Accursio, Modica
Our Sicilian odyssey began in Catania where we arrived from London and met up with friends for a brief catch up. The next morning they went one way and we another, our destination - Ragusa. On the way, we stopped off in Piazza Armerina to visit the fabulous Villa Romana del Casale (more about that in my upcoming Sicily blog post). And then we had lunch in the town of Caltagirone and climbed the colorfully tiled 140+ steps of Santa Maria del Monte. Once in Ragusa, we decided to change our dinner reservations in Modica to the following day’s lunch so that we could relax enjoy the hill town of Ragusa and not feel rushed.
The following day we took the ‘scenic’ route to Modica which took longer than the usual 20 minutes but the drive was fun. Modica is another impressive hill town comprised of an older low city and ‘newer’ high city, the steep hills and cliffs connecting upper and lower Modica make for very dramatic winding roads, stairways and bewildering intertwined buildings, passages, vistas and spaces. Our lunch destination, Accursio, located right by Saint Peter’s Cathedral, off Corso Umberto I, is tucked away in a quiet lane. This low key restaurant belongs to Accursio Craparo known as the chef of two Sicilies. He is originally from Sciacca on the west coast of Sicily and has settled and opened his restaurant in eastern Sicily merging and expanding on the flavors of both regions.
We ordered the 4 course tasting menu although you can order a la carte if you prefer, the whimsical tasting courses were app+pasta+main+dessert, plus freshly baked bread, amuse bouche, pre-dessert and cookies. I had two pastas and had no dessert because I couldn’t choose between the “Seafood Medley”, (sea urchin, clams, red prawns, oyster, caviar, seaweed) and “Scillian Symphony”, (anchovies, tuna bottarga, green onion, wild fennel and toasted bread crumbs), I still can’t tell you which I liked better. Our servers Sergio and Melody were lovely and the wine that Sergio recommended (which I forgot to note) was excellent. And impressively, Sergio managed to stretch the wine throughout our leisurely lunch. If you find yourself in Sicily, I urge you to dine at Accursio and try their 6 or 8 course tasting menu, which I will do next time.
Accursio Via Grimaldi, 41 97015 Modica (RG) +39-0932-941689
