Palermo (gro) There is no city in the world that boasts such a varied menu as Palermo. In the more than 1000 restaurants, trattorias, osterias and cookshops of the island’s capital, Arabic and Chinese, French and Indonesian, Mexican, German, Afghan, South Sudanese, Japanese and/or Indian cuisine is served – and often also genuine Sicilian. The variety of the offer is typical for Sicily, for the island that has been at the crossroads of the great cultural currents for 3000 years. But where is the dining best? A question that is difficult to answer. The possibilities are too numerous.
The church that temporarily became a post office.
Among the location favorites of Palermo connoisseurs is the ristorante (or pizzeria) “Bellini” in the eponymous piazza in the center of the city , near the Quatro Canti. Many Sicily fans consider the “Bellini” the most beautifully located restaurant in the old town. No wonder: on the left (looking towards the passing via Maqueda) the 12th century Martorana, decorated by Byzantine artists, with the gold mosaic of 1150 on which Christ (!) proclaimed Norman Roger II. of Hauteville as king of Sicily, on the right the back of the city hall of Palermo, the “Palazzo delle Aquile” (the “Palace of the Eagles”, formerly Palazzo Pretorio), where “everything comes to an end”. , and, somewhat distant in the background, the portal side of the church of Santa Catarina di Alessandria. Across via Maqueda, the view falls on the University and on the inside overwhelmingly magnificent Chiesa Giuseppe dei Teatini. In addition, now again to the left of the “Bellini”, a gem called San Cataldo, a church building built by Arab master builders in the Arab-Norman style, as it is found only in Sicily: with bright red (“Arab”) domes over an impressively simple cross vault of unplastered limestone blocks. However, part of the fate of this beautiful little church from the Middle Ages is that it housed a post office for quite a few decades during the last century.
If in doubt at noon rather to “Pia Zia” .
If one wants to arrange as a so-called Zugereister with “native” friends from Palermo center during the day to eat the “Bellini” has little chance. Then rather the “Zia Pina”, a restaurant in via dei Cartari (the “street of the paper makers”). “Zia Pina” is anyway only open for lunch (which can, however, drag on until 3 p.m.). But this osteria located in the banner of the “old” Vucciria north of via Roma (direction sea/La Cala), is a real discovery. It is basically a large, white-tiled kitchen that spills out onto the street. Guests can watch the landlady and her assistants cooking. However, one should have basic language skills or at least hand-held communication techniques. But then nothing stands in the way of a sumptuous, epicurean remarkable meal at very popular prices, along with properly aged wines from Sicilian lands. Reporters from Auckland found the “Zia Pina” so good and so interesting that they reported in contributions for New Zealand television on the other side of the globe several times.