Restaurants in Sicily: Top 10

What are the best restaurants in Sicily? Before viewing some of them, let's see together the characteristics of Sicilian cuisine.

The first dish that comes to mind when you think of Sicilian cuisine are stuffed pasta shells. The most popular meat used in these preparations is wild boar, although common meats such as rat and rabbit are used for their flavor and texture, with pork often taking precedence depending on how it is cooked (braised or roasted). Other typical ingredients are celery salt or chilli flakes which give a salty flavour, while garlic cloves represent freshness - no kitchen should be without them!

Sicily, a unique land for its aromas and flavors. Here are the most important culinary symbols. We find the citrus fruits, the aromatic herbs, the prickly pears, the almonds, the pistachios and olives.

Sicilian cuisine is a rich, flavorful and diverse offering that has been passed down for generations. Traveling through the various regions of Sicilian Italy, each with their own unique flavor profiles, dishes like seafood pasta or chicken parmigiana will come to life, washed down with an iced coffee on top!

Fruit plays a role of fundamental importance. Often used in the preparation of jams, fruit salads, ice creams and granitas.

Speaking of ice cream, it seems that this has Sicilian origins. It seems that at the time of Arab domination they used to prepare "Sherbet", which translated means "Sorbet". The Arabs used to mix the snow of Etna with sugar cane and fruit juice. Thus they obtained a compound defined as the ancestor of ice cream. In 1600, the Sicilian Francesco Procopio Coltelli, inherited an ancient sorbet machine from his grandfather which he took with him to France. The oldest Parisian café in history opened here (the café Procope). Here he perfected his machine and managed to create the first ice creams more similar to those found on the market today. Even today, in fact, current ice cream machines are inspired by the freezing system invented by Procopio dei Coltelli.

One of the characteristics of Sicilian cuisine is the limitation of dishes to a specific area. Therefore the same recipe becomes almost impossible to find when moving to another area of ​​the island. In most cases these are variations of the same regional recipe. in some cases these foods, for example the muccunetti from Mazzara del Vallo.

The restaurants

These have a preparation and marketing detected only in their area of origin. This food characteristic has often led to a culinary division between western Sicily, central Sicily and eastern Sicily. We could find it by traveling through the provinces of this island. Here then are the arancini from Palermo, the Sicilian cannoli from Catania or the pesto from Trapani.

Walking around the streets of the region, you cannot help but stumble upon Street Food, the so-called street food, where you can taste the panelle and the bread with spleen among the various proposals. Tradition is full of quick and inexpensive preparations for sale in street stalls or kiosks. Furthermore, during the holidays, the streets are filled with fairs where both sweet and savory pancakes are available. Palermo was ranked the fifth city in the world for street food.

In order to taste the main typical dishes, we report below the names of the 10 best restaurants in Sicily.

• La Madia Restaurant – Licata

Directed by Chef Pino Cuttaia, who has worked in the most important Italian restaurants. His dishes are inspired by the Sicilian tradition. We start from the ingredients and typical techniques. Among the dishes on the menu we find cuttlefish gnocchi on fennel cream. But still the pinecone-smoked cod and seven different types of bread.

• Duomo Restaurant – Ragusa Ibla

In the baroque historic center of Ragusa we find Chef Ciccio Sultano's restaurant.The recipes include cheetah timbale, rosehip petal with honey and sea cicada with shell sauce. The philosophy of the restaurant is to rediscover the flavors of various cultures. These are the ones who lived in Sicily over time.

The restaurants 

• Prince Cerami Restaurant – Taormina

Located inside the Hotel San Domenico Palace and directed by Chef Massimo Mantarro, this restaurant is open from April to October.

• Bye Bye Blues Restaurant – Mondello

One of the most attractive features of this restaurant is the presence of the cellar, which has over 350 different types of wine. The kitchen is in the hands of Patrizia Di Benedetto and among the special dishes there are the risotto with octopus ragù and saffron scent, the beef fillet glazed with Passito di Pantelleria and for dessert, the lemon and almond cake with vanilla ice cream.

• La Fenice Restaurant – Ragusa

The restaurant was born inside an old renovated farmhouse, while the wine cellar is located in a natural cave. At the head of the kitchen, Chef Claudio Ruta offers various dishes, including pink prawn puff pastry with Mediterranean salad and almond sauce and mustard ice cream and onion brittle.

• La Gazza Ladra Restaurant – Modica

Led by Chef Accursio Craparo, the location is located inside Palazzo Failla. In the dishes we rediscover the search for the beauty, harmony and aromas of the Sicilian land.

• Casa Grugno Restaurant – Taormina

Located in a structure built in the 16th century, the kitchen is entrusted to the hands of Chef David Tamburrini, who combines ancient foods using poor materials.

• Corla Restaurant – Caltagirone

Edited by Domenico Colonnetta and Ciccio Potti. The various culinary offerings include the leg of rabbit stuffed with roasted onions and the hot almond and cinnamon flan with Marsala ice cream.

• Don Serafino Restaurant – Ragusa Ibla

Chef Vincenzo Candiano offers different menus based on the seasons. Among the specialties stand out the bitter cocoa lasagnette with Iblea ricotta and the rabbit stuffed with Bronte pistachios and bacon.