NARDO IN PUGLIA'S SALENTO, southwest of Lecce

From CEGLIE MESSAPICA, we moved on to the gorgeous city of Nardo, second largest in the province of Lecce. Very few tourists can be spotted here, unlike nearby Lecce and the well-known towns of the Valle d’Itria (Ostuni, etc)

This is a perfect base for visiting Gallipoli and the beaches of the Ionian Sea. But the weather is too cool for beaching now (mid-October,) so we’ve wandered the historic center and had two dinners so far.

First dinner (no photos) was at RINTOCCO, on the main piazza and recommended by our hotel (Palazzo Tafuri) on a Monday night when many restaurants are closed. This is more of a cafe/bar than a restaurant and, the location on the (gorgeous) main square means that I would have passed it by. But we had a very good, small dinner, with both of us ordering eggplant Parmigiana, which was presented inside the skin of en eggplant half and was really good. (20 euro for two portions.). Photo of exterior, only:

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There’s a gelateria a few steps away, where I discovered for the first time the flavor, fondante, a word that chocolate lovers should keep in mind when visiting Italy. Such rich chocolate flavor, the color is almost black.

Last night our hotel, again, booked a table for us at TRATTORIA SALANDRA, on a tiny street off the main piazza, for good Salentine food. Evidently, this is a popular address for locals, as people began to pour in beginning at opening time, and the small restaurant filled up quickly. (They also prepare orders for takeout)

I’d estimate that about ten singles and groups were turned away at the door. The menu features classic dishes of Salento, with many suitable for vegetarians. Pricing is exceptionally reasonable as compared to the US, with pastas beginning at 5 euro (al pomodoro)–that’s the lowest I’ve seen for a pasta on this trip.

We both chose the spaghetti with polpettine (9 euro each); who says that one cannot find spaghetti and meatballs in Italy (??). I’d always thought that to be true, but I was wrong. With the pasta, we shared an order of chicory, cooked a long time until it turned an unappealing dark green, but it was so tasty! (4.50 euro) Nothing fancy but a good bet for traditional food (and atmosphere)

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Piazza Salandra, the main piazza of Nardo.

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Obligatory visit this to the nearby DESPAR (chain supermarket) led me to, among other items, these fruits (note prices as compared to US:). Fichi d’India, pomegranate, and quince. I bought persimmons, in season now and so sweet.

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Note to Ziggy: I remembered your comment about the clementines in Salento, so tried one, but it was awfully sour!!! I think you were here around the same time, so I will have to further investigate!! Meanwhile, this photo is for you!

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Tonight I’ll take a chance of driving in the dark (it’s the parking more than the driving which I find trying) and head to the coast, to the picturesque little beach town of Santa Maria del Bagno. We had an excellent fish meal about 12 years ago at ART NOUVEAU, facing the little beach cove, and the hotel host assures me that the quality remains.

Good stuff. I was away myself, so need to catch up with the rest of it.

I honestly dont remember the clementines in Salento but I’ll take your word for it. I’m starting to forget things, according to Mrs Z at least.

I fear that Mrs. Z may be correct (unless, of course, it’s me losing my mind which is probably not too far off) because I remember reading about the Salento clementines somewhere in your blog!!! Now, if only I can remember how to find your blog…!!!

I do remember that you dashed in and out of the towns with no trouble..a pasticciutto here, a bombolini there…does Mrs. Z stay put in the car? Because I’m fine with the driving around here but the parking is another story. Do not want to get a second 42 euro parking ticket in the same week!!!

I wanted to go back to LA PURITATE, because your pic of the salt-crusted shrimp is knocking me out. But when I mentioned that, the guy at the hotel, who has no ink in the game, warned me that Gallipoli now is a hotspot for car break ins. Sounds pretty paranoid but what do Ii know, it’s been a hundred years since I was there, only for lunch at La Puritate.

aw, dont get scared off by local prejudices! When we moved to our block in Brooklyn, everyone who visited us got their cars broken into - because they left stuff like Christmas presents visible in the car. That left them reluctant to visit again even though it was their own insistence that hurt them. Or we had the guys who walked around and checked trunks to see if they are locked. Thats mostly over now but you know the drill and would not leave stuff in view here or in Italy, would you? or leave your car unlocked? I hope you take the risk and report, Id like to hear more about Gallipoli

I usually look for parking lots with most reviews on Google Maps. Whether they are good or bad, doesnt matter much. I get in trouble where I come without a plan. She comes with me everywhere. It just that sometimes, the towns are so small, it takes less than an hour to see everything we want to see.

All of sudden, weather has become more like Scotland than Salento. Pouring rain with no end in sight for days!!!

Gave up the idea of ART NOUVEAU due to weather and general laziness.

A couple of restaurants in Nardo were closed on Wednesdays, so we ate in the hotel, which has a good rep for food and certainly a lovely, contemporary design. No pics but I’d recommend the restaurant in hotel PALAZZO TAFURI.
The best dish of a small dinner was my partner’s “slow-cooked” chicken, deboned and about the tastiest bird I’ve had in a long time. Expensive for Nardo, the chicken cost about 24 euro and came with a bed of sliced potatoes. Hotel is French-owned and they say their menu is Italo-French, which seems about right. While we usually avoid hotel restaurants, such caution was not needed and I’d recommend if you happened to be staying in Nardo and want a break from the usual Salentine dishes. Limited menu; changes daily.

Ziggy, thanks for the idea on parking. I’ll pop the parking lots into the GPS, instead of the restaurants, from now on.

Last day in Nardo, we took the 15-minute drive to “their” beach: Santa Maria al Bagno. I love this little seaside town, with its pretty, sandy cove.

For lunch yesterday, we returned to ART NOUVEAU, a “fancy” white-tablecloth place housed in a beautiful old palazzo with a striped stucco facade. it’s much more formal than the typical eatery of Salento and although I loved it the first time, in 2012, this visit turned to disappointment. That might not be fair, though, since we ordered only three dishes.

There are two dishes featuring (dried) spaghetti with fresh tomatoes and lobster–one with Canadian lobster and the other, for ten euro more, with Mediterranean blue lobster. Against my advice, my partner chose the Canadian.

This was not good and it’s obvious the lobster had been frozen; texture and taste of the half lobster were poor. I imagine that “Canadian” means Nova Scotia, since many of the “Maine lobsters” we get in NY actually come from there and they can be great. This was not:

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My dish, gamberoni from Gallipoli, alle sale, was an attempt to try one of the dishes that Ziggy loved at La Puritate in Gallipoli. I looked t his photo and a crying took hold. But the medium-sized shrimp were so covered with salt that, even after peeling, I got a mouthful of it. The order contained five medium sized shrimp and I left one, untouched, on my plate.

The chicory, on almost every menu in mid-October, was again, long cooked, doused with some good oil, and very, very good. I must try long-cooking my dark greens back at home.

I think that the restaurant has potential, but we were not fortunate in our ordering. Last time I loved their spigola (sea bass) alle sale and was tempted to order that, but oddly, they only offered a 2-kilo fish, nothing smaller. How do they know what size the market will offer on that morning? Why are all of their spigola exactly 2 kilo? (50 euro; suggested for two persons)??? I regret not asking more about this.

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Do not rely on GPS to find it; ours led us to a completely different address, about a km away from our destination. There is a large paid parking lot very close to the restaurant.

Lunch cost 64 euro; they forgot to bring my glass of wine but quickly corrected the bill.

Restaurant is inside the striped, 19th-Century palazzo; look at the color of the water, even on a dreary day. Lovely walk along the Lungomare, gazing out to the Ionian Sea. (I wanted to stay in this town but could not find a hotel that seemed suitable for us). But it’s an easy drive from Nardo.

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Sorry about the mishaps. I suppose you have no choice but go to Gallipoli and risk taking the train back. At La Puritate they serve it table side individually.

Looks wonderful. And I can definitely imagine how salt-baked shrimp would become a problem.

Re; driving & parking. I’m another who pre-Googles parking lots, ascertains they’re outside any ZTL, sets my GPS to the lot, and then hoofs it into the center when going on day trips. But I can see this would be more difficult for you with your partner’s mobility/pain problems.

I made an error in the description of the pasta dish we had at TRATTORIA SALANDRA in Nardo. I thought they were careless and had some orecchiette slip into the boiling water with the cavatelli. But today, in the CONAD (big Italian supermarket chain) in Savelletri, I looked at the dried bags of pasta and, sure enough, there is a pasta named “maritati” which is a mix of both cavatelli and orechiette. I imagine they can be cooked in in the same pot of boiling water, as long as cooking times are the same. A good idea to keep in mind at home, if you have some leftover pasta–mix it with another shape that has the same cooking time:

Leely, yes..the issue is with the partner (who I should name: Jeffrey) who cannot walk far, but now that we are in Savelletri, I will begin dropping him off at the restaurant and driving to parking, and join him at the destination. Savelletri is small and there are new restaurants since we’ve been…

This site has been helpful, and so far, pretty spot on; we are not staying at the BORGO EGNAZIA, but at the Rocco Forte property, TORRE MAIZZA.

I saw this kind of dried pasta mix sold in Naples too. We might even see it in Brooklyn if we looked