Salerno: "The Duke" Of Italian Cuisine And Value In Beautiful Salerno

Il Duca

Via Giovanni Da Procida 27
84121 Salerno, Italy
Phone number: +39 089 221435
Prices: €€€€

I was very impressed by Salerno and its Mercatini di Natale and that is not an easy thing to do, but I may have been even more impressed by our dinner at Il Duca ("The Duke").

I lived a 40-minute drive from Salerno for three years and have through it on many occasion, but I recently visited the city for the first time. We took the train from Napoli Centrale to meet one of my wife's friends and visit Salerno's renowned Mercatini di Natale (Christmas Market) ... and, boy, am I glad we did!

Salerno is a city of 130,000 people on the sea with fabulous views of the Amalfi Coast. The lungomare, a path along the sea next to the main road in town, is gorgeous and the buildings lining the street opposite the sea old and majestic. During the holidays , lungomare is the residence of numerous vendors displaying their wares, including ceramics, local delicacies and liqueurs, sweets of every variety, puppet shows, clothing, candles, and many other enticing things ... aka Mercatini Di Salerno.

Across the main street lining the lungomare is the oldest part of town (centro storico) with its narrow, winding streets, alleys, and piazzas lined with marvelous centuries old buildings on all sides. We stopped for dinner at Il Duca, a small restaurant and pizzeria that had an enticing tourist menu posted outside, enjoying a delightful and inexpensive dinner of pizzas, pasta, meat, bread and local wine.

The restaurant was cute and inviting from the outside, being in a historic building with small tables with tablecloths and a pizza oven blazing in the back. We had a good feeling about the place when seeing the menu posted outside: €8 for pasta (primo), a meat dish (secondo), fries or salad (contorno), and mineral water and just €6 for pizza and a drink? That is unheard of these days in Italy, so we had to inquire and entered.

They had five choices of pizza, including Margherita, Salame, and a couple others, normally at a price of at least €6 to €7 without a drink anywhere else. When I asked, I found that the Menu Turistica di Terra (tourist menu without fish - meat instead - €8) consisted of a local pasta in a cheese and tomato sauce with bacon ... sounded good to me ... and the meat dish had steak, cream, rucola and parmigiano ... SOLD!

We ordered a litre of local red wine (€8) for the three of us, a bottle of mineral water (€2), two pizzas off the tourist menu, one Margherita and one with ham (no tomato sauce) for my tomato-hating wife, and the Menu Turistica di Terra for me.

The wine was good, as is the case most everywhere in Italy, being a deep red, slightly chilled and robust. The pizzas quickly followed. Normally, I would not be happy with entrees arriving so far apart, but I know from experience that Neapolitan-style pizza takes less than two minutes to make - 30 seconds to manufacture and 90 seconds to bake. So when the pizzas quickly arrived, I had to wait at least 10 more minutes for my first course. I will just say that I was not disappointed by the wait.

The oval dish was packed with a local pasta, reminding me of cicatielli, a pasta made in the region of my grandparents near Ariano, Irpino, about 60 miles inland. The sauce was to die for ... a yellow cheese sauce made with bacon, tasted like the creamiest, most decadent macaroni and cheese I have ever had ... it was scrump-diddly-umptious. If that were not enough, the meat dish shortly followed, a decent sized portion of sliced beef in a creamy sauce infused with fresh ruccola that was absolutely delicious.

Unfortunately, it was time to catch our train back to Naples, so we left, continuing toward the station on streets filled with Christmas lights and throngs of people shopping or out for a Friday night stroll in the chilly late December air. The buildings became newer and newer as we walked southbound along Corso Vittorio Emanuele toward the station, but the charm of the town remained even as we reentered the 21st Century.

We will be back to Salerno and even contemplated making a home there, either permanently or temporarily, as we ease into retirement. At the very least, I will ritorno a salerno (return to Salerno) with my wife in the not too distant future to enjoy this lovely, historic seaside town as well as Il Duca.

CombatCritic Gives Il Duca 9 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Nine Bombs Equates To:

"U.S. Marine Response To A Verbal Greeting Or As An Expression Of Enthusiasm"

Read Reviews By CombatCritic:

Yelp - Elite '14/'15/'16/'17

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Read Chris S.'s review of Il Duca on Yelp

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Title: Salerno, Italy: "The Duke" Of Italian Cuisine And Value In Beautiful Salerno

Key Words: Il Duca, il, duca, duke, Salerno, Italy, Mercatini di Salerno, mercatini, market, Christmas, pizzeria, Pompeii, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, restaurant, menu, review, Yelp

Florence, Italy: Il Pizzaiuolo: This "Pizza Maker" Does It The Traditional, Neapolitan Way ... Delicioso!

Il Pizzaiuolo

Via dei Macci 113R

50122 Florence, Italy

Near Mercato San'Ambrogio

Phone: +39 055 241171

Website: ilpizzaiuolo.it

I wrote an extensive review in 2012 on Il Pizzaiuolo, so I will not bore you with too many details or flowery prose. Leave it to say that in parts of Italy, Rome and northward, good pizza is hard to come by. Most visitors do not realize that this is authentic pizza napoletana (not "Napolean", he was the squirt of a French dictator), equaling some of the best pizzerias in Naples (Napoli), the home of pizza and the best in the world.

Just around the corner from the wonderful Mercato Sant'Ambrogio and a five minute walk from Santa Croce, Il Pizzaiuolo has only around 15 tables, so the place is small and hard to find a seat after 8pm. Beside pizza, they have starters, pasta, meat, and fish dishes, but pizza is their specialty. On this visit, one of many in the past, we decided to try their frittura (€8 - fried things), including arancini di riso (rice balls), croquette di patate (potato corquettes), and montanare (fried pizza dough with a little tomato sauce). Their were just two of each (six pieces total) and a disappointment compared to what you would get in a Naples pizzeria for the same price (€8 gets you 25 pieces of the same). They were good, but there should have been more or it should have been much cheaper (€3 to €4).

I had a Neapolitan classic, pizza con salsiccia e friarielli (fior di latte cheese, sausage, and broccoli rabe sauteed in olive oil and garlic - €10) and it was wonderful. My wife's pizza quattro formaggio (four cheeses - €8) was also excellent with loads of mozzarella, gorgonzola, ricotta, and provola cheese. As is usual in pizza napoletana, the dough was thin and chewy, only crisp enough to hold the toppings without getting soggy and with little splotches of burnt crust from the fiery wood-fired oven. Perfetto!

My only complaints, other than the women's toilet being rather filthy on this visit (my wife told me, I did not see for myself) are the fact that you can only get wine by the glass or bottle, no liters or half-liters and that the prices are a little steep compared to Naples, but those are small discrepancies when you are eating un'oltima pizza napoletana (excellent Neapolitan pizza) in Northern Italy!

CombatCritic Il Pizzaiuolo 8 Out Of 10 Bombs ... Bombs Are Good!

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Title: Il Pizzaiuolo: This "Pizza Maker" Does It The Traditional, Neopolitan Way ... Delicioso!

Key Words: Il Pizzaiuolo, pizzaiuolo, pizza, pizzeria, Naples, napoletana, Neopolitan, Florence, Italy, Firenze, restaurant, ristorante, menu, Sant'Ambrogio, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, review, guide

Marina of Ascea, Italy: Super Value, Nice Variety In A Beach Town With Few Dining Options

Da Franco

Restaurant and Pizzeria

Via Elea 213

84046 Marina, Italy

Phone: +39 0974 972979

Facebook Page

Prices: $$$$

For a tourist/beach town, Ascea is noticeably lacking in a selection of decent restaurants, particularly on "the Corso" or main street. We went to Pizzeria and Ristorante Da Franco with a friend who lives in Ascea. The restaurant is at the far end of Corso from the town center and they have a reasonable €15 menu del giorno (tourist menu; primo, secondo, contorno, coperto, servizio) for dinner. It is quite big inside, but being a nice evening we sat on the small terrace in front on the street. The service was very attentive and good. 

I went with the menu del giorno and a primo of penne boscaiola (meat, mushrooms, and peas) with scallopina ai funghi (meat scallops in mushroom sauce) as my secondo and patatine (french fries) for a contorno. The boscaiola was creamy, earthy and robust, the scallopine light and savory, and the fries crispy and hot. An excellent meal at just €15.

My wife and her friend had pizza which was as good as expected in Southern Italy, particularly anywhere within 100 miles of Naples. The crusts thin, yet sturdy enough to hold the toppings without getting soggy with just the right amount of tomato and other ingredients, not too many and not too few.

Da Franco was quite a good value in a beach town with remarkably few options, particularly for those on a budget and is recommended when visiting Ascea.

CombatCritic Gives Da Franco 8 Bombs Out Of 10 ... Bombs Are Good!

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Title: Super Value, Nice Variety In A Beach Town With Few Dining Options

Key Words: Da Franco, franco, Ascea, restaurant, ristorante, pizzeria, pizza, menu del giorno, menu, giorno, review, travel, value, Campania, Italy, Italian, pasta, CombatCritic, TravelValue

Florence: An Outstanding Lunch Value, Possibly Overpriced As A Dinner Option

Osteria dei Centopoveri 
Restaurant and Pizzeria
Via Palazzuolo, 31r, 50123 
Florence, Italy
Phone: +39 055 218846
Website: centopoveri.it
Prices: $$$$

Air conditioning on a 100+ degree day in sweltering Florence, Italy ... HOOAH!

Tortellini Panna Prosciutto Con Piselli

Reasonably priced at €10 for a two course lunch, including wine, water, service and tip, this osteria (it is not spelled "ostaria", just like pizzeria is not spelled "pizzaria") and pizzeria is one of many value options near train station Santa Maria Novella in Florence. There are better and worse, but the food and service were pretty good and the price excellent.

Insalata Caprese

The restaurant is large and our group of six were quickly seated even though they were pretty busy. Five adults ordered off of the fixed price menu and the lone, very hungry child ordered a Margherita pizza, what else. Four of us had the tortellini panna prosciutto con piselli (ham, cream, and peas) for our first course and one had the pasta alla Sorrentina. The tortellini were mass produced, but very good, and plentiful served in a creamy, garlicky sauce with diced ham and peas. The sauce was so good that I ignored my wife's pleas and performed "scarpetta", cleaning my plate with the fresh, local bread and happily consuming it. The pasta all Sorrentina did not look all that appetizing, but what could we expect in Florence? There was no sauce, only a small amount of crushed tomato and a little mozzarella mixed with a lot of store-bought pasta.

Frittata di Patate

The very hungry child did not receive his pizza until after our second courses were served, but he was very patient nonetheless. A pizza lover, he was not impressed by his pizza although it looked good from where I was sitting, so 3/4 of it went uneaten. Our main courses were the Caprese salad, frittata de patate (potato omelette), and scallopine ai funghi (pork cutlets in mushroom sauce). The Caprese was decent with fresh fior di latte (cow's milk), not mozzarella di bufala (made with water buffalo milk in the region of Campania) as you would get in and around the Island of Capri, its namesake. The dish's signature fresh basil leaves were notably missing and replaced with lettuce, something you would never see in Southern Italy, but it was not bad at all. The frittata di patate was pretty good, although my wife did not think it was good as her friend Giovanna (from Naples) mother's version. Giovanna had the scallopine, which she said was "so-so", coming in a thick, creamy mushroom sauce along with green beans on the side. It looked good, but I did not taste it, so I cannot corroborate her evaluation.

Scallopine ai Funghi

We received a liter of local red wine for the five of us, five bottles of water (we had been walking in the 100 degree heat for four hours), and five after-meal espressos with the bill coming to a very reasonable €60.50 for six people, a relative bargain in Florence. The menu is basic, nothing fancy, but the food good and the value exceptional. They are quite a bit pricier for dinner, in the €25 to €40 range per person, so lunch is a major value.

My only complaints were: 1) the child did not get his pizza as fast as he should have; 2) the sparsely adorned pasta alla Sorrentina; and 3) the lack of basil on the Caprese Salad, otherwise we were quite pleased with our meal.

CombatCritic Gives Osteria dei Centopoveri 7 Bombs Out Of 10 (3.5/5 Stars) ... BOMBS ARE GOOD IN THIS CASE!

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Title: An Outstanding Lunch Value, Possibly Overpriced As A Dinner Option

Key Words: Osteria dei Centopoveri, osteria, centopoveri, restaurant, pizzeria, Via Palazzuolo, Firenze, Florence, Santa Maria Novella, Italy, menu, review, travel, value, pasta, wine, pizza, CombatCritic, Yelp, TripAdvisor, tourist

IT'S "THE BOMB" ... Great meal, superior service, outstanding value ... as good as it gets for the price!

Pizzeria La Tavernetta

Viale San Modestino, 5

83013 Mercogliano, Italy

Phone: +39 0825 787020

Prices: $$$$$

Santuario di Montevirgine

My iPhone decided to go on the fritz again while my wife and I were spending the night at a hotel in Mercogliano, a hillside town about 30 miles (50 kliks) east of and a world away from Naples, Italy, after visiting the famous mountain top abbey called Santuario di Montevergine. The Abbey of Montevergine has been the site of religious orders dating back to the 12th Century and sits almost 5,000 above the base of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples. It was reportedly the hiding place of the Shroud of Turin during World War II and is home to the massive and celebrated Byzantine painting on wood of the "Madonna" (Blessed Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus).

Baked Scamorza and Porcini Mushrooms - €10

Anyway, back to my crappy iPhone. We were searching for a place to eat on TripAdvisor (because there was a dearth of reviews in the area on Yelp) and found an excellent option, Pizzeria La Tavernetta, which appeared to be in close proximity to our hotel, Hotel Mercurio. However, when I clicked on "Directions", both Google Maps and Waze could not pinpoint my location even though "Location Services" was enabled on my iPhone. So, we decided to do it the old fashioned way and ask the hotel desk clerk. He took us outside and pointed to the restaurant next door and sure enough, it was La Tavernetta ... HOOAH!

As we entered, we were greeted warmly by the pizzaiolo and one of the owners apparently. There was a smattering of occupied tables in the large dining room and a party of about 35 celebrating a birthday at the long table next to ours. I began to become concerned after 10-15 minutes of being mostly ignored by the waiter and thought about going elsewhere, but I knew he (the only waiter) was overwhelmed by the large group and decided to wait.  Am I glad we did!

Antipasto San Valentino - €8

The owner came over and apologized shortly thereafter and the young waiter was nothing less than superb from that point forward. We started with a bottle of mineral water, the local red wine, and the antipasto San Valentine (€8), a massive plate (plates actually) filled with various salamis, prosciutto, guanciale, two medium balls of mozzarella di buffala, two bruschette (plural of bruschetta, which is prounounced brew-sket-ah, not brew-shet-ah as most Americans do), black and green olives, as well as marinated and roasted mellenzane (eggplant), mushrooms, and carrots. Accompanied by a basket of bread, it was a feast in itself, well worth the €8, and we nearly filling before our main courses arrived.

My family comes from a town about ten miles away and the wine was a bit drier than the local wines made there, but it was dark, fruity, and robust, an excellent value at less than $5 a bottle.

Sausage and Frierielli Pizza - €6

I had been craving my favorite frierielli (broccoli rabe) and sausage pizza for over a month and seeing it on the menu had no other choice even though they have a nice selection of primi (pastas), secondi (meat dishes), and contorni (side dishes - potatoes, vegetables, etc). The pizza was as big as any I have had in Naples, the home of the best pizza in the world, and one of the best sausage and frierielli pizzas I have had, including Naples. The crust was perfect, thin yet firm and slightly crispy (unlike Roman pizza which is like eating a cracker with tomato and cheese) and was well covered with fresh mozzarella, broccoli rabe, and large chunks of fresh, sweet sausage. The waiter read my mind and offered "olio piccante" (a spicy olive oil flavored with peperoncini) before I could get the words out of my mouth, adding just the right amount of spice to accompany the perfect pizza.

My wife had the baked scamorza, a stronger tasting cousin of mozzarella found mostly in Southern Italy, and porcini mushrooms (€10) and again we were not disappointed. Two large melted balls of cheese topped with just the right amount of sauteed porcini mushrooms was filling and delicious.

We stopped to talk to the owners, brothers I take it, on the way out and were treated to a small complimentary glass of "digestivo", in this case a local green liquore reminiscent of absinthe, but made by the abbey monks from herbs found on the mountain slopes near Sanuario di Montevirgine - a perfect ending to an outstanding meal!

Unlike many reviewers, I give the maximum number of "bombs" (stars) rarely (as you can see from my rating distribution here and on Yelp combatcritic.yelp.com and TripAdvisor). My ratings are based strictly on "bang for the buck" and for €33 plus tip, this was a meal deserving my five-star rating and I can safely say that Pizzeria La Tavernetta is "THE BOMB"!

CombatCritic Gives Pizzeria La TavernettaThe Coveted 10 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

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Menu

Menu

Title: Great meal, superior service, outstanding value ... as good as it gets for the price!

Key Words: Pizzeria La Tavernetta, pizzeria, la, tavernetta, Apple, iPhone, pizza, pasta, antipasto, frierielli, broccoli, rabe, sausage, scamorza, Viale San Modestino, montevergine,

83013, Mercogliano, Italy, CombatCritic, TravelValue