Traveling to Naples in March11, have three days on my own before a week of work - time in the evening to see some of Naples i have not seen in past trips. Spent a day on Ischia, never to Pompeii/Amafi or Capri. Would like to stay overnight on one of the islands, then a night in Pompeii/Amafi - recommendations please. I am very interested in the culinary side of the region. If anyone knows of foodie things to do I am all stomach!

For someone interested in local food, a trip to the village of Cetara on the Amalfi Coast would be essential. Cetara is a picturesque fishing town that is all but ignored by most tourists, except those who are in-the-know about food. There is a hotel there that gets good reviews, and there are three SlowFood restaurants in the town.

http://www.hotelcetus.com/hotels.html

Obviously I'd recommend coming here, but there's also cute little Procida, on our doorstep where we've often eaten surprisingly differently.

For pictures of both, and other nearby places, start here...
http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/tele

You'll find a short history of Cetara, and how-to-get-there details, on the public transport ticketing agency's website...

http://www.unicocampania.it/index.ph...&action=cetara

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Produced by the Regione several years ago, this nice leaflet on Campania's gastronomic and wine delights is apparently only available now from one of the local B&B sites - but it's well worth a look nonetheless...

http://www.bb-napoli.com/english/specialities-guide.pdf

(Do tell - is that as drool-inducing for a chef as I find it?)

Those who like to have their Italy compiled for them seem to think well of this...
http://www.amazon.com/Food-Wine-Guid...=pd_rhf_shvl_6

Italian visitors tend to be more interested in seeking out the area's DOP and IGP products. I can't find an English version of the list of those from Campania, but these look to be fairly comprehensive....

http://www.agricoltura.regione.campa...ici/indice.htm

(That seems the better one, with links to producers' associations - at least some of which do have English)

or

http://www.agriturist.it/agriturist....oSottoMenu=265

If it's not a lesson in sucking eggs, those various labellings - much like the ones used for wine - are explained here...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protect...aphical_Status

Peter

Thank you both for the quick post. This will be the 4th trip to Naples, generally filled with work to get too far away from home base. I will look into all you have suggested, but Peter, I am very interested in knowing more about Ishcia/Procida and/or Capri. What restaurant recommendations, slow food-ish would I be kicking myself for missing?

....and yes, my mouth waters when I see pictures like this. To me it represents the essence of good solid home foods.

If you spend the night in Pompeii, we love this place:
http://www.hotelforum.it/ Its clean, lovely and inexpensive. It's right near the scavi and in the village.

I only had a week on Ischia, two seasons ago, so I lack the expertise of Peter, who is a resident. However, my vacations are always planned around eating. I can virtually assure you that this restaurant will not disappoint. The trouble is that you have to either take a taxi to get there, or take the one of the buses that circumnavigate the island, and proceed to walk on a steep include for about 15 minutes to reach the restaurant. Almost everything on the menu comes from the proprietor's own land. An added plus, if you are not fluent in Italian, is that he speaks English very well. Prices are moderate. We dined here twice during our stay, happily enduring the trek to get there from Ischia Porto.

http://www.trattoriadapeppina.it/

Will get back to you tomorrow - tonight we're off to enjoy one of the restaurants that's just this week reopened from hibernation!

Peter

Let me just start by recommending that you check with anywhere you're thinking of going - to make sure they'll be open! With such a late Easter, some places won't be rushing back into action...

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You'll find lots online about Ischia's most famous meat dish, which is based on semi-wild rabbits that are traditionally nutured in artificial warrens, carved into the soft tufa rock.

Conditions, and the pressure for land, mean that little other livestock is farmed here - a very few sheep, the odd goat and, I believe, just a single herd of pigs - and they very rarely appear on menus!

Those rabbits however are one of the specialities at our best-known SlowFood restaurant, Riccardo D'Ambra's 'Trattoria Il Focolare' - up near the village of Cretaio, above Casamicciola. For my take on how to get there, see....
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-to-ischia.cfm

Don't expect to just chance upon anywhere serving the rabbit dish - almost universally you have to pre-order it the day before, and of course get the whole rabbit, which will do as an almost complete meal for 2, or even 4, as it's served as sauce and pasta, followed by the jointed animal with perhaps a vegetable or two.

Otherwise, here and on Procida particularly, the cuisine's mainly based on fish, which is almost always prepared very simply so as to show it at its fresh best - and shellfish, often as sauces for pasta. Plenty of places offering that sort of thing, although few ever make it to, or seek, the heights of international recognition!

Along one side of the harbour at Ischia Porto there's a run of restaurants that makes the area not unlike the Borgo Marinai by the Castel dell'Ovo, if you're with me?

The island's best winebar/enoteca - "Un Attimo DiVino" - with whose chef we've often eaten very well, is near the far end - photo and link to a press review here...
http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/112946894

He's definitely open now, and we're overdue a visit - have to get there soon, the first of 2011's white wines are usually released some time in early March!

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Forio, on the western side of the island of Ischia, generally has a longer season, since they benefit from the sun right through until when it sets into the horizon...

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/127731783

A lot of the early season visitors though tend to be on full-board deals, and don't necessarily provide much trade to encourage restaurants to open - but it might be the area to look if thinking of Peppina di Renato - whose website says they'll reopen on 24 February, but then fails to mention which year!

We don't spend a lot of time on that side of the island, but it's where most of the hotels are - and, up in the hills especially, lots of the sort of simple restaurants that are so popular with visitors in the season, and locally for weddings and such dos... but probably not open in March!

The Pietratorcia winery has a winebar in the town where we've enjoyed a nice lunch... on a pedestrian alley off Via Marina, behind the church of San Gaetano..
http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/110607273

Details, and phone number, here..
http://www.pietratorcia.it/ita_web/Info/info.html

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We first visited Procida in late May one year, and ate alone in different places for several evenings - so I wouldn't like to guess what March could be like! However, on a nice day, it's lovely down at any of the several fish places along the Coricella waterside...

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/more_proc

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Hope that's a start, though I can't help with Capri!

Peter

thank you Peter, more than I could have hoped for, but do keep the info coming. The restaurant mentioned on top of the volcano looks very interesting as do many of the other things mentioned by all. If anyone else has more on area restaurants that are open or area bakeries do let me know, I am very interested. Wish I was coming later int he spring, but I'll take Italy when I can.

Thank you - Michael