{"id":1454,"date":"2014-05-02T17:52:58","date_gmt":"2014-05-02T17:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbarasudano.net\/web\/bite-me-2\/"},"modified":"2019-04-12T09:38:34","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T09:38:34","slug":"bite-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.barbarasudano.net\/web\/de\/bite-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Bite me"},"content":{"rendered":"

(\u00a0Let’s Go with Ryanair – 2014 – Rocky Casal<\/a>e<\/a>\u00a0\/ PDF<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>)<\/p>\n

A glorious spring sun beats down\u00a0on my back as I climb the steep\u00a0limestone steps of Ragusa\u2019s old\u00a0town, Ragusa Ibla<\/strong>. It\u2019s only March\u00a0but it feels like summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you ready to taste some wine\u00a0and cheese,\u201d my guide, local food-and-art-expert Barbara Sudano<\/strong>, asks as we\u00a0arrive at 17th-century Palazzo Arezzo\u00a0di Trifiletti<\/strong>, in Piazza Duomo<\/strong>. You bet.\u00a0I\u2019ve come to Ragusa, Sicily\u2019s unsung\u00a0foodie mecca, hungry, planning a\u00a0non-stop gorge-fest of the small-time\u00a0products and world-class cuisine\u00a0the region\u2019s known for. Eyeing\u00a0Barbara\u2019s itinerary on top of the\u00a0dinners I\u2019ve booked, I\u2019ll be rolling\u00a0myself back on the plane, no doubt.<\/p>\n

\"Bonaiuto\"The tour kicks off inside the\u00a0palazzo, where Peppe Lizzio awaits.\u00a0Peppe\u2019s specialty food shop, Isola\u00a0nell\u2019Isola<\/strong>, stocks gourmet cheeses,\u00a0biscuits and wines, and on request\u00a0he\u2019ll host tastings at the Palace. Today\u00a0he pours out a red Romolo Buccellato\u00a0and talks us through his spread of\u00a0pistachio cookies and sesame breads.<\/p>\n

Pleasantly satisfied after our\u00a0morning snack (of items I\u2019d normally\u00a0devour after 5pm), we drive through\u00a0Ragusa\u2019s pretty Val Di Noto<\/strong> to\u00a0UNESCO-protected Scicli<\/strong>. Word is\u00a0that chef Rita Russotto may be the\u00a0best new thing in the region\u2019s cuisine\u00a0and we\u2019ve got a lunch booking at her\u00a0new restaurant Satra<\/strong>. The menu\u00a0speaks to the island\u2019s diverse produce,\u00a0and she starts us off with cuttlefish\u00a0and ricotta arancini before wonderfully\u00a0fresh fresh couscous, a nod to the Arab\u00a0influence in Sicilian cooking. Belly\u00a0bulging, I almost pass on dessert, but\u00a0who says no to saffron and fennel ice\u00a0cream? \u201cThat\u2019s it,\u201d I announce, bowl\u00a0licked clean, \u201cI\u2019m full.\u201d Barbara won\u2019t\u00a0have it. She says next stop is Modica<\/strong>,\u00a0a town known for its fine Baroque\u00a0architecture and chocolate. We fill our\u00a0faces at Modica\u2019s prized confectioner\u00a0Antica Dolceria Bonajuto<\/strong>, before\u00a0Barbara drops me back in Ibla.<\/p>\n

\"foto2\"I walk off the chocolate around the\u00a0old town before dinner at two-Michelin\u00a0starred Locanda Don Serafino<\/strong>. It\u2019s been\u00a0the gold standard of Ragusa cuisine\u00a0since 1953, and after my meal \u2013 slow\u00a0cooked Nebrodis pork belly, squid-ink\u00a0pasta \u2013 I can see why.<\/p>\n

But Locanda\u2019s not the only two-starred spot in Ibla and I figure its only fair I try both. So the next night I\u00a0head for Ristorante Duomo<\/strong> to sample\u00a0chef Ciccio Sultano\u2019s note-perfect\u00a0gnocchi with Ragusano DOP cheese,\u00a0and pork meatballs with shellfish. And\u00a0there\u2019s still more. My last supper is in\u00a0the country, at the luxury Eremo della\u00a0Giubiliana<\/strong> resort whose in-house\u00a0restaurant, I\u2019ve been told, is fabulous.\u00a0And if my octopus salad is anything to\u00a0go by, Ragusa will be adding another\u00a0star to its Michelin count soon.<\/p>\n

Alright. Now I\u2019m full.<\/p>\n

www.barbarasudano.net<\/a>
\nTour prices vary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(\u00a0Let’s Go with Ryanair – 2014 – Rocky Casale\u00a0\/ PDF\u00a0) A glorious spring sun beats down\u00a0on my back …Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1457,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[53,80],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.barbarasudano.net\/web\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1454"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.barbarasudano.net\/web\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.barbarasudano.net\/web\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.barbarasudano.net\/web\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.barbarasudano.net\/web\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1454"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.barbarasudano.net\/web\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1836,"href":"http:\/\/www.barbarasudano.net\/web\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1454\/revisions\/1836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.barbarasudano.net\/web\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.barbarasudano.net\/web\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.barbarasudano.net\/web\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.barbarasudano.net\/web\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}