18-08-2017
A detail of Taverna del porto in Tricase Porto, Salento. A table perfect for waiting for a latecomer. Or if you’re the one who’s early
Taverna del porto, note this down. This recommendation will come useful especially if you’re on holiday in that extreme portion of Salento, after Maglie and, of course, before Leuca. Or in the future, during your first visit to this magical, dreamy land.
The tavern, cum pizzeria and fishmonger, belongs to the Coppola brothers, Alessandro in the kitchen and Pierluigi in the dining room. Their father, Mario, was for many years a fisherman. As for the port, it’s Tricase Porto, the seaside area of Tricase, on the Adriatic Sea. These days it’s very crowded but with a little patience everything will go well.
A tip: as soon as you’re driving close to the pier and the basin protected by the dam, very nice and cozy, park the car in the first available space. A short walk will only do you good. Leave the hill and the beautiful and central villas behind you. The tavern is to the south, towards Marina Serra, on the right. In front, there’s the seaside road, a pavement, rocks, sea, sky.
A dish of raw fish at Taverna del porto
The menu says «cucina marinara» [seafood cuisine]. The fish is caught locally. The dough, for bread and pizza, leavens for a day and a half at least, using mother yeast. Tradition dominates, but it’s not a blinkering dogma. Less than twenty pizzas, twelve classics, from Marinara for 3.50 euros to Frutti di mare for 10, plus five so called daily specials for 9.50. Elsewhere, they would have called them gourmet pizzas, a term now pointlessly used far too often, just to surprise with absurd pairings, detached from any context. In this case, instead, the pizza with mozzarella and sea urchins draws its strength from the sea urchins scattered on the surrounding rocks and seabeds.
Spaghettoni with sea urchins
The facade of Taverna del porto owned by brothers, Alessandro and Pierluigi Coppola
Taverna del porto Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo 121 Tricase Porto (Lecce) Tel.: +39.0833.775336 Website: tavernadelporto.com E-mail: info@tavernadelporto.com Closed: never, open daily in the summer for lunch and supper Average prices: the great seafood starter is 15 euros; fried fish and first courses 13; grilled fish is 14; desserts 3.50. Service charge: 1.50 euros
Restaurants from all the world told in Il Giornale by Paolo Marchi from February 1994 to the winter of 2011. And since the spring, for the readers identitagolose.it
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born in Milan in March 1955, at Il Giornale for 31 years dividing himself between sports and food, since 2004 he's the creator and curator of Identità Golose. blog www.paolomarchi.it instagram instagram.com/oloapmarchi