"We no longer go to the restaurant to eat, but to live an experience. This is what happens to Le Lampare al Fortino, one of the most scenic restaurants in Puglia. Overlooking the tourist port of Trani, overlooking the cathedral, it offers a cuisine anchored to tradition, combined with experimentation with techniques and combinations. Password: absolute respect for the raw material.

In addition to the scenographic exterior, Le Lampare al Fortino offers an intimate and evocative environment in the former church of S. Antiono, a 11th century building recovered from abandonment. To direct the team there is Antonio Del Curatolo, patron of the restaurant, on the front line with his since the first days of the emergency. At the start of the "At your home" delivery project, which started on April 29, it was he who wanted to deliver the first courses to customers in order to review them and thus strengthen the bonds built in twelve years of activity.

The approach to delivery and reopening

«The delivery was a reaction to the moment of emergency. Today, being a chef and restaurant owner means working first of all by passion. Spending many hours in our restaurants has made us want to re-establish contact with our customers. This challenge, which could be ambitious due to our demanding target, led us to devise a card not so far from what we were doing even before. I made the first delivery myself: it was a unique emotion. "

Le Lampare al Fortino did not reopen on May 18. «By taking advantage of the lockdown, we are preparing well. We have renovated our rooms, creating a new concept of terrace: a real glass lounge, which will dominate the port of Trani. In this way it will be possible to do outdoor dining even in winter ". The reopening date is scheduled for 29 May. Meanwhile, the delivery will still be available. «This service is appreciated by those who cannot go out or who want to integrate an evening with friends, with gourmet dishes, difficult to replicate at home.

The dish of #OggiDelivery

The dish chosen is the Homemade tortello with cheese and liquid pepper, with raw red prawn and black summer truffle. «It is a dish we are very close to. Raffaele Casale, the chef who passed away in a tragic motorcycle accident on August 16, 2017, created it. It is a symbol of our charter, which our current chef Domenico Di Tondo continues to reproduce , explains Del Curatolo.

"We like simplicity of this dish: in the end it is a homemade egg pasta tortello," explains Del Curatolo. «It is filled with a cheese and pepper liquid based on seasoned podolico caciocavallo, therefore of marked intensity. Combined with pepper, it creates an explosion of intense but bewitching taste, then softened by the elegance of the raw red shrimp. The artist's touch is the truffle sheet, which changes according to the seasons. The dish is finished with a meat base, created with the ancient recipe for roasting bones and offal ".

"We created a small contest around this dish," adds the restaurateur. «We send a video to our customers with the unfolding of the dish. Whoever interprets the composition best, by photographing it, will be rewarded with a candlelit dinner on our new one . The results will be announced in conjunction with the inauguration of the new terrace.

The wine paired

For the Tortello cacio e pepe red prawn and black truffle, Antonio Del Curatolo relies on an identifying wine from Puglia: Tramari, rosé of primitive from San Marzano.

Text by Stefania Leo