Pashà (Conversano, Bari)

At Pashà Restaurant in Conversano you will be treated like a “pasha”

Pashà. Maybe the name is not a coincidence. Because in Antonello Magistà’s restaurant located in the main square in front of the beautiful Norman Castle of Conversano you will be treated like a real ‘Pasha’ .
An ancient palace of the early twentieth century and a coffee family opened in 1983. On the first floor the Michelin starred restaurant that was opened fifteen years later. The Pasha also organizes cooking classes and many events. In the kitchen, Mary Cicorella, self-taught chef, Antonello’s mother and the soul of the kitchen. She started cooking for pure passion and every day she puts her dedication into her dishes and all the love she has for her land dispensing emotions and memories to the customers who try her cuisine and who cannot wait to return to Pashà Restaurant. Her son Antonello’s nickname ‘Pasha’ gave the name to their restaurant.
The atmosphere is elegant and cozy with warm colors but not snooty. A genuine cuisine, classical and unique, linked to the traditions of Apulia and the use of local highest quality products. The menu is seasonal and versatile. Three choices for appetizers, first courses, second courses and desserts.
The opening menu offers a nice surprise, the tasting and favorite menu of ‘Mamma Maria’: bruschetta bread of Altamura with rapini, raw cod and tomatoes; mushrooms burger with anchovies, walnuts and saffron sauce, Spaghettone Cavalieri with garlic, oil and chili, fish eggs and carrot juice from San Vito; squid, toasted bread and herbs and fruits of autumn and millefoglie with evo oil, mandarin cream and sparkling  chartreuse. The menu ‘His Majesty the Truffle’ includes pumpkin, wild boar meatballs, roasted chestnuts and white truffle; egg noodles with Normandy butter and Parmesan Cheese; potato with ricotta, pecorino cheese and white truffle; lotus soup, cream of cooked chestnuts and white truffle.
The presentation of the dishes is expertly balanced with a structure that brings out the well-defined flavors and the delicate aromas of the dishes.
We started with a pre-appetizer: Murgia beans with bacon from Martina Franca and crusty bread accompanied by A Mano sparkling wine, with homemade sandwiches (semolina sandwich, olive sandwich with walnuts and scent of lemon, and raisins roll) with a tasty and fruity D’Orazio oil from Conversano. Among the other appetizers onions with cheese and ‘vin cotto’, bread soup cereal, egg and ‘filetto lardellato’ from Martina Franca; mullet, foie gras, apple and black truffle.
A bottle of red wine (Salice Salentino) and we started with the first courses. Pashà Restaurant has a wide selection of wines (about 700 labels) from Puglia, Tuscany, Piedmont, France… The menu of first courses is divided into soups and local evo pasta with cardoncelli and mortadella; fava beans and chicory; handmade burnt wheat orecchiette with cabbage, bacon and canestrato cheese; Cavalieri paccheri with wild boar sauce and ricotta cheese; risotto with burrata. The menu continues with fish and meat, roast pigeon with dried capers and scent of coffee, and rabbit, artichokes and white truffles.
The pre-dessert a delicious: a soft almond mousse with raw chocolate from Venezuela. You must try the desserts, especially the ‘Ricordo di un croccantino’ with almonds, cherry and chocolate.
At the end of the dinner they offered us some typed of chocolate (dark chocolate, white chocolate with raisins and almonds).
The service is impeccable, very friendly and knowledgeable. I loved the music and the atmosphere cozy and relaxing.
Having this restaurant a few meters from home, as in my case, it could be very dangerous for our pockets … But you know that a restaurant is the best when you go out and you already think about when you will return there. Very soon.

PASHA’
Caffè & Restaurant
Piazza Castello, 5/7
70014 Conversano (Bari)
tel./fax +39 080.495.1079