Ristorante Porta Nova, Ostuni

The dazzling white houses overlooking the Adriatic, the medieval old town modelled with arabesques, the baroque churches, the towers.
The beautiful Ostuni is a pearl of elegance of Puglia that deserves to be experienced at least once in your lifetime. Also from a culinary point of view. Maybe on a terrace with a breathtaking and unforgettable view through large windows that look at the valley of olive trees. Maybe breathing the history of the Aragonese tower of the fifteenth century that was the former entrance to the city. And why not enjoying quality fresh fish, homemade pasta and local products in the charming and romantic ‘città bianca’. The restaurant Porta Nova is atmosphere, elegance, attention to detail and professionalism.
Porta Nova is an undeniable landmark in the area for lovers of the Apulian cuisine, strongly linked to the excellence of the raw materials. In the restaurant industry since 1970 i – first in Bordighera and the Lido of Venice and Stockholm, Montreux and Evian – Tonino Ciaccia realized his dream in 1989 when he opened his restaurant Porta Nova. His daughter Erika help him in the kitchen. His wife Vittoriana and son sommelier Mirko help the guests of the restaurant. Porta Nova offers seafood specialties, lots of bottles of wine from the cellar carved into the rock with regional and national labels.
Our dinners started with an appetizer, which confirms the seasonal menu at the Porta Nova, along with homemade bread and taralli. The waiter Fabio serves a delicate cream of pumpkin soup with a scoop of cheese, spinach and artichokes. Three flavors are present in the second appetizer: there is salt in the sea scallop resting on a tasty golden tower flanked by a wild black rice and sautéed carrot. The taste is much stronger for the crispy cod in tempura with green onion stew on a low temperature. A combination of land and sea to be enjoyed alternating the two ingredients on the plate.
On the menu there is also a wide selection of raw seafood: wild salmon, sea bass carpaccio with a knife, tuna tartare, shrimp and julienne Adriatic cuttlefish.
The lobster risotto shows the experience and skill of the chef. Creamy, savory but not salty and cooked al dente. Highly recommended. For lovers of pasta and nostalgic traditional dish, we suggest the burnt wheat strascinate with fresh tomato, basil and goat ricotta cheese.
The entree is a surprise: Gallipoli shrimp sautéed with rosemary and smoked on beech wood with millefeuille potatoes. An enveloping fragrance for lovers of cooking smoke that pervades and remains even in the now empty plate. The sweet tooth can end dinner with a chocolate cake, a cookie ice cream with crunchy chocolate mousse with rum and coffee with crushed biscuits and sponge or a soft fresh artisan sgroppino prepared with lemon juice, ice cream and prosecco.