Welcome To Sardinia!
My wife Alex and I once went on a trip that took us to 6 different locations in 23 days: Paris, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Sicily, Rome and Sardinia – our first time to this magical island!
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the twenty regions of Italy. Our hotel was called Cala di Volpe, located on Sardinia’s Costa Esmerelda…and the restaurant looked out onto the Tyrrhenian Sea…
I wanted to share some of the local food we enjoyed – one of the many great things about travel!
One night at dinner, our Server Carol put on quite a show when he made a flaming veal dish table side…you will hear the Guests ask him not to overcook it, which he promises not to do before setting it on fire!
Check it out!
Well, that was a fiery start to the night! The restaurant allows you to choose any of the fresh fish you want, which is always fun!
Lots of options, but ultimately it was an easy decision:
We were in Sardinia so of course had to have these plump grilled Sardinian Sardines…drizzled with olive oil and lemon…perfect!
Grilled shrimp with roast potatoes and eggplant were also terrific – and since we were off the coast of Italy, we had to have pasta – prepared fresh table side!
This was incredible…fresh pasta mixed with fresh baby clams, along with butter and parmesan cheese…incredibly delicious…I had it again the next day, this time topped with bottarga!
For those who don’t know:
Known as ‘Mediterranean caviar’, bottarga can be thought of as the truffle of the sea, as it is commonly grated over dishes, just like the fungus, adding its unique aroma and flavour to many recipes. The salted and cured fish roe was all but unheard of outside the Italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia until relatively recently, but is now becoming popular all over the world.
Among the other highlights was this gorgeous plate of fresh fish ceviche, and an incredible black squid ink pasta as well:
Terrific cuisine makes me want to return for sure…if only to have this food again – oh, and to see this unique sight in the water again – checkout what happened when I noticed a noticeable “ripple” in the water and began filming:
Yep, the fish were gliding by 007’s private suite! You see, the hotel was featured in the great James Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me!”
Here’s more about what they filmed here:
Of course, I’ve had other “fiery” dishes as well – check out this Peking Duck preparation at Hutong Restaurant in New York:
This was a terrific feast – I always enjoy a nice visual presentation, like this one in Chicago:
Tuscan beans cooked at the table – part of a memorable meal at Chef Grant Achetz’s NEXT restaurant – see the entire menu here:
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Categories: Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Chef memoirs, Eat This!, Fine Dining, Food, Food Porn, Food Travel, Restaurants, Travel, Wacky Food, World's Wildest Food
Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
I’ve never thought of visiting Sardinia, but it looks like a place of gastronomic delights –
It’s literally 40 min flight from Rome and a fun stop off on other journeys! Thanks for the comment!
Hubby road around Sardinia on his motorcycle. He said it was fabulous.
We only saw a slice of it but wonderful people, gorgeous island and great food so we plan to spend more time there!
what a special treat john it looks like a beautiful place
This sounds like a wonderful vacation – flames (how did he not burn his hands?), exquisite food, sardines, and of course James Bond’s suite!
It was a delicious trip indeed! They do that flaming presentation dozens of times a night so they must really have it down because it does indeed flame!
What a fabulous trip! I’ve been to Corsica but never Sardinia. I’ll add it to my very long list of places we’ve yet gone! The food looks spectacular. We had so much fun eating in Sicily. Taormina, specifically.
Yes we loved Taormina as well…I have a long list as well, which makes it fun to plan and dream and plan a bit more! Thank you for your comment!
I have never visited Sardinia, but I do love to eat fresh sardines grilled that way. I used to order them in restaurants in London, and in any foreign country I visited that offered them on the menu.
Best wishes, Pete.
They are rare to find her in the US Pete, but when we do, we get them to remember just how delicious they are grilled with lemon and olive oil drizzled over the top – hope you are feeling better!