I had been hoping for the past year to go to Italy as my first international destination, and plans fell through to spend a week in Italy. However, spending two days in Nice with a good friend opened up the possibility to go to the very northwestern edge of Italy and fulfill this dream after all, even if only for about three hours.
At this tiny little café off the coast in Ventimiglia, I tasted some of the best pizza I will ever eat, and the best eggplant parmigiana I am likely to ever eat.
One always says to judge a pizzeria by its margherita pizza, and while you're in Italy might as well up the ante with mozzarella di bufala instead of regular mozzarella. It took 20-25 minutes to come out but was clearly homemade with care from scratch, and the topping of fresh Mutti tomatoes gives the pizza an uncommonly fresh taste not replicable back in the States. I ate the entire giant pizza without batting an eye, and that was after an absolutely scrumptious portion of eggplant parmigiana for an appetizer which was beautifully melt-in-the-mouth tender, not in the least greasy, gooey or cheesy, and topped with impeccably fresh grilled squid that had just enough char marks to permeate the meat. Spain, Greece, South Korea and Japan will have to work hard to compete with that.
The service may seem slow but it is because they are taking their carefully considered time to produce the highest quality food possible, at relatively low prices as well. French is spoken as a matter of course in Ventimiglia so I had no problems ordering, and some English also appears to be spoken. The setting is simply as breathtaking as the food and I would stop here again if I came back to this area of Italy, without any question. read more