We spent two days in Ortranto, on the first we explored the old town, on the second we headed to the more modern 'resort' area on the south side of the bay.
Our hunt for nice places for lunch almost always starts with reviews on Google maps and TripAdvisor, then a quick look at the likely candidates' websites. In Otranto's case we settled on ViaPunta7; it described itself as a tapas restaurant prompting us to pose the question, is Italian tapas even a thing?
We are big fans of sharing small plates with a glass of wine at lunchtime. It's easy in Spain, the land of tapas and pintxos. Elsewhere - France, Italy, Greece - eateries persist in offering an inexpensive 'tourist menu' with starter, main and dessert at lunchtime. They are inexpensive and often showcase local gastronomy. The problem is it easily takes an hour or two and after three courses we are more likely to need a snooze than go sightseeing. Really they should be dubbed 'menu anti-touristique'.
We have found ways to indulge our small plate habit well beyond the land of tapas, either by eating delicious snacks like crepes or puccia or ordering three starters and sharing them. It no longer raises eyebrows, I think a 'small plate revolution' is underway; even the most conservative and traditional food cultures, like France and Italy, may have to succumb.
ViaPunta7 is not the most imaginatively named establishment, located on Via Punta, as you might surmise at no. 7. From its position on top of the low cliffs at the southernmost point of the bay you get a panoramic view of the whole town. Getting there took us right along the gently curving esplanade which forms Otranto's modern resort area.
By noon a blustery breeze had developed, strong enough for white horses to form in the middle of the bay. A few surfers were trying their luck, including one guy who combined long boarding with paddle boarding. Keeping his balance while using the single paddle to ride out to the bigger waves he would then twist 180° and surf back, holding the oar in front of him, like a tightrope walker's balancing pole. It was impressive. We joined a small gaggle of admirers to watch. We were all interested in only one thing, after a couple minutes, surfing's self styled Blondin obliged, he fell in. Now satisfied the gaggle dispersed.
Otranto has a small white sand beach, not common on Puglia's Adriatic coast. It wasn't crowded, but considering it was a blustery Tuesday morning in October it had attracted a surprising number of sunbathing stalwarts, some sitting on the steps staring into space...
...others sprawled motionless.
We arrive at the restaurant a little before one. They were only just setting the outside tables for lunch so we stared at the view while we considered the options on the translated menu the front of house guy handed us.
After some discussion we went for five plates - Saltimbocca aubergine, Salento's flavour fricous, Salted codfish with Campari tempura, Raw red king prawns on fried calamari, Local pecorino cheese with ginger and beer jam.
You have to admire their attempt to adapt typical Spanish tapas dishes, reimagining them using local ingredients and a dash of Italian flair.
I think the fricous was the most interesting - a cous cous dish with a light, herby tomato based dressing, it had a pleasing crunch created, Gill suspected, by incorporating pangrattato . I think she will nick that idea.
I could not detect a hint of Campari in the battered cod and the pecorino plate had too much cheese and insufficient ginger jam, we agreed, but we were nit-picking.
The red prawn was a magnificent specimen. In the spirit of our hunting fathers we thanked the prawn for its sacrifice and left the head as an offering, just in case we had annoyed some minor crustacean deity. Having just finished the Odyssey I realise you can't be too careful about these things.
No wonder ViaPunta7 gets really positive reviews, it's a lovely informal restaurant in a stunning location. We asked the waiter where the mountains were that we could see on the horizon. Maybe that's Corfu, we wondered. In fact they were a range on the Albanian coast near Vlore.
As well as the food ViaPunta7 has a great atmosphere, youthful and vibrant. We loved their playlist, an eclectic mix of noughties indie, classic songs and a bit of millennial rap. It's a while since we listened to Eminem!
So, back to the original question, is Italian tapas a thing? Well some regions do have a tradition of bar snacks, chicchetti are served in Venetian wine bars, spuntini are bread based morsels similar to Basque pintxos, other Italian staples such as bruschetta or Sicilian aranchini could be purloined to become part of a tapas style proposition. I have no doubt it would go down a bomb with tourists, the question is would the natives take to it? For good reason Italians are stubbornly traditional when it comes to gastronomy, theirs is arguably the world's most sophisticated and delicious food culture, largely because tradition is respected. So is Italian tapas possible. As ViaPunta7 showed it can be done. Will it spread like wildfire. I don't think so.
No comments:
Post a Comment