Ekscrunchy, I have always enjoyed all of your travel and food reports and trust your coomentary.
I wonder now why we didn’t much care for Matera. We had slept in a cave room in another area and couldn’t wait to escape! I think we labeled Matera poorly due to that earlier claustrophobic, damp cave room experience in another city. Therefore we skipped booking a cave room in Matera. Did we make a mistake?

Happy: Some of the cave hotel rooms can be damp so you should read reviews. This one is perfect, so perfect and rustically gorgeous that I cannot bear to tear myself away. This hotel is VERY pricey but there are others that are dry and just fine...LOCANFDA SAN MARTINO is one of these where we stayed last time and I do not remember that it was damp.

One thing: Matera has TONS of uphill streets and steps. Forget fashion..bring comfy rubber soled shoes, and in some caves you need to wear them inside due to the uneven and sloping floors, and steps even to the bathroom. A flashlight would be useful also.

Dinner in Tursi cost about 55 euro, by the way (had lost the bill but found it). Prices in this area are so reasonable as compared to regions further north. And there is no connection of "small portions!" Ii can NEVER finish a whole order of pasta here. Last night at TRATTORIA STANO, to which I give a top recommendation, we shared one cheese assortment and each had one pasta. I should have asked for a half order but did not and as a result, I ate about half of my order!! I actually brought the rest back to the mini-bar because it was so smashing I could not bear to leave its behind!

STANO is supposedly among the oldest restaurants in Matera and has spiffy new premises now, not in the sassi. F
fantastic waiter, who told us long tales of his fall hunts for porcini, and how the local cardoncelli mushrooms grow in the remnants of cardoons in the fall!!!! He showed us photos of his hauls of porcini which filled boxes and boxes in the trunk of hhis car! I told him I want to move to Matera (new town, which is gorgeous, by the way).

I will write about the new town and the market, and STANO, later.

Our two-night stay in Matera was just miraculous! It was very hot so on the one full day we had, I went alone to the Mercato central on Via Persico..small food market with some interesting fruits including fichi di India and passion fruit. Grapes. Peaches (I've not had a great one here yet, surprisingly, but with so much rich bounty, no matter.

I LOVE the upper town of Matera, around the Piazza Vittorio Veneto (buzzing at noon yesterday!) and would like to investigate renting a flat here for a month or so when it is not so hot. It's just one of the prettiest towns in the south, even apart from the sassi. At the market, I bought only some spicy taralli ( a specialty of Puglia) and a half kilo of cicherchie. I just had so much fun wandering around, truly better alone since I was able to linger and look at things the partner would have no interest in!!!!!

Last night, as I mentioned, we had a wonderful dinner at TRATTORIA STANO at the edge of the upper town...highlight was cruschi peppers with bread crumbs with cavatelli (I make my peppers at home with roasted tomatoes but our lovely waiter told me in no uncertain terms: NO!!!!! The tomatoes will make the bread crumbs soggy and of course, he is right!!!!!

The restaurant was .very long walk for my partner in the rain, so we took a taxi (first time here) for 12 euro back to the hotel. The meter begins at 9 euro as soon as you enter the vehicle.

Checked out at noon and were taken by hotel shuttle to the parking garage where our car was waiting....extraordinary services to be expected from a most extraordinary hotel..unlike any other I've been to!

And I was the driver for the hour or so (give or take, since GPS DOES NOT WORK SO WELL IN THESE PARTS!!!! Partner was ready to give up but there was no way I was going to miss Sunday lunch at MASSERIA BARBERA, outside Minervino Murge...back and forth we went on the deserted road. Back and forth again. Finally spied one person filling up at a gas station. From The Gambia and had no idea, of course, of the location of MASSERIA BARBERA.

We finally arrived at a few minutes past 2pm and lunch was as sumptuous as I had remembered. Riccardo Barbara and his elderly dog supervise the beautifully adored int4rior which has been in his family for generations. A plaque outside commemorates his ancestor who was imprisoned by the Bourbons and was instrumental in the reunification of Italy. Chilling!

MASSERIA BARBERA has a very simple website that has been under construction since we visited in 2011! Never mind, you need no website and no reservation, apparently. Our hotel called for us and Riccardo just told us to be there by 2pm.

The kindness, the hospitality, the food.......quintesential Pugliese Murge.

We began (and ended!!) with the assorted antipasti (15 euro per person) which consisted of, among things I';ve already forgotten:

**Fried zucchini sliced as thin as a potato chip and a thousand percent better. Deep fried, with such incredible flavor.
Focaccia studded with tomatoes, which Riccardo Barbara doused with fantastic local oil from the coratina olive. (new oil is not ready yet but this was superb)
Incredible breads baked on site (the baker came out of the kitchen to welcome us!).
**Nuggets of lightly fried baccala with a white sauce (wish I had asked about it)
***Eggplant parmigiana of your dreams.close your eyes good!!
Lardo and capacolla from the Murge
***The BEST carpaccio I've ever had, beef from Podolica cattle pounded to gossamer thinness and topped with zucchini flowers and shreds of sheep cheese
***Platter of cheeses accompanied by amarena cherry jam: Burrata, ricotta, an aged sheep cheese....the burrata, invented I nearby Andria in the 1950s....well, you can only imagine how we both sighed in ecstasy! Amazing how good cheeses taste with great jam....why do more people to serve this in the US..the Spanish know this already, we are so behind on the food front!!!

And then the waiter asked which pasta we wanted!!

And which of the meats!!!


There may have been more that I cannot recall since I am almost asleep now at 9:18pm.... There was no way we could contemplate the tempting sounding mixed grill, or the Lucian pork ribs, or even the grilled donkey meat which I've learned to savor after several visits to this area..such sweet tender meat and, surprisingly the most expensive second on the menu at about 16 euro per portion.

We shared a hazelnut gelato and then, BASTA!! Total, with one glass of Puglian white wine and a bottle of water: 51 euro.

Well worth a detour...closed Sunday night and Mondays.


MASSERIA BARBERA, outside Minervino Murge, not far from Canosa di Puglia and not too far from Barletta and Trani.


From there we made our way, getting mixed up and turned around a few times (we were later told not to rely on Google maps but to use WAZE) to our next stop, now planned for 3 nights, at CEFALICCHIO COUNTRY HOUSE, a palazzo owned by a former Italian senator now run as an upscale (150 euro per night B&B).

Our room(s)---entry room, bathroom, main bedroom, and SAUNA!!! Are plain but comfortable and the handsome manager, Sabino, is as warm and friendly as they come!!! There are just a few rooms and the other guest are German and Dutch. The house sits in the midst of a vast tract of olive groves and Sabino told me that they ship a lot of their oil to Canada, under the name of AZIENDA ROSSI, the name of the owner.

Sabino is not at all keen on our idea to spend 5 nights in Termolli. I understand that he might be biased, hailing and living in, nearby Barletta, but he may have convinced me to try to cut short the stay in Termoli and add a pair of night in the Gargano.

PLEASE, anyone who has been to Vieste or other Gargano towns....what to do? Vieste is 2 hours from here, and then there would be a two-hour drive from there to Termoli,(as opposed to a one-hour drive from here direct to Termoli) but after seeing the face that Manager Sabino made when I mentioned Termoli........I've now e-mailed a Viete hotel just to see what our options are...... I've red such differing opinions on the Gargano, it is a difficult choice. I would love to be able to swim in warm water.......

Buona notte, everyone, a domani!!

Will you also go back to ANTICHI SAPORI? That was one of my all time fav restaurants of all time that I learned about from you.
I really enjoyed our Sunday lunch at MASSERIA BARBERA also rec by you.

Wonderful to see this report and read about your travels and good food. Years ago I read about your first trip to Matera and it lit a fire under me to visit that part of Italy. We ended up going in May 2014 and have never forgotten the haunting beauty of Matera and the glorious pretty tourist free (at that time) Puglia region. We stayed at the Locando di San Martino and sitting out that first night gazing out over the stasi with a glass of wine was spectacular. Just went back through my pictures and found a great plate of pasta with peppers in a restaurant near our hotel in the Sasi (maybe called Nadi) and a charcuterie lunch that we had on our first day. Thank you so much for your first TR that inspired me so much and I will look for your pictures on Hungry Onion.

MacDogMom: Gorgeous photos! I have to figure out how to post mine on this site. I can do it on HungryOnion and will write a similar report there, just about the food, once I get time.

Yestravel: Tonight in ANTICHI SAPORI and how we will navigate the roads to get there is anyone's guess! I had asked the manager here to book me a table many weeks ago and he said he would. When I called from Matera to cnfirm, they had no record and when I asked him by phone, the manager said he had forgotten by that they had a restaurant at the B&B! Thankfully, the hotel in Matera sorted it out by phone with Antichi Sapori so hopefully, they will have a table for us tonight at 8:15!!

Still thinking of cutting Termoli short and going to Vieste......it's 2 hours from here an then 2 more to Termoli. The manager here is adamant that Vieste is so much nicer than Termoli but who knows? But we will spend today art the pool here at Cefalicchio B&B and then I think I will be ready to move on, as this place is a drive to the sea and it is very hot to be scouting out other towns in the area.

I do have a problem leaving early, thinking that I will be insulting the extremely lovely manager here..but I need to get over this kind of issue!!! And then we would have to cancel 2 nights in Termoli and bee there for 3 nights instead of 5 which I think will be fine, as the beaches are much nicer in Gargano and accoring, again, to Sabino, there is "nothing" in Termoli worth seeing!!!! But what about all the fish restaurants!?!?!?! Dilemma everyone should have to face!@!!

Mangia

Bilboburgler: I am manga-ing like there is no tomorrow!!! Oh, my, everyone thing we put in our mouths is so delicious......I wish my stomach had more space, although it certainly is looking a lot larger from the outside!!! These menus have so many tempting choices and I hate to miss anything! I guess the solution is to rent a place in this area so we do not have to attempt to try all of these dishes in such a short time!

CEFALICCHIO COUNTRY HOUSE is a lovely spot to rest for a few days. Today we are spending the day relaxing; they have a decent sized pool where I swam this morning. There are just 4 rooms at this B&B. I met four Dutch travelers who are spending the week here as a base to see northern Puglia and Matera by day trips (that would not be my preference but they seem very happy). Interestingly enough,, the two men DROVE here from the Netherlands because they wanted to carry lots of their wine with them. And the two women flew to Brindisi, where they all rendezvoused!!! After their 3-week trip the two women will fly home and the men will drive back with all their purchases of (mostly) wine!!! I got a kick out of their plan, although I'm not sure why they had to bring wine from Holland to Italy!?!?

I've decided to cut the stay here short by a day so tomorrow we will take off for the Gargano, where I've not been, and stay in Vieste. I've checked availability and there are rooms in Vieste so if anyone has a strong recommendation for a hotel near the beach, that would be most welcomed. The one I've chosen so far is this:

https://www.ilcastellinovieste.it/

Eks-there’s picture/icon next to the emoji face right above the message box and I just click on that and it takes you to directions to upload files on device and then I click on photo library and chose photo and it downloads into your message. I’m using an iPad so may be different on laptop.

Hi I'm in Vieste at the moment and the hotel you're planning on staying in is just a few metres down the beach from where I'm sitting. I arrived on Thursday but wasn't too well on Friday (migraine due to start of holiday after a lot of stress). Since recovering on Saturday morning I've swum four times. Water is blissfully warm (for me), usually calmer first thing in the morning. A few waves this afternoon, that's Vieste. Plan to swim in the morning, I should. Your hotel is just across the road from the beach. Water is initially very shallow that end of the bay but it's enough to wade out a little. This is the sixth time I've been here, usually this time of the year, and the best weather ever. I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay. The historical centre of Vieste is beautiful too, the light, the colours. You'll get a good view of the dawn if you wake up about 6.30/6.45. All the best

Tina you have NO idea how much your post has assured me that we should change plans and continue to Vieste. We will leave here, near Canosa, in the morning and stay either 2-3 nights!! takes away nights from Termoli which I am sure we will have to pay for but I so much want to visit the Gargano...and swimming in warm water is my dream, always...

Let me know if you recommend any restaurants!

Thank you ever so much!!!! Will now confirm the booking!!

Yestravel: Tonight in ANTICHI SAPORI and how we will navigate the roads to get there is anyone's guess! I had asked the manager here to book me a table many weeks ago and he said he would. When I called from Matera to cnfirm, they had no record and when I asked him by phone, the manager said he had forgotten by that they had a restaurant at the B&B! Thankfully, the hotel in Matera sorted it out by phone with Antichi Sapori so hopefully, they will have a table for us tonight at 8:15!!
Lucky you! Or entire trip in that area I kept plotting how we could get back to Antichi Sapori. Funny your issue with reservations -- we had a similar problem for our lunch at Masseria Barbera and [size=13px]thankfully[/size] they fitted us in despite some big even being held there that Sunday.

We spent an afternoon in the Gargano -- from my TR we ate "We sought out one of the restaurants mentioned in the NYT article, Li Jalantuumene, where we had a small lunch. On the little balcony we shared a fabulous eggplant appetizer and a good main course. The owner was a quite humorous and we enjoyed chatting with him." https://www.li-jalantuumene.it/

NYTimes old article https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/t...nt&tntemail1=y

We one ended up ina B&B with restaurant in Puglia after a day's cycling in which we found no lunch. They offered us an unlimited meal.

We did it justice and as they closed we were asking for any spare bread

Hi eks, how interesting to switch things up on the fly in this way--sounds like Vieste will suit you. I am enjoying following along and look forward to the dining report on HO.

Love this journey ekscrunchy! Matera is now high on my wish list!

Irice: For me, Matera is among the most interesting places in Europe. And not difficult to reach.


I made the decision to check out of CEFALICCHIO COUNTRY HOUSE near Canosa di Puglia one day early (had to pay for the missed night, as expected). This morning (after a very mediocre breakfast at the B&B--although upon my request yesterday they did offer some fresh cheese--burrata and stratiacella) we packed up the massive amounts of luggage I once again foolishly brought along on the trip. When will I ever learn to pack lightly? Every single trip I wildly overpack and regret it the moment of arrival. On this trip of 3 weeks, I could have done just fine with half of the clothing I brought with me.
Who needs 6 t-shirts? 2 pairs of jeans plus 2 pair leggings? On and on and on.....I am disgusted with myself!

Anyway...packed up the car, with the carton of Senise peppers in the trunk, and set off for the Gargano Peninsula, which the GPS in the car said would take 2 hours. Sure enough, allowing for a stop at the gas station---diesel fill up 66 euro--and stop to stretch legs and chat with other leg stretchers at a lookout point, we pulled up in Vieste just a few minutes past the estimated arrival time.

I drove the entire way and it was kind of fun!! Once you veer off from Manfredonia into then Gargano the road to Vestry gets.....let's say kind of dicey. No pavement for a few kilometers which led me to think we had taken the wrong road despite the GPS instructions. But at the leg-stretching point, with a great view of the beach of Mattinata below, we conferred with a couple who had come from Vieste and they assured us that THIS was the "good road!!!!" Need mind, after about 15 km, pavement appeared and while the road was even more curvaceous than the one around Maratea (!!), there were few cars on the road and I had some fun, although I managed a high of about 50km and most of the time was driving about 30kmph or less!!!!

The Umbra Forest usually on the left and the Adriatic far below. We saw long-horned cows on the road, and as we had seen on many previous days, signs to watch for wild boars (the drawing looked like deer, but they were, indeed, warning to look out for cinghiale).

We left Canosa about 11am and were ensconced didn't our room at IL CASTELLINO RELAIS, just outside Vieste town, facing the lungomare and the beach, before 2pm. We splashed out and took the Junior Suite with a gigantic terrace facing the gigantic swimming pool and the beach and sea across the road. The hotel gives guests free access to 2 lounges and an umbrella at a lido down the lungomare, within about 300 meters..the name is LIDO VELA VEDO. WE've not been there yet as the room is quite small but nice and cool and the bed is comfy and we have that huge terrace outside. It is a little cloudy and quite hot...29C or about 84F but feels hotter although there is some breeze.

We can see the new Vieste from the terrace and the historic Centro in the distance. Tomorrow we will explore...beach and then the Centro, but for now, I think relaxation is the name of the game, with a swim in the pool a bit later.

Tonight I briefly investigated (very briefly for me) eating options and came across a Masseria agriturismo a half an hour from here that the lovely front desk women seem to think it is great..meat this time..they will call to see if they will open tonight.

https://www.ilcastellinovieste.it/


Interesting factoid about the Gargano...there is a special tv channel....Padre Pio, Padre Pio..all the time..24 hours per day!!!


We've not had any tv in English so far, but sometimes I like to see the news on RAI.....must investigate...

So glad we finally made it to the Gargano which was the very first region of Puglia I asked about on this site. So we will have to cut short our stay in Termoli (planed for 5 nights but local opinions are not so great..I's so glad we deviated from the plan..I am not sure I've ever done this save once before when I spent an extra night in Madrid and was able to change my return flight for no charge!!). Need to learn to be a bit more spontaneous.

By the way, the hotel is just short of full but was booked out last weekend! There is a couple here from New York...but for the most part guests are from Canada, Italy, Germany, according to the front desk person....I will be sure to investigate!!

Signing off for now from (so far) beautiful Vieste, Puglia, Italy!!!!!

Frustrating, just wrote loooong post about Vieste and dinner at an inland Masseria last night.
It disappeared! ICK!

Just lost the second LONG post!!!!

To come later: Dinner at ANTICHI SAPORI and an equally fabulous dinner outside Vieste at MASSERIA SAN SALVATORE.

Frustrated beyond belief! One hour lost.

oh no! Frustrating, indeed. I am getting interested in another trip to that area thanks to your TR.

Brief recap: Stay at CEFALICCHIO COUNTRY HOUSE was very nice apart from the rather meager breakfast.
Our last dinner in the Murgia was at ANTICHI SAPORI, known to locals as PIETRO ZITO after the name of the owner.


Pietro was featured in the Puglia episode on CNN of Stanley Tucci's Italy travels.


He is known for making the most of the Km 0 produce of the area, including the grano arso, the toasted remains of the wheat kernels after harvest that were gathered by the poor who could not afford white flour. The Tucci episode is very well worth watching and explains this, along with details of Mussolini's failed attempt to transfer farmland to the poor.

I've bought dry grano arso pasta before and this, and other local products, are sold at the restaurant.

ANTICHI SAPORI is respected throughout Italy and booking ahead is necessary.

Our server, Cristina, from Trento, is a graduate of the gastronomic university in Bra, about the highest culinary degree in Italy; she was there for several years and her knowledge shone through every discussion we had with her about the local food.


An example of the creative use of food scorned by the rich in past times was an ingredient in my pasta course: STALKS of zucchini..the part between the vegetable and the flowers which is thrown away in most places including in the US (at least, I've never heard of it being used there). There was purslane in the "Benvenuto" dish, the Italian namem for a complimentary "amuse bouche." The pursale topped a gazpacho-like dish of small-cut tomatoes, cucumbers,, onions and other vegetables and was wondrous.

Another complimentary dish was an egg cooked to the point of the yolk just beginning to congeal....atop a medley of local vegetables.

We had two primi and were so full by then that we canceled my partner's order of eggplant parmesan and shared a secondi of asino, donkey. This was better than the best beef steak!! Tender, sweet...just incredible. Please put aside your prior feelings when you travel to the south, where both donkey and horse are used in magnificent ways on the table of the Mezzogiorno. Take my word for it! We did not have horse this trip but the donkey 9and the goat we had last night near Vieste, are not tro be missed!!)

We were served complimentary liquori made from coffee and liquorice, and sugar-coated almonds.

When we turned down desserts due to being too full, Cristina insisted that she would pack up both a cassata and a fig crostata so we could enjoy them for breakfast the next day. And enjoy we did, as breakfast at Cefalicchio leaves much to be desired. (more on this lodging if anyone is interested).

The total bill, with coperto, water, and one glass of wine, at ANTICHI SAPORI, with 2 antipasti which I do not recall now and am too tired to investigate, was 90 euro for the two of us.

One of the finest restaurants in Puglia. Booking ahead is essential, by phone only.

https://www.pietrozito.it/antichi-sapori/

Sorry this post was not among my best...I am frustrated by losing two prior posts and will return with more details of our (now planned) 3 days stay in Vieste including a wondrous dinner at a masseria a half an hour inland from the town.


We spent this morning at the lido a short walk from our hotel and I managed a brief swim in the clear water--until I spied a HUGE jellyfish. Beach is soft golden sand, no need for water shoes here in Vieste!!

The beach attendant told me that the jellies bite but it does not hurt. But I retain fear of these creatures, so will do my swimming today, as yesterday, at the HUGE pool here at the hotel. We ahve extended our stay in Vieste to 3 nights, so will ahve a chance to swim in the sea again tomorrow. Tonight we plann to venture by car into the centro, and eat at a fish restaurant, to be determined!!