It is in a villa in Vico Equense, for example, that one of the most hilarious moments of the movie. During a summer lunch in the cool of the pergola, Mrs. Gentile bites into a mozzarella cheese with her hands, covered by her fur while insulting those present. And then a succession of sea and coast, bathing, boats and wonder of this area. Inspired by these scenes, we build a spring itinerary in the Sorrento Peninsula, including cheeses to bite into, necessary restaurants and a selection of memorable stops.
Furore, the warm welcome over a fjord
Say fjord and you think of Northern European landscapes and icy landings, yet there is an arm of the sea that penetrates the coast even on the Amalfi Coast. The Fjord of Furore is a glimpse of the sea in nature that hardly leaves one indifferent. There are all the typical elements of a Costiera dream: a semi-hidden beach, a panorama that plays continuously with the sunlight while, on the road above, Piaggio Vespas whizz by carrying pairs of Asian tourists we like to think of as in love. The effort made in the traffic encountered to get here will be repaid.
There are other reasons why it may be worth staying in Furore again, beyond the fjord. Visiting the Marisa Cuomo Winery, for example. Founded by one of the first women wine entrepreneurs in southern Italy, it is a winery that has been able to carve out of the cliffs overlooking the sea the fruit and space necessary to produce two hundred thousand bottles or so a year of wines that, in some cases, are described as extreme.
Opposite the caves where Marisa Cuomo's wine is stored, there is another reality that deserves a stop and perhaps an overnight stay. Bacchus Wrath - Painted Hotel and Hostaria is an expression of the best hospitality you can find around here. Domenico is the face of this place, which began as a roadside trattoria and evolved into a place of hospitality and vacation.
The restaurant, over time, has become an oasis of gastronomic pleasure where local cuisine and pleasant service are very well interwoven, with the added value of a room that looks out to the sea. The seafood dishes are unmissable, all designed by the woman who has run the kitchen of this restaurant for a very long time, Erminia Cuomo. Today Erminia follows Bacchus' business with her eyes, taking care that the warmth of this establishment remains unchanged, as does the integrity of each dish.
But Bacchus is also a hotel. With nine bright art rooms all inspired by a different artist, but sharing a rather unforgettable outlook, especially in the early morning hours, just after waking up. A pleasant residence, to the point of making its entry in Teritoria, the guide that brings together addresses of restaurants, hotels and realities committed to authentic and sustainable hospitality.
Don't leave Bacco Furore without drinking a coffee, prepared to perfection by Fernando. As you drink it, have him tell you his story and philosophy about the cup.
Agerola between fior di latte and Monti Lattari
Abandon the idea of the sea for a moment to experience a far more surprising Penisola Sorrentina; all you need are comfortable shoes, a desire to walk and a passion for fior di latte. We start in Agerola, the town in the province of Naples that has developed a special dairy tradition. Here a special fior di latte is produced using an Agerola technique that has made this dairy ideal for pizza, and more, as it has a concentrated milk flavor but does not release liquid when cooked. A dry product made from the milk of cows raised in the Lattari Mountains and with a longer spinning process than an ordinary fior di latte. La Castle Farm is one of the small local dairies where you can make what they call the milk experience, a full immersion between cheese tasting and maybe even production, dipping your hands into the spun paste to form fior di latte.
If you want to visit the cows, on the other hand, Agerola is also the starting point for trekking the Sentiero degli Dei, one of the most beautiful routes to explore the Lattari Mountains, the mountains that overlook the Amalfi and Sorrento Coasts. There is no need to add more to let you imagine the spectacle that can be reserved for you by this walk, which starts right from Agerola and ends in Positano.
Sorrento, the intimate cuisine of a global destination
It is one of the epicenter of the tourist boom in this area. Those who do not like the traffic of people stopping suddenly to photograph a glimpse may prefer to escape to Sorrento, to seek out less crowded and equally picturesque areas. But often passing through such famous places is a must; all that remains is to make it special. What makes Sorrento special is taken care of. The hole, the Michelin-starred restaurant and inside the Teritoria circuit, led by chef Peppe Aversa and best able to tell the story of authentic local cuisine in an area that, because of tourism, risks forgetting its authenticity. Legumes, a reminder of the rural cuisine of yesteryear, are excellently mixed with the catch of the sea. The result stands out especially in the first courses where a special intimacy with taste is found. Hints of Coast lemons are not missed in this cuisine that culminates with a selection of desserts that are likely to make you jerk out of your chair in delight.
If you're tickled by the idea of lunch under a pergola made of lemon trees, look on Maps 'O Parrucchiano, a historic restaurant, established in 1860, and which retains much of the charm of the time in its rooms, mingling with the taste of nature. This is the establishment that is credited with the birth of one of the area's typical dishes, which over time has become a party dish in half of Italy: cannelloni. According to historical accounts, 'O Parrucchiano is one of the places that first offered this dish, vying for the invention of the recipe with the restaurant of the then Hotel Cappuccini in Amalfi (it was 1924). It matters little who the originator is, the fact remains that even today cannelloni (or strascinati) at the restaurant is possible.
Vico Equense, the Coast under a mantle of stars
Those who attend food events may not think of Vico Equense as one of the most desired destinations during the days of Feast in Vico, the event desired and grown by chef Gennaro Esposito that is preparing to launch edition number twenty-two, June 9-11, 2025. Passing through Vico during the spring, even at times away from the gastronomic event, means enjoying the panorama of the Sorrento Coast by securing a remarkable gastronomic experience at some of the addresses in the area. Obviously, the restaurant of the aforementioned chef Gennarino Esposito is one of them. Saracen Tower is a project started in 1991 in Seiano, a hamlet of Vico E. In 2001 it won its first star, which was followed by the second in 2008. From the table of this restaurant one enjoys the privilege of savoring authorial Campanian cuisine from the hands of a visionary of local tradition.
It is quite easy to scan the stars around Vico. It may be the allure of the Coast that inspires chefs, or the richness of the ingredients this land has to offer, but one only has to move a short distance to dock in another space of gastronomic cuisine. Antica Osteria Nonna Rosa is the starred restaurant of chef Peppe Guida, local talent and made a star by the Netflix series "Chef's Table," with an entire episode on his work during the season titled "Noodles".
The cuisine at this restaurant is as much a refuge as it is a luxury. Guida is a self-taught chef who looks very much at the nature from which the ingredients he chooses to cook come. For this very reason, the chef has started a second project where his vegetable garden is located: Villa Rosa "La Casa di Lella" is a countryside address outside Vico, with a restaurant open during the summer that, even more, tells the essence of being at the table according to Peppe Guida. Keep abreast of this season's opening. If it will not be open for Easter, you can always fall back on buying one of his specialties: colomba, pastiera or casatiello?
We remain in Vico to move to one of its hamlets near the sea, Seiano, for a rather exclusive suggestion, the kind that one night is worth a thousand. The Grand Hotel Angiolieri is one of the oldest and most beautiful accommodations in the area. Reclaimed from an ancient Roman villa, it has seen several transformations, but has been well preserved up to its current structure, where the rooms are a dream in comfort and furnishings, but more so for the exclusive sea view the rooms enjoy. The risk is to take a bath in the private hot tub placed in the garden of the room, looking at the Tyrrhenian Sea. Sometimes, happiness can be found even just in a room with great comfort, certain of being surrounded by so much beauty.
Part of the circuit Teritoria, of which Alain Ducasse is Brand President, the Grand Hotel Angiolieri collects all the atmospheres of an exclusive Coast, where you can indulge in the small sounds of a living, pulsating nature.
We close our trip to the Coast right in Vico, just as we started: talking about mozzarella. If the Signora Gentile of Sorrentino's film bit into a juicy buffalo mozzarella in a villa in Vico, you can close with a fior di latte from the Caseificio De Gennaro, one of Campania's historic dairies, now in its fifth generation, famous for the production of Provolone del Monaco DOP, the semi-hard, medium- to long-ripened pasta filata cheese made in the Monti Lattari area. Theirs is an excellent production of caciocavalli processed in various ways. Noteworthy is the speziato, a pasta filata cheese enriched with chili pepper and fennel seeds that could be an excellent travel companion for the trip home.
