This time we all took a motorized vehicle to Monte Pertuso, as the next item on our agenda is dinner at Il Ritrovo, one of three restaurants near the tiny piazza. Recommended by slow food's guide, "Osterie & Locanda d'Italia" it was the only restaurant in the vicinity they felt truly captures the areas cultural and culinary traditions.
Located high on the mountainside above Positano, they make it easy for you to get there by sending a complimentary car to pick you up and take you home from the restaurant. This allows you to drink copious amounts of wine and still safely make trip down the winding twisty roads to your villa!
Far away from the nice but touristy places on the beach, Salvatore and Teresa Barba's trattoria is casual and humble with most of the vegetables and white meats come from their own land, farmed by father Domenico. Chiara's brother, Francesco, is the wine guy and we had a great conversation about local wines while I was waiting for the girls to come up on the bus earlier that morning.
They have a few set menus with multiple courses at varying prices and amounts of food or you can or items alla carte. Francesco recommended the $35 euro per person menu, so we all decided on that and I asked him to pick all local wines based on the menu.
I can't tell you how much I've been enjoying the white wines from the region! Refreshing, clean with great minerality from the volcanic soils and mouthwatering acidity, they beg for the fresh regional seafood dishes! Tramonti is one of the local doc's so we began with that; a blend of falanghina, biancolella and ginestra by Colle Santa Marina.
We had this with the antipasti, three platters full of grilled tuna and octopus;
fresh tomato bruschetta with fried shrimp and;
an assortment of different vegetables from their garden.
Next up was Francesco's favorite Greco di Tufo by Benito Ferrari paired with our primi piatti,
platters of freshly made pasta with porcini mushrooms, langoustine tails, housemade ravioli in a fresh tomato sauce and their local clams in butter and garlic.
Lastly we had the Bechar Fiano di Avellino that has by far been my favorite wine of the trip!
And our secondi was a beautiful local redfish poached in a light tomato and garlic broth.
Then there were the two platters of house made desserts accompanied by local liquors also made in house, but by this time I've eaten so many things that I can't even remember what we had!
Needless to say, we rolled out of the restaurant and back into the van that picked us up, miserably but deliciously full, and fell into bed!
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