As I mentioned two posts ago, after a walk along Lungomare Santa Maria till you get to Porta Vecchia, you can walk out of the town and go to one of several little beaches and inlets along the coast.
The beaches are quite small and many people also swim off the rocks.
The first rocky beach is Cala Portchia, under the town’s sea wall, and right next to it, the sandy Cala Porta Vecchia.
The next beach is Cala Cozze and then two inlets; Porto Bianco and my destination Porto Rosso, probably not more than 15 minutes’ walk from the old town.
In Porto Rosso I went to this excellent restaurant for Sunday lunch. You can find the it on this Google map.
Lido Bianco (High Intermediate A), 3 Via Procaccia, Tel. 080 246 2030 www.ristorantelidobianco.com
This is a great place, I had a wonderful life-affirming experience here.
The first thing you see when you walk into this large restaurant is a spectacular display of seafood, some of it still very much alive. A team of workers were beavering away preparing it for the kitchen.
Having done my research I knew to walk to the back of the restaurant and walk up the stairs outside to ‘the secret garden’, basically a patio with a handful of tables on the top of the headland. A really wonderful little spot overlooking the azure Adriatic sea. I’d made sure I was the first one there when they opened so I got to pick my table.
I was in full on treat mode for this one after a hard week’s work so with the help of my friendly young waiter I ordered a seafood banquet *(the bill final came to €48) starting with their fantastic Piatti di Frutti di Mare Assorti (salmon, octopus, prawn and more) (A).
The Taglioline al Nero di Seppia con Vongole Veraci Pomodorini e Pesto di Basilico (squid ink pasta with clams, cherry tomatoes and basil pesto) was also stunning in every way (A).
Finally, some simple grilled prawns, one of my favourite things in life (A).
The Salento Chardonnay ‘Numen’ from Canitna Paol0 Leo www.paololeo.it was the best I’d had so far from the region (B+).
After a homemade limoncello (B+), and some dark chocolate and amaretti, I think I found true contentment. I insist that you come here for lunch on a sunny day if you’re in town.
Please click on the photos to see a full size slideshow.
