Sicily - Trapani, Palermo, Siracusa places

[Dan Ryan]

So I'm off there in a couple of weeks, and will be needing:

1. A decent bar/trat in Trapani that will be open reasonably late on a Thursday

2. Places to go in Palermo. Got a few names already from all the other threads, but there isn't that much...

3. Places in Siracusa. Can you eat well in Ortygia? Does anyone actually know the name of the wine bar near the duomo that has received a few mentions?

A few guidelines: I will want to eat pistachios. I need a definitive pasta alle sarde, but I don't want to be eating swordfish and shellfish all the time. Meat is good. I will be with a girlfriend whose very life is dedicated to gelato. She will need to be fed regularly, and perhaps shown why granita and sorbet are fantastic too.

Peter Falk voice: oh, and one more thing. I have heard of a marsala revival. The recreation of proper marsala, so proper in fact that it can't be called "marsala"... Anyone know where to try this in Palermo or Siracusa?

[tupac17616]

I will be with a girlfriend whose very life is dedicated to gelato.

Hie thee to Pasticceria Alba in Palermo!

[petit cochon]

I've not been to Sicily yet, but my boyfriend and I are visiting in a week, so I've been doing lots of research!

Sant'Andrea in Palermo seems to be highly recommended (located at Piazza Sant'Andrea 4). I'm determined to try spaghetti with sea urchins at least once in Sicily, and they're meant to have it, so...

Other than one night in Palermo, our itinerary doesn't overlap with yours (we're heading to Scopello, Agrigento and then Taormina) so I can't offer much more help, but hope you have a great vacation!

[divina]

I was just there in January, Ortygia I loved the family style food at Trattoria Mariano, more meat based as he was from the Monte Iblea, vicolo Zuccola.

It is around the corner from another fancier place my friend recommended.

We didn't go to the slow food recommended Don Camillo is the most famous, just off the main entrace down Via delle Maestanza.

We enjoy smaller places, and found our first meal by following a tacky sign up a dark alley into an empty restaurant. My husband has his favorite meal there, the Red Prawns, on sliced oranges. I had a wonderful pasta, then the traditional breaded slice of swordfish,the place slowly filled up with locals!

We were repeat clients, at Ferro di Cavallo in Palermo, the local cheap trattoria which was a scene in itself.

The meal I would drive an hour for was at Majone in Chiaramonte Guelfi outside of Ragusa!

PORK, PORK, PORK