Thursday was a day out for us. We hired a driver through the hotel and went to lunch. But this was not just any ordinary lunch. A friend (thank you Te Rina) recommended a restaurant called Relais Blu which is located just outside Termini at the tip of the Amalfi Peninsular. It has a clear view of Capri in one direction and across the Bay of Naples to Napoli and Vesuvius in the other.
It is a magical place.
The restaurant (which is in the Relais Blu hotel) boasts a Michelin star and was also the venue for one of the meals in the movie “The Trip to Italy” starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. If you haven’t seen the movie, you should.
We took this as an opportunity to go all in, selecting their 7 course dégustation menu with matching wines. It was a perfect way to spend 3 hours and to taste the best that the coast has to offer. We are in no way food bloggers but we attempted to document the meal for all to see – you may notice the occasional photo fail but that’s only because some courses were just too tempting.
We also had the restaurant to ourselves which made the whole thing surreal as the entire waiting staff fussed over – well, just us.
After lunch we went to Sorrento – just a few minutes drive down the road from Relais Blu – to do some shopping. We always shop best after 7 “glasses” of wine each.
For us Sorrento is special. We’ve been there in summer and winter. We’ve seen it grow and change as more and more people visit – the blessing and curse of tourism. Last year the town turned it’s main street – Via Corso – into a pedestrian zone which, contrasted with the smaller streets and alleyways either side has made a huge improvement to the town.
We spent two hours there visiting some favourite shops we know and some new ones we didn’t. When our driver collected us and was storing the shopping bags in the boot, he thanked us personally for our contribution to the local economy.
Happy days.
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- Who is this arriving at Relais Blu for lunch?
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- Question answered
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- A seat with a spectacular view of Capri
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- Same view, different person
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- Jean waiting to be seated in the restaurant
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- Some bloke waiting to be seated in the restaurant
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- Pre-lunch drink – blue of course
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- Sea Bass two ways – carpaccio with tomato tartare and crusted with buffalo mozzarella foam
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- Flying Squid with black bread with orange and cheese
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- Whoops – looked so good, forgot to photograph it first
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- Fig Ravioli with courgette chips and cheese foam
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- Sea Bream with savoury and sweet vegetables
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- Lamb three ways – and we forgot to photograph it first.
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- Tiramisu with fennel ice cream
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- Delicious nibbley things with dessert
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- Limoncello to finish, of course
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- Dinner that night – a far more humble affair
The Relais Blu website is worth a visit. Having seen a little of the hotel we will definitely stay there for a couple of nights next visit.
toscanakiwi 