Italy 2015: Alberobello Eats

Alberobello is one of the cutest towns I've ever been to. Everyone's been asking how I even found out about it and my answer is, "Pinterest." It's incredibly picturesque and different. The trullo (which are the adorable houses) are hundreds of years old and they are really beautiful. It reminded me of a Smurf village.

Not only was it beautiful, but it was a delicious experience. Mussels and orecchiette are the two must-have dishes here. Another thing to note is that the food here is super affordable. Maybe it was because we'd just come from Liguria, which is much more populated and touristy, but seriously, the price of our cheques were basically cut in half for twice as much food.

We arrived in Alberobello late at night, but lucky for us, restaurants were still open for dinner.

CASA NOVA

These little round breadsticks are really common in Southern Italy. They're called "taralli" and they are amazing.

I got myself a glass of rose, which was really sweet and vibrant.

The waiter also brought over a plate of fried dough and fried cheese balls, which were just a courtesy amuse bouche. So delicious!

For a starter, we got burrata and prosciutto. The burrata was incredibly creamy and fresh tasting and the parma ham was stretchy and chewy and perfect.

For my main, I had the orecchiette with tomato sauce. The pasta was freshly made and really chewy and incredible. The sauce was also fresh and vibrant.

My sister went for the orecchiette with rapini and anchovy. It was a little salty but the broccoli rabe was delicious and again, the pasta, was incredible. I want to try to make orecchiette at home too.

TIPICAMENTE

Tipicamente wasn't open as a restaurant while we were in Alberobello. However, it was the site of our complimentary breakfast included with our stay at Trulli Holiday. The spread was huge - breads and pastries, ham, cheese, tomato salad, jams, Nutella, juices - and the staff went around offering cappuccino (which was delicious).

IL PINNACOLO

We went to Il Pinnacolo for lunch. Since it was a beautiful day, we opted to eat outside, which was actually really lovely and we had a nice view of the trulli.

For our appetizer, we got the fresh mozzarella with prosciutto. We actually asked for melon and prosciutto, but the waiter brought this, which was fine because the mozzarella was so good.

For her main, my sister got the fresh pasta with zucchini, tomato, and porcini. The noodles were chewy and soft and the seasonings were delicious. Porcini mushrooms are so good; I wish we could get more fresh porcini in the States (without it being ridiculously expensive).

For my main, I got the fresh tagliatelle with porcini. The noodles were chewy and eggy and the sauce was incredibly savory and creamy.

GELATERIA CAFFETTERIA ARTE FREDDA

After walking around all day, we decided to treat ourselves with some gelato.

Unfortunately they had run out of pistachio, but I just went for nocciola (hazelnut, and my staple) and the stracciatella (chocolate chip).

Baby sister went for her two staples, fragola (strawberry) and cioccolato (chocolate).

L'ARATRO

For our final dinner in Alberobello, we went to L'Aratro. I'll be honest; we weren't treated v. courteously when we first showed up and I think it was because there was a giant horde of Chinese tourists who were being really rowdy and loud, waiting to use the toilets. I don't know why they couldn't just go back to their hotels to use the restroom but whatever. Anyway, once I began ordering in (broken) Italian and making an effort, the waiter's attitude totally turned around and we got good service.

We were given fried dough to start along with taralli and bread.

We also got glasses of moscato and cheers-ed to a successful and fun time in Alberobello.

For her main, my sister had the terra madre, which was a white bean puree topped with pasta and a tomato ragu.

I went for the orecchiette with the ragu frizzl, which was a tomato-based ragu with bits of fatty pork belly. It was well-balanced in terms of salt and acid and fat and the homemade pasta was on point.

So that was our food tour of Alberobello. Next up, I'll be sharing our Polignano A Mare eats.

Cheers!