Siracusa offers some wonderful dining options, but we were saddened that the top spot in town was closed for most of July, but thrilled to find a vegetarian option just a block from our hotel. We arrived at the adorable Trattoria La Foglia which was adorned with every kind of décor you could imagine from lace cloths to children's dresses. Roberta cheerfully explained the menu, which was not totally vegetarian, but there were so many choices for Sam, he was in heaven.
Cunzato..Sicilian bruschetta with cheese, sun dried tomatoes, basil and spicy chili pepper marmalade was a memorable local dish and the "marmalade" or tapenade had an amazing kick. Roberta just poured wine from a bottle (a local Grillo) as we felt like we were guests in someone's home. Arancini were superb, but had small pieces of meat inside..OOPS, but has a yummy caper tapenade. Bruschetta came with the freshest of local tomatoes and an olive tapenade. All the bread dishes were amazing and the bread crusty and yummy.
Sam's starter was a monstrous Vegetable platter with quiche omelette,olive, leek, fennel, carrot, potato, haricots verts, favas, spinach and more.....check out the FB fotos!
There were many vegan soup options and I chose the Macco, which was a rich mashed fava bean soup and came super hot despite the 90+ degree temps; I was quite full.
Samuel had the Lentil & Wild Fennel Soup which was truly amazing as well, while Will chose the spectacular local Atturata, tagliatelle with anchovies and roasted breadcrumbs. I hope we see this on the menu again soon. His main course was Cozze nelle pampine, another local treat of mussels wrapped in lemon leaves with secret sauce and couscous which rendered the little mollusks like butter! The dorado in lemon, caper and white wine sauce with olives came with barley and had amazing spices such as rosemary bay leaves and more.
Sam was so full from his soup he decided to have just a small plate of pasta with pesto which he could not finish as there was so much of everything. We apologized to Roberta that we could not have dessert, but left SO happy we had found a very special place in Siracusa with soul.
