Wonderful Baroque Architecture and Superb Regional Food In Three Puglian Towns

The Italian Baroque flourished in the South more than in the North, but while many would suppose that Naples exhibits the grandest face of that flamboyant style, it is in Puglia, where it is most exemplary in a finer tone. So, too, the food of the region had been adapted to a modern style showcasing the seafood and ingredients of the region.

Otranto, like so many towns on the coast of the Adriatic, was always ripe for invasion and rule by others, including the Byzantines, Ottomans and French, protected by the massive Castello Aragonese since the late 15^th century. Its most magnificent sight is the Cathedral, begun in 1088, and home to extraordinary mosaic floors throughout the basilica. The first Gothic novel took place there: The Castle of Otranto by English author Horace Walpole.

The great pleasure of Otranto is walking its seaside walls at dusk and twilight then to enter its maze of romantically lighted streets. Nearby the Cathedral is one of the city’s finest restaurants, L’Altro Baffo, whose name, “the Other Baffo,” referring to how Cristina Conte left her father’s very traditional ristorante, Al Boffo, to offer her own take on regional cuisine.

Within the kitchen she’s hired cooks from the Far East and Africa, who have influenced her daring style, best appreciated in the fixed price menu of 80€ (à la carte also available), which on the night I visited included crudi of the day’s fish (25€); maccheroni with redfish and a white fish sauce, dusted with Mediterranean powders (29€); mussels with a gratin of breadcrumbs and pecorino (14€); linguine with anchovies and red sponzale onions (20); croaker with foie gras and fermented cabbage (23€); local lobster with cicala shrimp (15€); and for dessert cannoli stuffed with preserved fruits and orange foam (9€). Everything is presented on individual china, some dishes on skewers, so that it is all unique to Conte’s creativity.

Lecce is one of Italy’s oldest (2,000 years), most beautiful and richly Baroque cities, called the “Florence of the South,” entered through its old triumphal portal (1548) onto broad streets whose buildings are made of a cream-colored limestone called “Lecce stone” that is easy to carve (they also used papier mâche for some of the effects.) Its Church of the Holy Cross is an astonishment of filigree adornment, completed in 1695. As a university town it has been home to a broad array of famous Italians in the last century.

One of its most delightful, remarkably inexpensive trattorias is the five-year-old La Cucina di Mamma Elvira, a casual and very cheery place, rustic and busy; the food is wholly dependent on first-rate ingredients like the lustrous prosciutto and capicola (14€), the creamiest of burrata (a Puglian specialty), pureed fava beans and chicory (7€) and terrific meatballs with a rich tomato sauce (14€).

Galatina is a mid-size town with a modest Baroque center with a late Romanesque church dedicated to Saint Catherine with very fine frescoes by Francesco d’Arezzo. Here, one of the most modern restaurants of the region, is Stella del Mare, which actually dates back 100 years as a fish shop, now run by the third generation Mino and Martina and Chef Toti. It’s set on two level with a wide open kitchen, and there is a black board menu listing the day’s specials that are smoked in a special glass enclosure.

You begin with fried lentils that are like popcorn and some fritters of chickpeas called pettule to munch on. There is also a long sushi section of the menu (in English), with dozens of species from 12 to 15. There are menu tasting options at 25€, 30€ and 40€. Everything is done with dazzle here, including risotto with smoked green tea and a tartare of shrimp (22€); a carbonara style of blue fish (18€); gnocchi with a ragù of dentice (18€); monkfish with lentils and lardo fat (20€); paccheri pasta with octopus ragù; and linguine with sea urchins (22€).

Food of the kind I’ve described here would not be found outside of Puglia—some of the seafood species would be a rarity—and prices are very gentle everywhere. A splurge with wine (tax and service included) would be half the price it would in Florence, Venice or Rome, and the romantic baroque all around you is free.