For what turned out to be our one and only dinner in Polignano a Mare I decided to give the Grotto Palazzese a pass.
It’s world famous. And it’s expensive. And not that highly rated, for the €220 it will cost you to eat there.
We instead found a cute little place right next to our AirBnB. More on the disaster later.
Rosso Trattoria
It’s small, but busy. We were lucky to get the last table, even though it was after 9.
This is the lower level, there’s only three tables down here. But very cute. The stonework is amazing.
We could tell right away this was going to be a bigger dining experience.
An amuse bouche, an orange soup.
Delicious, who would have thunk it?
Plus some bread. Warm and very fresh. Plus some bruschetta. Very tasty.
But with so many teasers am I going to actually want dinner?
A starter caught my eye.
In house made ricotta cheese, served warm, with peaches.
Very interesting. I would have preferred less cheese, more peach. And I liked the cheese after it has cooled a bit more than when it was warm.
A very nice concept though. The mild cheese with the acid from the peaches worked really well together.
After all that food already though we are definitely skipping Segundo and ordering just a pasta for our main.
And that Primo ended up being one of the finest pasta dishes I have ever had. Ever.
L’Orecchietta, with slow cooked lamb, peas and a special, rare regional cheese, Podolico Caciocavella.
It almost appears that the chef individually stuffed each “ear” with one pea. The lamb was tender and oh so flavourful. And that cheese made a sauce unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. I was seriously tempted to order a second plate.
Merilynn also just did a pasta. Also one she very enjoyed.
Strascinata, with wild greens and Ricotta. Absolutely delicious, the greens giving a fresh but earthy flavour to the dish.
Nothing heavy for dolce tonight, but something light and fresh to cleanse the palate. An in house made lemon sorbet.
Which finished things off nicely.
Six months ago, while we were planning this trip I imagined all the great food I would be eating in Italy.
This meal is exactly what I pictured.
10/10