Large mixed vegetable plate, changing daily, at Un Sorriso Integrale
As seen in an earlier post, seafood often dominated our orders in restaurants. Great seafood often proved easier to locate than the vegetables we found ourselves craving.
Un Sorriso Integrale – Amico Bio Napoli was our salvation. We probably ate there five or six times for vegetable catch-up days. The selection is diverse and always changing to take advantage of the best vegetables of the season. And all are amazingly inexpensive. Always start with a dish of their spicy, truly spicy, fried chickpeas. Rather than make up my mind, I loved getting their mixed plate, which comes with a bowl of soup and six different vegetable combinations. The Mister was hooked on the wok plate. Oh, and a little picante chocolate soufflé to round out the meal.
Anonymous Trattoria Gourmet paccheri alla bufalina
Pizzeria Errico Porzio Vomero genovese and margherita pizzas
Re Lazzarone ravioli
Anonymous Trattoria Gourmet contorni
Olio & Pomodoro salad
Sorriso Integrale falafel
Sorriso Integrale vegetable stirfry
Anonymous Trattoria Gourmet pasta e patate
Godot Restaurant eggplant parmigiana
Re Lazzarone oriccette with broccoli and speck
Trattoria Scugnizzi margherita pizza with eggplant
Trattoria Scugnizzi Vomero fried pizza
Godot Restaurant croquettes
Re Lazzarone chocolate mousse
Trattoria Scugnizzi Vomero antipasti part II
Sorriso Integrale chocolate souffle picante
Sorriso Integrale spicy fried chickpeas
Paccheri, an extra-large tubular pasta, seems to be a favorite regional pasta, with good reason. Antipasti combinations, such as the five-plate selection spread over two photos at Trattoria Scugnizzi Vomero, invite exploration. Two distinctively Neopolitan dishes we tried once but failed to understand their popularity were pasta e patate (pasta and potato is quite a starchy overload) and fried pizza (way too much fried dough).
Most of these restaurants are frequented by locals and were mentioned in the seafood post, so this time around I will just post their links to click in case a photo inspires you to investigate whether to add them to your list of places to try. Since most of these are not tourist-dependent, I am hoping they will survive the current slow-down.
Foolish me. I thought the Royal Palace we visited earlier in Naples was lavish enough to suit the needs of the royal court, but Charles III (his later Spanish title) (1716-1788) had yet more grandiose ideas. He desired a new site for his capital, one farther removed from the coast to prevent invasions by sea and, most importantly, one with a palace to rival Versailles.
In 1752, Charles commissioned architect Luigi Vanvitelli (1700-1773) for the massive project, Reggia di Caserta, on land to the east of Naples. The result: 1,200 rooms on five floors making the palace 118 feet tall. Almost 500,000 square feet occupying 11 acres. The architect was able to employ the finest materials – travertine from Bellona; bricks from Capua; gray marble from Mondragone; white marble from Carrara. Immense single blocks of lava stone from Trapani were used for each step of the grand stairway that divides into two parallel flights of stairs of 116 steps guarded by two white marble lions.
But Charles as King of Naples never got to reside in his dream palace because he had to move on to a bigger role as King of Spain. So the incredible digs were left for his son, Ferdinand (1751-1825), and his wife, Maria Carolina of Austria (1752-1814), to finish. If sibling rivalry existed, Maria Carolina should have been more than pleased with the palace. Her sister, Maria Antoinette (1755-1793), spent much of her time at Versailles with her husband, King Louis XVI of France (1754-1793).
Maria Carolina was a proponent of enlightened absolutism until she became alarmed by the revolutionary ideas spreading through France. She began work in earnest to transform Naples into a police state. The abrupt end to her sister’s life intensified and helped justify those efforts. Needless to say, this did not enhance her popularity, but no matter. The monarchs soon had to flee as Napoleon conquered their kingdom; although Ferdinand would return later with assistance from Austria.
Grand Staircase
Grand Staircase
Osteria da Miducci pacchero
film crew member rearranging furniture
Movie prop
lion guarding Grand Staircase
actors scurrying to change for next scene in 2019 film
Osteria da Miducci half-moon pasta
actors scurrying to change for next scene in 2019 film
Osteria da Miducci eggplant parmigiana
actors scurrying to change for next scene in 2019 film
Enough politics.
In addition to keeping Vanvitelli occupied until the end of his life with finishing out the royal palace, Ferdinand and Maria Carolina enlisted him to design a Royal Park worthy of such a palace. The queen’s English garden covers 30 acres. The king’s mile-long fish pond provided a stage for him to float elaborate mock naval battles for the entertainment of his guests. A grand cascade of water was installed on the summit of a hill opposite the palace. Oh, and a 24-mile aqueduct, a hydraulic architectural feat, was built to keep the water flowing.
UNESCO/NHK Video
Walking a couple of miles exploring all the secret gardens filled with sculpture and fountains had been our plan when we hopped aboard for the short train ride from Naples. But, alas, the beauty of the palace and grounds of Caserta had attracted the attention of another. A film production company.
Not only were crew members scurrying around installing special lighting, rearranging furniture and adding props (see the sculpture of the man brandishing his sword astride a bear with a double-headed eagle crest on the door behind him) inside the palace, but they were filming a scene on the grounds. Meaning we were not invited. The scene we saw filmed involved a huge cast gathered to greet the important occupants of an arriving coach (no photos allowed). There are several photos above of cast members scurrying through a courtyard of the palace to prepare for their next scenes.
The film? The crest indicates a period piece focusing on Russian royalty. But the production is hardly the first to take advantage of the sumptuous palace. Think Queen Amidala’s royal palace on Naboo in Star Wars Attack of the Clones and The Phantom Palace. Angels and Demons directed by Ron Howard in 2009 and Mission Impossible 3 with Tom Cruise in 2006. And then Richard Dreyfus portrayed architect Vanvitelli himself in Caserta Palace Dream.
Caserta Palace Dream, 2014
In 2017, Stephen Spielberg found the grand stairway ideal for a parade of cardinals for his film, still in production, The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara.
And one need not starve. We dropped in Osteria da Miducci and ordered eggplant and pasta before the table of locals next to us began receiving their heaping platters of seafood. Our freshly made pasta was perfect, but envy surfaced. Not sure I could have cleaned it down to the bones the way the presiding gentleman with the Godfather voice did, but I would have ordered his whole fried fish, which arrived plated perched upright on its fins as though it swam there voluntarily, for the snapshot alone.
May 14, 2020, Update: And the filming was for Hulu’s “The Great” premiering on May 15.
September 28, 2024, Update: And now, Conclave opening in October.
“Leftovers” from a crudo platter at Pesheria Mattiucci
Maybe that photo is not appetizing, but it does represent how incredibly good and fresh the platters of raw fish served at Pesheria Mattiucci are. The freshness is key for the fishmongers who run this small place that still resembles more a fish market than a dining spot. Each type of fish on the platter is paired thoughtfully with an appropriate fruit, light sauce, herb or fresh flower to compliment its individual delicate flavor.
By all appearances, the Pesheria is not our kind of place. Only a handful of no-backed stools awkwardly perched at metal counters with no leg room. And no red wine (The Neapolitans worked hard to reform us on the importance of pairing their dry white wines with raw seafood, and we must admit they are right.). But despite the humble surroundings, the seafood was so amazing we went twice. Oh, and the fishmongers can cook fish perfectly, too.
The other “best raw seafood” spot for us during our stay was in the Vomero neighborhood. Panamar was only marginally more formal, part of the trend of chefs who want to focus on food – tablecloths and tableside service be damned. Sandwiches are their specialty, and they begin with large firm buns.
Our favorites? The fuoritonno with cubes of red tuna, smoked burratina cheese, sundried tomatoes, smoked eggplant cream and fried arugula; and the mezzosalmone with cubes of salmon, buffalo mozzarella, grilled zucchini and a sauce of honey and red peppers.
Stritt Stritt paccheri pasta with monkfish and eggplant
Godot cod and bean stew
Antichi Sapori broiled seafood
Pesheria Mattiucci baked fish
Godot seared tuna
Anonymous Trattoria Gourmet polpo insalata
Godot gnocchi with piselli and calamari
Panamar tuna tataki
Ristorante L’Ostricaio seafood salad
Trattoria Scugnizzi Vomero gift from the kitchen
Pesheria Mattiucci salmon with herbs
Pesheria Mattiucci wine bucket
Godot linguini with clams
Re Lazzarone daily fish
Antichi Sapori cured salmon
Ristorante L’Ostricaio seafood arancini
Panamar fuoritonno panino
Anonymous Trattoria Gourmet paccheri with seafood
Re Lazzarone alici fritte
Pesheria Mattiucci crudo
Pesheria Mattiucci crudo
Godot fried calamari and polpo
Stritt Stritt paccheri pasta with seafood
Anonymous Trattoria Gourmet alici fritte
Panamar seared tuna
Since those first two restaurants were seafood-centric, I pulled out most of the other seafood photos from our stay in Naples. Several of these places will be mentioned again later.
We had gotten hooked on fried anchovies in Spain, and found them abundant in Campania as well where they are called alicci fritte. With a squeeze of fresh lemon, pretty addictive. The pasta most associated with Naples is paccheri, sort of like giant rigatoni.
Perched at hightop tables on a fairly busy street, we loved the casual neighborhood vibe of Re Lazzarone downtown near the Archaeology Museum. Anonymous Trattoria Gourmet is tucked away on a lower street downtown in a location that helps keep it anonymous from tourists. The inside is spartan but packed with locals.
Godot, up in the Vomero neighborhood, is pricier and still well off the tourist track. Loved the gnocchi with peas and calamari. And the surprising find at the end of the trip was on the fringe of Vomero, Trattoria Scugnizzi. An inexpensive place popular with neighbors that seems way off the visitor radar. The only photo included with this post is a sample of the chef’s daily seafood pasta special, a sample because he was disappointed we already had over-ordered.
Postcards from Barton Springs 