Porta di Basso, the italian restaurant opened in 2003 by Domenico Cilenti. The main ingredients on the menu? Biological and wild products from the Gargano (Italy).
I want my cuisine to reflect the wild and genuine nature of my land and the captivating climate of southern Italy. I want to create a progressively sensory experience that accentuates the typical characteristics of products from our region (Domenico Cilenti)
Domenico Cilenti is a talented chef who made ‘nature’ his main ingredient, with the primary intent of extolling the richness of products from his area: the Gargano (Puglia-Italy).
His vision is seen all through the tasting menu in his restaurant.
A broad and varied tasting journey with more than 20 dishes.
From the fish caught around Gargano to typical vegetables from this land and recalling the traditional cuisine of southern Italy, with a new interpretation of the essential.
The tasting menu is a true sensory journey. From the Gargano coast to the Umbra forest, up to Lago di Varona with its special fishing tradition.
An example of this ‘culinary re-reading’ is ‘salicornia’.
The sea asparagus that spontaneously grows on the coast of the Adriatic and that Domenico Cilenti, combines with scampi or bittersweet sea-soups. Like Carpino bean soup with Salicornia, vegetable garden flowers and cuttlefish.
This appetiser is dedicated to Carlo Petrini, patron of Slow Food.
Or again with entrées like tomato water, served tepid.
A surprise for the palate with its delicacy, but with fish it raises the taste in a very decisive way.
Everything at Porta di Basso highlights the research and experimentation of the Chef, always based around the natural essence of biological, biodynamic or wild products from the area.
The cellar is also well looked after.
Embracing a selection of more than 200 regional, national and international wines.
And if we add to the bounty of the kitchen, the appealing location, then a lunch or a dinner in Porta di Basso is essential.
Dining on the terrace, overhanging the sea, immersed in the beauty of the Gargano and the inside of the restaurant, floor to ceiling windows frame glimpses of the fabulous sea.
Porta di Basso, the region is the food on the table.
We tasted
Fish tasting journey:
Beefed beet potato beetroot
Olive dough with red shrimp and pistachios
Moscardino, chicory and dattery, lemon jelly
Ceviche of mackerel, gazpacho of pepper and husratina
Sea bass carpaccio, artichokes, mint and citrus
Red shrimp, salicornia, datteri, capers and orange tartare
First dish
Monkfish ravioli in fish broth on scampi bed
Tubes in bowl of curly and squat hooks
Second dish
Rombo in tempura nera con barbabietola, arancia e melanzana
Black tempura crunch with beetroot, orange and eggplant
Dessert
“Sporcamuss” with caramel orange
Wine
Blanc de noir- Duca D’Ascoli, Foggia-Italy
Info e contact
Web site
Service
Open from Monday to Sunday, lunch and dinner
Closed: January and February (open only on reservation)
