Breakfast at the Hotel Raya is not one of the most extravagant meals you’ll ever experience. Breakfast is served buffet style. They don’t stray too far from the obvious path, with a fairly unadventurous selection of cereals, pastries, cold meats and muffins. If you want something a little more substantial, like eggs or bacon, you can simply order it. HAVING SAID THAT, it is still a fun place to sit, people watch....and the coffee is great !
Don’t get me wrong, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the breakfast buffet. It’s all perfectly fine, healthy food. The menu is just minimal and basic, that’s all.
But undoubtedly, the best part about breakfast on the terrace is the view; the food is almost a secondary consideration. I don’t want to push the point, but the view from the Hotel Raya terrace at breakfast time is one of those quintessentially southern European vistas that take your breath away. Okay, enough about the view. For now!
It seemed a shame to waste the glorious Mediterranean sunshine, so whether we were lunching on a boat in one of the many tranquil coves, or picnicking on the far side of the island (where there are great sulphur stacks off in the distance) we made sure we packed a lunch basket. Panarea is definitely an al fresco lunching environment !!!
I’ll gleefully put my hand up and admit that I love buying food. To me, there’s something very satisfying and enjoyable about buying local produce from neighbourhood delis and street vendors. It’s a simple pleasure that makes me feel connected to the place and its people. Of course, the other side of this is that it satisfies the Control Freak part of me that wants to make sure we get the very best of everything! Ying…meet Yang.
So, first it’s down to the deli to buy fruit (peaches, nectarines and grapes) and then I’m off to the charcuterie to handpick cheeses, salamis, breads, olives, lettuce leaves, tomatoes, vinegar, olive oils and of course, some of the local wine.
I find that when I shop for picnic type foods almost anywhere in Europe, I have a tendency to buy local versions of much the same range of products. And why not? Hey, if it ain’t broke….
It didn’t take Sheira and I long to get into the rhythm of dining on Panarea. Dinner on the island tends to be a fairly late night affair. At the hotel terrace, at around 6pm, they set up a long table with bruschetta, a generous antipasto buffet and great cocktails, to sip while you watch the sunset. Dinner is still four or five hours away so you can catnap or stroll the streets window-shopping. It’s all very civilized and European.
You learn very quickly that it’s best to make dinner reservations at the hotel for somewhere between 10 and 11pm. The nightclub heats up around midnight, and you’ll be in pole position to enjoy the post-dinner action.
On our first night at the Hotel Raya, we decided to eat on the terrace. While we were relaxing with a drink, we struck up a conversation with a lovely lady named Hope Cohen from Philadelphia. Hope was flying solo, so we asked her to join us. I’m so glad we did!
It turns out that Hope had her own cooking show back home, so as you can imagine, she was a serious “foodie.” Hope knew enough Italian to understand the subtle differences between the various dishes, so armed with her language and food knowledge, we ordered dishes we hadn’t tried before. It was fabulous. Sheira’s normally more adventurous than me when it comes to food, but even I was enjoying the exotic delights.
There was a truly amazing pasta dish featuring a pesto of capers, almonds, basil, parsley and olive oil. That dish was probably my favourite, but it was followed pretty closely by pasta with wild fennel, sardines, pine nuts and raisins. Honestly, can you think of a more definitively Mediterranean meal? It goes without saying that local seafood was showcased quite heavily, as were the regional wines from nearby Sicily.
All that fine food and three bottles of wine later, we looked up and suddenly it was midnight. How did that happen? At first it was a slow trickle, but then more and more chicly dressed, sun-kissed young people started appearing at the back of the restaurant and walking through to the nightclub. Before long, the trickle had turned into a raging torrent, and the Panarea nightclub scene was officially underway!
It was a veritable fashion frenzy. Beautiful young European girls in fluid fabrics, short skirts and backless dresses, dancing with gorgeous olive skinned Italian boys with their shirts unbuttoned.
Oh, to be rich, beautiful and twenty two. But you know what, Sheira and I have got it pretty good ourselves. After all, we’re at the same nightclub on the same island as people half our age, and having just as much fun, thank you very much. Having said that, for us by 2am it’s time to go!
One night we were out, as usual, at 9.30pm, just strolling around the shops without realizing what time it was, when we bumped into our new friend Hope and invited her to dinner, along with our other new friends, Cam and Audrey. (As you can see, Panarea is a very easy place to socialise.) So the five of us headed for another of the highly recommended restaurants on the island, Hycesia.
As with most things on Panarea, Hycesia has a back story and a history all its own. In 1974 a primary school teacher named Maria Maisano bought a piece of land on the island and decided to build a house there. In 1979, her love of cooking inspired Maria to open a tiny restaurant. At first, it wasn’t even sign-posted, because she basically just served her friends. But over time, her confidence and her reputation grew, and soon Maria’s hobby had become a thriving family business. Today, Hycesia is something of a local institution, and quite a celebrity haunt.
We sat outside under a big canopy, and we were soon caught up in the wonderful atmosphere of laughter, fine food and great company. Once again, both Sheira and I just loved the hand painted ceramic plates from “Vietri”, the hand painting capital of the Amalfi Coast.
After a stunning meal of a dozen different varieties of seafood cooked in every imaginable way (grilled, baked, pan fried, smoked, carpaccio, au gratin, etc) the five of us went back to the Hotel Raya, and since all of us except Hope were guests, we just walked into the nightclub in full ‘we own this joint’ mode. This time the dancing shoes were on, and we really got involved. Over 40s can dance too, you know!
Pina Cincotta Mandarano opened her first restaurant in Panarea in 1968. She had five pots and four tables. Things are a little different today! Da Pina is one of the finest restaurants on the island, serving authentic Aeolian food in a spectacular al fresco setting.
We had a fabulous dinner there with our friends Cam and Audrey, and actually saw Princess Caroline of Monaco and her husband Prince Ernst. They were just sitting there looking casually fantastic as they enjoyed a leisurely evening meal with their kids while no-one bothered them or batted an eyelid. It was so cool to see. They’re pretty much The Kennedys of Europe, and I’m not sure they’d have enjoyed such a quiet meal in any other part of paparazzi-plagued Europe.
(Just as a side note, I’d actually bumped into the Captain of their yacht the day before. He was decked out in full maritime regalia. It turns out that Princess Caroline and Prince Ernst charter this particular yacht on a regular basis. Fast forward six months and on my morning run, I passed this gorgeous boat in Monte Carlo’s main port). One of the great things about eating at Da Pina was the fact that the food was served in giant, hand painted ceramic bowls, just like at Hycesia. Once again, Sheira loved them as much as the food!
Aeolian cuisine is very similar to Sicilian food. They both use a lot of different oils, and both feature seafood quite heavily. That’s all fine by me! We tried the Bongola Mussels, as well as a variety of different seafood pastas. I was particularly impressed with the Fettuccine, while Sheira seemed quite taken by the Spaghetti Pomodore with lots of cheese.
We went back to Da Pina for dinner a second time, and while we didn’t see Princess Caroline and Prince Ernst again, we did have Cam and Audrey along as dining partners again. Hey, if it’s good enough for royalty, it’s good enough for the four of us. As much as I like to try new things, I’ve got no problem going back to the same place if it was a good experience the first time.
In true Panarea tradition, we didn’t sit down to eat until nearly midnight, but once again, we had an excellent time. Audrey raved about the clams.
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