One of the highlights of our holiday is to eat at Adamo e Eva, the restaurant at Eden Roc Hotel. This year we were lucky enough to be seated on the panorama terrace – with the best view of Positano providing a backdrop for dinner.
The food was superb and the service impeccable. We even got a complimentary glass of prosecco to start and some chef’s treats along the way. We worked our way through the meal starting with avocado and tomato tartare, with black Venere rice, salmon, and basil cream, and crispy cannelloni stuffed with lime-scented raw tuna, ground pistachio and mango.
The main courses were sauteed sea bass with lemon-scented potatoes puree and herb-scented bread which we both had. We finished with a shared pistachio mousse in a fondant crust, stuffed with Dubai chocolate.
Many thanks to Carlo and the team, it was an unforgettable night.
Avocado and tomato tartareCrispy cannelloniSauteed sea bassPistachio mousse
Li Galli is situated about half way between the village centre and Casetta Arienzo. It has both an inside and outside area which are split by the main road through Positano so serving has the added excitement of dodging traffic. The outside bar and dining is spread along the footpath and has the most spectacular views of Positano and the bay. Stopping for a drink is a must do.
It is also the perfect place to take a break on our walk home and on a hot day, it’s a life saver. Ice cold beer and Gin Tonica are the best way to beat the heat.
We have grown to know the team over many years – Gio, Ciro and Giuseppe – and as we stagger up the hill, hot and sweaty we are spotted and a table is ready so we can collapse into a seat. Orders are known and drinks arrive as if by magic.
We’ve also had dinner there a few times over the years. This time it was special. Great food and wine and that beautiful view of the village at night. I would challenge anyone to find a better bistro meal in Positano.
The starter was salmon on bread cake (the description doesn’t do justice to the dish and, of course we ate it before we photographed it) followed by a main course – mixed seafood grill – which showcased the best of the coast, everything from langoustine through to sea bass with squid and baby octopus thrown in for good measure. Molto buono.
Jean was also tempted away from her usual Chardonnay with a local white that embodied all the best of the coast, ideal drinking for a warm summer night and a seafood meal. It was so good I even deserted beer for the evening.
One thing that makes our trips special for us are the connections we have made. And I think we can call the team at Galli our friends. In fact the lovely Gio and his partner have a standing invitation to stay with us if he ventures as far as New Zealand – plus a choice of Porshce to drive. It would be lovely to see them at our place.
Gio kindly gave us a gift when we left – an excellent bottle of red wine – which we will now take home. One evening over summer we will open it and enjoy it on our front verandah looking out across Wellington harbour – reminding ourselves of our trip and our friends on the other side of the world.
To us that is the essence of travel, and why we return.
One of the challenges at Galli Bar – working across the main roadMixed Fish Grill – deliciousDinner at GalliThrowback to 2011 – the view from Li Galli
We spotted a new addition to the Positano food scene – one in stark contrast to the usual food offerings available. Food Express 24 – burgers, fries, sandwiches, etc, bought from a hole in the wall machine that will “heat your burger in 60 seconds”. The mind boggles thinking about how this works.
I guess at 3am when you’re staggering home from a night out this may be attractive, but would you, really?
Our short stay in Chianti in Tuscany was a chance to catch up with friends – some Italian locals and some Kiwi’s on tour. For three days all we seemed to do was eat and drink and tour the small villages of Chianti.
The base for our stay was the delightful Relais Vignale in Radda in Chianti. Spread across a number of traditional tuscan buildings, this hotel is a great way to enjoy a break without being limited to the “Saturday to Saturday” villa booking cycle. The service is excellent – in fact the manager Serena went out of her way to help us when our booking was affected by our overly long stay in Hong Kong.
We met up with friends from New Zealand who were staying just up the road and our good local friends Olga and Dani. Meals were had and stories relayed.
As always when in Chianti, the surprises were off the beaten track – the small village restaurant we stopped at for lunch and the gallery where the artist told us the story behind the small print we fell in love with and bought.
But after a shortened stay we packed up our rental car with our already expanding suitcases, farewelled friends, and headed north to Camogli for a week by the sea.
Half way down the hill on the way to the beach at Positano there is a restaurant called Bruno. It started as a small indoor restaurant and, over the years, developed a great reputation for it’s food. In the last … Continue reading →
Yes gentle reader, another gratuitous dog shot makes it’s way into the blog.
Our old girl Daisy (on the right) has now reached the unlikely age of 15 years and 6 months. Despite her heart condition, her deafness and her bad eyesight, she continues to battle on. In recent weeks she decided that all the old foods she used to eat and enjoy are boring and unappetising and she effectively stopped eating. Now she will only eat all the things that are bad for her. If it’s high in salt and low in vitamins and minerals, she’s into it.
That means McDonalds McNuggets, Cherrios (cocktail sausages to all non-kiwis), store bought meat pies, pretty much everything that we would have been horrified feeding her before. But after talking this through with our lovely vet Linda the general feeling was – if she’ll eat it, then that’s good. Because if she stops eating, well, that’s very bad.
Having said that, tonight, along with Jean and I, Daisy enjoyed fillet steak – medium rare – cooked in garlic butter.
Daisy spends most of her time sleeping these days, in her basket, next to my desk in the study. It’s a safe, warm place and a friendly pat is never far away.
Yesterday I came into the study to find Daisy at one end of her basket – and our other girl Poppie curled up at the other. Poppie has been watching the extra attention being lavished on Daisy and maybe this is her way to remind us not to forget her.
Siena is full of restaurants and most of these are either fully or partially outdoor. This is particularly true of those that ring the Campo. In summer outdoor dining makes perfect sense with umbrellas or awnings giving protection from the … Continue reading →
Toscanakiwi 