View all newsletters
Latest in Luxury - Sign up to our weekly newsletter
  1. Food & Drink
October 11, 2017updated Dec 20, 2023

The 5 Best Restaurants in Sicily

By Lauren Jade Hill

Across this enticing coastal region, each individual town proves its own culinary worth as chefs combine local ingredients and Sicilian tradition with contemporary cooking techniques and a wealth of passion and creativity. While outstanding dining spots are in abundance, here’s our pick of the five best restaurants in Sicily.

The Principe Cerami

Best Restaurants in Sicily

Instagram @sandomenicopalace

One of the great draws of Taormina’s former monastery turned luxury hotel San Domenico Palace is its two Michelin starred restaurant, the Principe Cermani, which overlooks the Ionian Sea. Run by chef Massimo Mantarro, the restaurant showcases haute cuisine with Sicilian roots, featuring dishes such as homemade ravioli with saffron, ewe’s ricotta cheese, wild fennel, pine nuts and anchovies tartare, and Mediterranean red mullet stuffed with vegetable caponata, accompanied by tomato terrine, rocket and mayonnaise of almonds aromatized with Iblei capers. Two different tasting menus provide the ideal introduction to the restaurant’s celebrated cuisine.

san-domenico-palace.com

La Madia

Best Restaurants in Sicily

Instagram @pinocuttaia

At two Michelin starred La Madia in Licata by lauded chef Pino Cuttaia the focus is placed on sustainable cuisine based on a love for the surrounding land and the craft of cooking at this level. Flavors and aromas are created to reflect Sicilian tradition, with three multi-course menus to choose between—for the scale of Sicily, illusion and the beautiful sea—and a number of a la carte options. Dishes could include Nebrodi black pig, pizziola with shellfish and cod, and Sikano fish tataki. The contemporary dining room is also representative of the region with light wood walls and quotes from the chef that are integrated into the decor.

ristorantelamadia.it

Restaurant Vicari

Best Restaurants in Sicily

Instagram @ristorante_vicari

Tucked into the small historic town of Noto, Restaurant Vicari combines a light modern interior with food that pays respect to nature, the seasons and the region. Owing to his passion, connection to Sicily and experimentation with texture, color, aromas and taste, chef Salvatore Vicari creates beautifully presented dishes, from black cuttlefish risotto to roasted scallops with red prawns, carrot, zucchini, apple, peppers, onion and rice chips, followed by an indulgent tasting dessert encompassing all of the chef’s sweets. In the same way ingredients are sourced from local farmers and producers, the wine comes from boutique wineries in Sicily and others parts of Europe.

ristorantevicari.it

Ristorante Regina Lucia

Best Restaurants in Sicily

Instagram @plumplaces

It’s in the fresco filled Borgia del Casale palace on Piazza Duomo in Siracusa that this atmospheric restaurant lies. Stone arches and chandeliers create an opulent backdrop for dining on authentic Sicilian cuisine, or you can choose to sit outside on Duomo Square. The season’s best ingredients are brought together by chef Salvo Calleri to create a sea and mountain ‘taste journey’. The wine is then chosen to represent Sicily and the terroir this region takes pride in.

borgiadelcasale.it

Content from our partners
W New York - Times Square: "We Do Things Differently"
The Finest Destinations to Fly Private with Qatar Executive
A Weekend Travel Guide to Austin, Texas

La Capinera

Best Restaurants in Sicily

Instagram @pietrodagostino

Shining a light on Taormina’s connection to the sea, La Capinera overlooks the water with an open-fronted terrace to make the most of the view. The Michelin starred cuisine of chef Pietro D’Agostino then combines the seafood that’s in such abundance here with the season’s locally grown vegetables and fine Sicilian oils. In this way, Sicilian tradition is fused with contemporary gastronomy in dishes that are perhaps best experienced through the chef’s tasting menu. If a la carte is preferable, choose between seasonal plates such as roasted octopus, stuffed red mullet, black taglioni pasta with sea bass ragout and oven roasted amber jack.

pietrodagostino.it/la-capinera

Select and enter your email address Be the first to know about the latest in luxury lifestyle. Get the latest news on hotel openings and in-depth travel guides. Get insider access to exclusive promotions and special offers from our luxury partners.
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thank you for subscribing to Elite Traveler.

Websites in our network