Cetaria

This beautiful restaurant inland from Salerno is run by an enthusiastic couple, with Salvatore at the helm in the kitchen and Federica front of house. The dining room has an intimate ambience and just a few glass tables arranged under a high ceiling which evokes the palazzo’s historic character. Federica’s service is attentive and courteous (she won Michelin’s 2024 Service Award), offering recommendations from the excellent wine list which also features a good selection of wines by the glass – she also painted two of the works of art exhibited in the dining room. In the kitchen, Salvatore uses recipes and ingredients from the region to create mainly fish-based dishes which he reinterprets in a decidedly contemporary and imaginative style, using skilful techniques and extravagant and stunning presentation. The top-quality ingredients are sourced from a local kitchen garden, as well as from a small family farm in Federica’s native Calabria. On the “Amore per il mare” (Love for the Sea) tasting menu, we particularly enjoyed the fragrant, generous flavours of the different small bites served at the beginning and end of the meal, as well as the exquisite bluefin tuna, mushrooms and miso, and the risotto with yellow plum tomatoes, raw red prawns, fingerlime and aromatic herbs.