ME & COUSIN TONY
“We Do The Amalfi Coast”
I had a wonderful little vacation in the Spring of 2018. The trip started in Rome where I partied with Augusto at his charming place Osteria Alloro as we drank Oban Single Malt Scotch and had a marvelous time chatting the night away, listening to Bossa Nova and talking about times in Brazil. But this story is for another time. After flying to Rome and having one great day there before hopping on a High-Speed Train to Napoli and on to The Amalfi Coast to spend time in the towns of: Minori, Salerno, Positano, Amalfi, and Sorrento. And on the way back to Rome at the end of the trip, we stopped at Frascati to drink Frascati wine before flying back to New York.
As many now know, the Amalfi Coast is one of the most beautiful places on God's Good Earth, "there is no question of that." You go for the beauty, to lie on the beach soaking in the lush Sun of Southern Italy. You also go to eat. Each day you should have a nice lunch, maybe an apertivo or two in the late afternoon, take a nap, then have dinner at a ristorante or trattoria. This you can do in whatever town you might be in, whether on Capri, in Amalfi, or Positano, wherever? You can't go wrong on the Amalfi Coast, in Sorrento, Napoli, or the beautiful Island of Ischia. You will eat well.
So once down on the Amalfi Coast, I was off to the lemon farm of Villa Maria Agriturismo in the not so well-known town of Minori, two towns south of Amalfi. Villa Maria is a wonderful little place that I discovered one day. The place is a Lemon Farm where they have a restaurant and six lovely guest rooms where you can stay and enjoy this special little place. Villa Maria is what’s known in Italy as an Agriturismo, which is a working farm where you stay at, and eat meals made from products made (grown, etc.) on the farm, in this case a Lemon Farm. But Villa Maria doesn’t only grow Lemons. No, besides thousands of Lemon Trees, they have Olive Trees to make their own olive oil, and Grapevines for making their own Red and White Wine, along with growing all sorts of fruits and vegetables, farm fresh eggs, and their own Salumi and Cheese and of course Limoncello from there abundant Lemon Groves.
Villa Maria is high up in the hills on the coastal town of Minori and it sits just below Ravello so if you are sitting out on the terrace, look out and you will see the town center of Minori with the sea below. As you take on this view, maybe sipping some of Vincenzo’s homemade wine, off to the right and a little higher up than where you are sitting, you will see the town of Ravello up and to the right of Vincenzo Manzo’s Lemon Farm Villa Maria. Ravello is famous for its large villas once occupied by such luminaries as Richard Wagner and the American Writer Gore Vidal.
So, I stayed two days at Villa Maria, having a most wonderful breakfast each morning, we had: fresh Fruit, Cappuccino, juice, homemade Lemon Cake, Sfogliatelle, cheese, salami, and toast with Vincenzo’s homemade Fruit Jams. And let’s not forget the gorgeous view. In the evening, I’d sit down to a marvelous 4 Course Meal prepared by Vincenzo’s wife Maria. We’d always start out with some sort of antipasto, often the Antipasto Misto made with Vincenzo’s homemade Salumi and Cheese, with Olives and roast peppers from the garden. Second course was usually homemade pasta like Maria's special house made Ndunderi or Fusilli. You could pick your main-course of fish, Bisteca, Sausage, or Pork Chop with vegetables, followed by dessert with Vincenzo’s Special Limoncello, and of course you’d be drinking Vincenzo’s red or white wine throughout the meal.
This was my second time staying at Villa Maria which is a special little gem of place that not many know about. I was lucky to discover it just two weeks before my trip in May of 2015. I booked a room for the days and had a most wonderful time, before moving on to Positano, and Capri a few days later.
Now speaking of moving on, after two days in Minori, my breakfast and dinner at Villa Maria, and during the day, I had lunch in Ravello one day, and the other I spent half a day in Positano, with lunch at my favorite Positano restaurant, Da Vincenzo. Yes, Vincenzo is a popular name in these parts.
So, after my two days at Villa Maria, it was down to the ferry boat stop, to catch the 12:30 boat to Salerno to rendezvous with my cousin Anthony (Bellino). Speaking to Tony the night before, Anthony told me “don’t eat, I’m taking you someplace special for lunch.” And so I didn’t.
It was a nice 35 minute boat ride on the Amalfi Coast going to Salerno, making quick stops at Maiori and Cetera to pick-up and drop off passengers along the way. We arrived at the Salerno Ferry Terminal, I grabbed my bags and disembarked the boat. As I walked along the path, I was surprised to see our friend Alan standing by the dock. He greeted me, and then I spotted cousin Tony. It was a nice reunion. Alan had flown over for a few days to hang out with us. I threw my bags in the car and it was a short ride to the restaurant Tony was taking us to.
The restaurant was called La Spagnola, and our cousins Marta and Mimo had taken Tony there the night before. Tony loved it, and so he wanted to go back for another meal and take Alan and there as well, to partake in the delights of La Spagnola.
At La Spagnola, we had quite a fine lunch of Polpette di Alici (Anchovy Meatballs) and Insalata di Polpo for our antipasto. Then Tony had Linguine Frutta di Mare and Alan and I both got a plate each of some tasty Spaghetti Vongole. La Spagnola is one of the best restaurants in the city of Salerno, so if you ever find yourself in Salerno, you might like to eat there. In fact, I say you must eat there, as our meal at La Spagnola may well have been our best meal the entire trip. I know cousin Antony agrees, so go there.
The Next day we decided to go have lunch in Amalfi after a stop at Cetara along the way. Cetara is the only true old fishing village along the coast. The fishermen there catch all sorts of fish, like; Pesce Spada, Tonno, Cozze, Calamari, Sepia, and other fish and shellfish, but they are most famous for Alici, which are Anchovies and when you see Alici on the menu of any restaurant on the Amalfi Coast, they most likely were caught by a fisherman of Cetara.
Let me warn you if you don’t already know, when driving on the Amalfi Coast, it can sometimes be quite trying. There’s a good chance you’ll get stuck in traffic, and trying to find a parking space when you get into town is sometimes not always easy, so Cousin Tony when he saw there was parking at the restaurant L’ Smeraldino, he pulled in. At first I wasn't so sure about the restaurant but I didn't say anything. I wasn't there too long when I knew it would be good.
One of the waiters sat us at a great table right next to the water with an amazing view of Amalfi. It was truly spectacular. Cousin Tony gave me the wine list and told me to pick a nice bottle of Champagne. I looked the list over and saw some of the fine Italian Sparklers on the list and asked Tony, “why don't we get one of them?” I assured him they were really good. Tony agreed, and we picked a bottle of Ferrari Perle 2007 which is made in the Methode Classico which means in the style of Champagne. Champagne is usually made with 100% Chardonnay grapes or a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir or all Pinot Noir in more rare cases. When made of 100% Chardonnay grapes the Champagne is called Blanc d Blanc. Anyway, this is just a brief bit about French Champagne just to help clarify a bit aout this Italian Sparkling wine we were drinking that was made in Trentino in Northern Italy. The wine is made in the style of French Champagne and is of the highest quality.
So anyway, the waiter brought us the bottle of Ferrari Perle, and we tasted it, and it tasted quite good. Well actually, more than good, this Italian Sparkling Wine was just about as good as you could get from any sparkling wine at all, and the equal and even better than just about any French Champagne you are liable to come across. We just loved it and the wine went well with everything we ate for lunch, including: Grilled Calamari, Insalata di Polpo, Grachi (Local Crab), Linguine with Langostines, and Spaghetti Arogosta (Lobster).
I think I created a monster that day, as Tony wanted to get a bottle of Ferrari "Perle" at almost every meal we had, he absolutely adored the wine and I was thrilled that he did.
This is just one of so many stories of eating on the Amalfi Coast. One year for some reason I ate more Arancini and more Panini (sandwiches) than I normally would. On this trip for some reason, we were drinking a lot of Ferrari Perle. Well I do know, cousin Tony wanted it and though I enjoyed it I normally would be drinking Falanghina, Greco, or Aglianico when down here. As it happened, we ended up having several bottles of the awesome wine Ferrari "Perle" along the way. We had vintages of 2007, 2009, and 2010, with a total of 5 bottles of this wonderful wine during our stay on the Amalfi Coast, and they were all great.
When we had moved on to Sorrento and had a great time staying at the Cuomo Suite on the Piazza Tasso, we decided to take a ride to Positano one day. After a nice drive on the Strada Devina, we pulled into town and parked our car. Now for lunch. I suggested Buco di Bacco and Tony agreed. Buco d Bacco is an absolutely wonderful place with a rich history in town. The place was first created by a group of artists who had discovered Positano and made it their vacation spot. They wanted a place to go for beautiful candlelit dinners at night and thus they created Buco di Bacco. It became their rendezvous spot and it was quite romantic. Gilbert Clavel and journalist Italo Tavoloto invented Buco di Bacco, buca means hole in Italian and Bacco refers to the Greek God of Wine. The spot where this hotel is located is on the site of 2000 year old Roman Villa of which there many along the coast. By the 1950s Positano had caught on with the International Jet Set of La Dolce Vita and Buca di Bacco became one of their favored spots where guests like, Liz Taylor, Richard Burton, Vittorio DiSica, Ernest Hemingway, Prince Rainier, and Princes Grace Kelly have spent time there as hotel guests, as well as dining for dinner or lunch, or apertivo at the bar. And so cousin Tony and I would as well. I’d been here several times over the years and always had the most wonderful time at this fabulous ristorante which has a couple indoor dining rooms as well as open-air dining on two levels that afford diners spectacular views of Positano and the Tyrrenhian Sea. So, Tony and I got a prime table out on the terrazzo and we were in business. The waiter brought us menus and the wine list, and we ordered a bottle of water. As usual, Tony ordered a bottle of Perle. I probably would have ordered some Falagnhina, but I was going with the flow with cousin Anthony. We ordered Melanzane Parmigiano and Vegetale Gigliata for our Antipasti, and we both got Polpette for our main course. Tony got his without pasta, but I took mine with Spaghetti, for a classic plate of Spaghetti & Meatballs. Yes, we had been eating quite a lot of seafood the whole trip long and needed something a bit different, thus the Meatballs, and good Meatballs they were. We had a most pleasant lunch sitting outside at such a nice table. We sipped our wine and gazed out at the gorgeous town which some may only dream of, and I truly appreciate my good fortune, this time, and each time I’ve been so lucky to be here.
So, for any who’ve never been, I must say, if you’re ever in Positano, try not to miss this wonderful place, Buca di Bacco, it’s quite a gem. The ambiance is beyond compare, and you shall be totally relaxed. The waiters and the entire staff are as professional and friendly as can be and will take great care of you. And if you’re lucky enough and have the means, a stay in one of their guest rooms will be a time you will always remember. Buca di Bacco, that is the Hole of Bacco, the God of Wine. Do get some and enjoy.
