tour an old villa / palace at the center of town. I return to the B&B and have a little nap before showering for dinner.
Night 3 - Restaurant #1 – Crocifisso (Ristorante of the Sacred Cross)
We arrive at 8pm and are NOT the first ones seated, but the service is excellent. We order a bottle of red and start drinking. Lynne & I both order artichoke arancine for appetizers and I don’t remember what Marty had. Lynne had some fish, Marty a rabbit dish – and me, well I had lamb prepared two ways for dinner. Honestly, I don’t remember the food that well. However, the company & the budding friendship were sublime. **See Sue (my BFF), I really can put food second when there’s an excellent experience staring me in the face!
CROCIFISSO . . . Rating: 8 for food; 13 for new friends!
Noto – Beautiful Noto! Maybe not quite the foodie experience I expected (but then I’ve been told many times I’m a food snob), but a wonderful 3 days in so many ways. I would go back – just for another piece of that chocolate & pistachio cake!
**4 1/2 weeks into the trip and I'm pretty tired - but let me tell you about the adventure that Marty & Lynne were on. These two were doing 7 countries in 30 days - and I'm not talking countries that were necessarily close to each other. Left Queensland, Austraila. First stop: Reykjavik, Iceland. Then Dublin, Paris, Sicily, Houston TX, Honduras, back to Houston & onto San Francisco (to spend a few days with their kids in Santa Cruz), down to Los Angeles for the flight back to Australia. They are great friends! They were meeting friends at all these places to celebrate birthdays. I shot Marty a message the morning I was leaving Rome to see how their trip to Honduras was going. They were there, but he wanted to know if I'd seen their luggage which was still apparently in Rome! At least, they only needed bathing suits & flip flops for the Caribbean! They checked in a week later to tell me they'd made it back to Australia but their luggage had not quite caught up. There were having to pay $150 per bag to have it delivered to their home in Queensland. Lynne traveled heavy . . I'm sure she had a great shopping trip in San Francisco!!
Enjoy the pictures of the Baroque architecture & the magnificent churches of Noto . . .
Oh, and I forgot to mention, I stopped by an exhibit of Marc Chagall works and they were also showcasing a textiles designer – hence the pictures that look like rugs!
