The best way to explore Sicily’s history and cultural influences is through its food scene. Whether you’re looking for Michelin-starred restaurants or simple locals café with the best Sicilian food around, here are some of the best restaurants in Sicily.
Everything about Don Camillo demands your attentions for at least two hours of your day, this gastronomy visit is not one to be rushed. Expect that blend of confident, meticulous and charismatic service that’s found in its purest form in old Italian restaurants, along with the finest ingredients and three tasting menus.
Chef Guarneri’s has created a renowned fish-focused Sicilian menu, with great emphasis placed on the wine pairing as much as the beauty of each dish. Menu highlights include the tuna steak with Nero d’Avola, and a Nebrodi black swine roast, not forgetting the most divine selection of Sicilian puddings.
The restaurant itself is an elegant old timer – a wrought iron chandelier, softly uplit tufa walls, carved arches and stacked wine bottles make for an intimate setting.
Don Camillo, Via della Maestranza, 96, 96100 Siracusa SR, Italy
ristorantedoncamillosiracusa.it
The restaurant with a zero-kilometre food philosophy, using herbs and citrus fruits from the garden and trawling local markets for fresh ingredients, Zash won it's Michelin star in 2019. Southern Italy’s top chef, Guiseppe Raciti, created an experimental take on Sicilian classics. He lets the ingredients do the talking and avoids the theatre of traditional tasting menus in favour of more substantial, but equally as thrilling, dishes.
Offering a casual Breakfast menu of fresh smoothies, fruit and granola, through to a hearty lunch where red wine from the famous Sicilian estate can be enjoyed alongside plates of ravioli and meaty mains. Make a return for dinner when the numerous menus showcase the artistic sense of Zach, named quite literally Earth, Sea, Undergrowth and the Caviar and Truffle tasting menu - the lobster curry, peanuts and orange is a particularly scrumptious choice.
Zash Country Boutique Hotel, Strada Provinciale 2 I-II
N60, 95018, Riposto, Sicily Italy
Seek out Era Ora Ortigia for a wildly delicious pizza experience. Fine, seasonal ingredients are selected in combinations that ignite the senses. Starting with the doughs that are formulated
to meet every taste, from semi crispy with 55% hydration, to soft honeycombed, to high hydration dough fried at 180 degrees and then oven baked. Toppings range from smoked sword fish and mint, to Zucchini and steamed bacon to beef carpaccio and seasoned truffle. Be pleasantly surprised with the most unexpected combinations at this contemporary pizzeria.
To accompany, there’s a cellar of wines and craft beers to compliment makes the tasting experience, in every sense and if you choose to immerse yourself even further in the flavours, opt for the ‘tasting menu’ which includes 7 courses.
Riva Giuseppe Garinaldi, 10, Syracuse, Italy
Tel: 3773615548