Orignally published in Conde Nast Traveller
TAVERNA DEL CAPITANO
Marina di Cantone, on the road from Punta Campanella to Positano (00 39 081 808 1028). The Taverna del Capitano is one of the best restaurants on the Amalfi coast. It is located on the ground floor of an unassuming hotel above the beach. Serves delicious seafood and exceptional desserts. Closed Mondays in winter and most of January and February. If you haggle down by the quay at Positano, you can arrange for a boat to take you there. Try Gennaro e Salvatore (00 39 089 875 475).
LA CAMBUSA
Positano (00 39 089 875 432). Down by the main beach, in the shadow of the church dome, there is a handful of bars and restaurants including La Cambusa. Open all year.
LO GUARRACINO
Positano (00 39 089 875 794). Lo Guarracino is situated along the path that winds around the headland, above the ferry ticket booths to the Spiaggia Fornillo, the best of the town’s two beaches. Serves simple, honest seafood with prices to match and is a good place to watch the sun set. Closed Tuesdays and Christmas to Easter.
LA CARAVELLA
Via Matteo Camera 12, Amalfi (00 39 089 871 029). Located on the seaward side of town, above the remains of an old arsenal, La Caravella serves excellent seafood and a mouthwatering panna cotta dessert with lemon marmalade topping. Closed Tuesdays and the entire month of November.
A PARANZA
Traversa Dragone 2, Atrani (00 39 089 871 840). A great place for fresh seafood, straight off the boat, cooked in a variety of simple but delicious ways. The seafood antipasti alone would justify the visit. Closed Tuesdays.
CUMPA COSIMO
Via Roma 44, Ravello (00 39 089 857 156). A bustling trattoria not far from the Duomo. It is somewhere where you can enjoy a fishless meal, not always easy around these parts. Closed Mondays in winter.
ROSSELLINI’S
Palazzo Sasso Hotel, Ravello (see Where to Stay). This world-class restaurant was built around Calabrian chef Antonio Genovese’s concept of taking relatively simple dishes, such as insalata di pane (bread salad), and recasting them with new ingredients. Pino Lavarra, the former executive chef at the London Hyatt Carlton’s restaurant Grissini, took over from Genovese in summer 2001.
PALAZZO DELLA MARRA
Via della Marra 7-9, Ravello (00 39 089 858 302). Housed in a restored 12th-century villa below the main piazza, the restaurant does its best to offer a creative alternative – based on fresh local produce – to the standard Amalfi Coast seafood experience. The wine list is strong on reasonably priced Campanian wines.
L’ARSENALE
Via San Giovanni a Mare 20, Minori (00 39 089 851 418). Minori is connected to Ravello by ancient steps that descend past some fine old churches. This tiny place is set back from the main road just before the beach and is a good stop off point on your climb back to Ravello. Its rendition of the local pasta speciality – scialatielli ai frutti di mare (thick, hand-made spaghetti with seafood) – is well-nigh perfect. Closed Thursdays in winter.
ACQUAPAZZA
Corso Garibaldi 36, Cetara (00 39 089 261 606). Acquapazza restaurant is situated in the pretty fishing village of Cetera. Preserved fish is the local speciality, especially tuna in oil and anchovies, which are salted in ceramic pots with weighted tops. It is also probably the only place in the world where you can still find the famed Roman fish sauce garum (referred to by the locals as colatura di alici), which is today produced in the late autumn in minute quantities, strictly for home consumption. Closed Mondays in winter.