Top Spots in Central Puglia & Matera
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Top Spots in Central Puglia & Matera
Livio Colapinto - Zest of Italy
This is a living guide to the very best places to eat and drink in Apulia&Matera. As I travel back to Puglia - which I do regularly - I will continue to update this list. If you purchase today, you will receive all future updates.
Perfect for a first-timer, or someone who wants to go deeper. Recommendations cover major cities, like Bari, but also off-the-beaten-track options in the countryside that are destinations in their own right. Every place has been verified by me and visited multiple times. Tips for each restaurant include dishes to order and background about the place. I've even included some personal anecdotes to give extra color to each destination!
Fun Fact: Last year I was featured on Delicious Destinations with Chef Andrew Zimmern as his personal guide to Puglia. Videos from our adventure included in this guide.
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Quintessenza Ristorante
@livio
Michelin-starred Restaurant Quintessenza has a formidable view of the Castle of Trani, a beautiful historic fishing port in Puglia. Our friend Stefano Di Gennaro runs the kitchen and the business with his 3 younger brothers. They draw gourmets from near and far with artful cuisine and warm hospitality. Try the marinated amberjack with beetroot and tomato; and the tortelloni with ricotta, red shrimp, and Trani Muscat wine bisque. “Farmer's breakfast” is a soft ricotta ice cream dessert with extra virgin olive oil, biscuits, and fruit sauce. Vegetarian and vegan options are also available, just ask.
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Antichi Sapori
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Since he stepped into hospitality in 1993, Pietro led the peloton anticipating all trends - seasonal, organic, zero miles - with that pleasing smile of he who knows already what happens next.
He grounded his cuisine on a 5-acres year-round-self-sufficient permaculture vegetable garden, long before the booming trend of agriturismi - locales serving 51% of estate-grown produce - took hold all over Italy.
Don't leave without visiting the garden. Shop here for taralli, orecchiette, and almonds. And make some room for the desserts of Pietro's pastry chef Ilic. Memories of our wedding cake ;-)
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Da Tuccino
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With more than 400 miles of coastline, 🌊seafood plays a major role in Puglia's kitchen. Travel to Polignano a Mare to Da Tuccino restaurant and see how they serve fresh fish in a variety of ways.
Da Tuccino is an elegant high-end place, with a breathtaking sea view, but the dishes are uncomplicated and the seafood itself plays always the main role.
Since 1968 Tuccino is a must for its legendary 🐟carpaccios and tartare - red mullet and rockfish are simply Outstanding. Black-ink orecchiette with vongole veraci clams, red shrimps, and zucchini blossoms. Sea bass in potato crust... unmissable.
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Cantine Cristiano Guttarolo
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Cristiano Guttarolo’s vineyards are on a plateau of limestone some 400 meters above sea level, benefiting from a unique climate with cooler-than-usual daytime from the sea strong breeze, and fluctuation between day and night Temp that allows ripeness together with freshness and finesse. Vineyard work is excellent, organic, and done entirely by hand. No additives in the cellar. Cristiano's wines are unmistakably Pugliese, full of wild, sun-drenched fruit, but balanced and rich in minerality that karst soils bring.
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Lula - Pane e Dessert
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Luca Lacalamita is a world-recognized master pastry chef and owner of Lula, a bakery and culinary workshop in his hometown of Trani, on the coast of the Adriatic sea. His resume reads like a list of the world’s most respected restaurants: the Dorchester in London, Gordon Ramsey’s Petrus, Milan’s Peck and Cracco, Massimo Bottura’s Osteria Francescana, Ferran Adrià’s El Bulli. After his time as head pastry chef at 3 Michelin-starred Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, he returned to his hometown roots. In 2019, with the techniques and cross-pollination gained from these celebrated kitchens and mentors, he opened the doors to Lula. Here he concentrates on baking with the ancient cereals and grains of his home region and weaving a story of biodiversity and environmental impact into his sweet confections both traditional and modern.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Livio Colapinto - Zest of Italy
Ciao,
I'm Livio, co-founder of Zest of Italy - a chef-to-chef advisory and travel company - and The Genuine Experience - original travel concepts that enlighten travelers while uplifting those who host them.
At Zest of Italy, we create bonds, travel, and opportunities for our international community of chefs and food professionals to celebrate farmers, artisans, and the diversity of food.
Born in Torino with Apulian roots to an XXL family scattered throughout the peninsula, after my engineering and economic studies, and an early career in finance, I graduated in Food Culture at the University of Gastronomic Sciences to then work with Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini.
During this time I planned and guided some renowned chefs - Michel Troisgros, Alice Waters, and Giorgio Locatelli - on R&D tours across Italy.
Since then and for over 15 years we have connected Italian food&wine artisans and chefs with food icons of international hospitality, traveling with Nancy Silverton, Michael Mina, David Nayfeld, Paul Kahan, Eli Zabar, Angela Pinkerton, Chad Colby, Craig Stoll and more.
What's included
Digital Map
Fully interactive, digital map for finding places nearby
43 places
43 hand-picked places with notes from the creator
1 link
1 link from the creator to go even deeper with more info
DESTINATION(S) COVERED
Puglia, Italia
FOCUSES AND THEMES
Foodie
Wellness
People & Culture
Sustainable/Eco
Slow Travel
Wine
Art
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Guides typically include detailed information and how-to’s about a destination as well as suggested places to try.
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