The Food Maven Diary
[Archives]

[Previous Entry] [Diary Home] [Next Entry]

05/14/2007 Archived Entry: "Naples Hotel and Restaurants"

You all should know by now that I love Naples and go there frequently, at least four times a year, in conjunction with my Cook at Seliano Culinary Vacation sessions, which are held in Paestum, about an hour and 15 minutes south of the city. Need I also mention that my book, Naples at Table: Cooking in Campania is the first and most complete work in English on the subject of Neapolitan food.

This is all by way of explaining why I have more Naples tourist information for you. Not many Americans go to Naples. They think it is dangerous. And I can sort of understand why you might be more attracted to Florence, Venice, and Rome on a first trip to Italy. But, I urge you, if you have already gone to these heavily traveled cities, try Naples next time. Try Campania.

Last weekend, I happened to catch a documentary about Naples on the Discovery channel. It said that the city has more important art and architecture than either Florence or Venice. (Rome is another story.) That may seem surprising to you. But I always say Naples has endless fascination. It's not just the art and architecture, or even the food, as good as that can be. Neapolitans are the most kind and welcoming people in Italy. You will have more and better human experiences in Naples and the surrounding region of Campania than almost anywhere else in Italy. (The exception are the cab drivers, who I always say are the last crooks left in the city.) Being on the street with Neapolitans is a treat. The streets are a treat. The views from almost everywhere are a treat. And from Naples, by commuter train, you can visit ancient Pompeii (its basically a suburb of the city) and ancient Herculaneum (another short train ride), the two most imporant ancient Roman sites in Italy, as well as Sorrento. You can take a hydrofoil or ferry to Capri or Ischia. The Amalfi Coast is nearby. Ancient Paestum, with its unbelievably well-preserved Greek temples, is nearby -- as is my cooking school in Paestum. Okay, I can go on and on. We all know that.

Rooms in Naples
Costantinopoli 104 is a small hotel in the heart of the city, just steps from Spaccanapoli, the oldest quarter. It is on a lovely street, Via S. Maria di Costantinopoli, where the city’s famous art school is, plus several fine antique shops, and print shops. Down the street is the excavation where you can see the ancient Greek walls of the city, in the Piazza Bellini, and Bellini restaurant, where I eat excellent pizza, their house specialty of spaghetti with seafood baked in parchment, and great grilled fish, among other delicious things.

The hotel is a restored private villa with modernized, very nicely decorated rooms, plus the only outdoor swimming pool in Naples. Even if you never swim in it, its amoeba shape adds to the atmosphere of the courtyard. The villa is in a private courtyard behind another private courtyard, and there is only a discrete sign on the street to let you know it’s there. In short, it is a tranquil oasis in the center of a chaotic city.

Only drawback: There is no elevator in the three-story building. However, there are ground-level rooms around the swimming pool/garden courtyard. If your room is on the top floor, though, you are rewarded with a small table and chairs outside your door, and the communal roof deck with lounges at your disposal. Bonus for everyone: Free internet access in a small computer room. With a nice buffet breakfast, the cost is 210 euro a night for a double.
via S. Maria di Costantinopoli 104
tel: 011-39-081-5571035
fax: 011-39-081-5571051

Restaurants in Naples
The following two restaurants are not listed in my website guide to Restaurants in Naples, but they are currently among my favorites, actually must-eat places if you are going to Bella Napoli. The first, although a very simple restaurant, serves superb seafood and fish and is, admittedly, quite expensive, for fresh fish is very expensive in Italy, as it is here. The second is a moderately priced place that serves many standard dishes of the Neapolitan repertoire, including excellent pizza.

Da Dora is a tiny, unprepossessing restaurant on a tiny street off the main street that runs behind the Villa Communale, Naples biggest park, which itself runs along the sea. But there’s no need to search your map. Every cab driver knows Da Dora. Every concierge knows Da Dora. It has the reputation of having the most impeccable fish in the city. Without pretensions.

Since there are so few tables, it’s good to make a reservation. They are open for both lunch and dinner. At both meals, you will not only eat extremely well, you may well be entertained by a postegiatore, a traveling musician who plays guitar and sings Neapolitan songs. Your waiter is likely to be Tony, who speaks some English because he was once posted at an American base in Antarctica. Over his desk was a map of the U.S. There was not much to do in Antarctica. He memorized the map, which is how he knows all the state capitols and likes to quiz American guests to show off: “How many state capitols, and which, start with the same initial as the name of their state?” That’s a typical Tony question.

What to eat? Among the antipasti you may want to try new-born fish, neonati, or fragaglie as they are called in Neapolitan dialect, miniscule white things with a faint flavor of the sea, either sautéed with a whiff of garlic in olive oil, or fried into little pancakes, fritelle. All the fried things are wonderful, as they frequently are in Naples. You should move on to the pasta with mixed shellfish – linguine Dora – which is with whatever was best in the market that day. Or simply order spaghetti with clams. Remember that Neapolitans prefer their pasta (in this dish anyway) cooked much firmer than you are probably accustomed to. Ask for it a little more cooked, if you don’t want super-firm pasta.

If you want to eat more, have simple grilled fish. If you are feeling splurgy, take a lobster. Or have the lobster with linguine.

I’d save room for a gelato taken while walking around nearby Chiaia, the fancy shopping district, after lunch. You will certainly need a walk. Oh yes, drink Falanghina, the crisp, mineraly white wine that Neapolitans favor with fish.

And tell them that Schwartz and Baronessa Bellelli Baratta sent you. We often bring our groups here.
Via Ferdinando Palasciano, 28/30 (a block off Riviera di Chiaia)
Tel: 081-680-519, also 081-660-762

Europeo di Mattozzi is one of Naples’ most beloved restaurants. Businessmen from the nearby financial center of the city frequent it at lunch. You’ll see families and couples in the evening. Only lately, however, through a glowing piece in Travel & Leisure magazine, has it become known to the few tourists who go to Naples. The homey standards of the Neapolitan table are all prepared very well, with the best ingredients. The old-time atmosphere, with copper cookware hanging on one wall, a hodgepodge of mostly mediocre paintings hanging on another, and some ceramics hanging on yet another, make it very much of its place.

The restaurant has been owned by the Mattozzi family for more than 100 years. Currently, you are likely to be greeted by the very welcoming smile of Alfonso Mattozzi, although his equally hospitable daughter, Fabiana, is often present as well. If you haven’t eaten your fill of mozzarella di bufala by the time you get here, then by all means order it as an antipasto. You’ll get a large cheese that is easily split by two or three, although it takes only one Neapolitan to finish it off. Any of the fried items are stupendi, including fried zucchini flowers (in season), fried neonati, newborn fish, also called fragaglie in Neapolitan dialect, or maybe a mixed fish fry, or just fried calamari (a revelation if you have only eaten our tasteless squid). Seafood salad, insalata di mare will also shock you with its sea flavor. The minestra, meaning what I like to call “the pasta and” first courses, are particularly good here – pasta and potatoes, pasta and beans, pasta and lentils, pasta and squash. The pizza is outstanding. The grilled fish are a good choice for a main course -- by no means obligatory if you have filled up on antipasti and pasta -- but follow the lead of Signore Mattozzi. He recommends only what’s best that day. Of course, tell him Arturo Schwartz sent you.
Via Campodisola Marchese, 4 (near Piazza Bovio, also called Piazza Borsa)
tel: 081-552-1323