A day down by the sea, between sailing ships and sundials: a trip to Spotorno

In the framing of our photos depicting the lively shoreline of Spotorno, if it had been possible to take them a few hundred years ago, we would have seen the colourful coming and going of merchants, of people loading goods onto the leudi, the typical boats with crews sometimes even of thirty people that set off for France, Sicily and Sardinia. Where today Piazza della Vittoria is, we could have witnessed the launching of elegant brigs, that is, beautiful two-masted sailing ships that were built in the shipyard. Today Spotorno is one of the favourite tourist destinations of the Ligurian Riviera di Ponente, and the charm of the town derives, besides its splendid geographical position, also from its great historical heritage rooted in the ancient seafaring culture. The shoreline of Spotorno was in 1953 the set of the film La Spiaggia, directed by Alberto Lattuada.

Our walk leads us to discover many traces of past centuries, often marked by harsh wars, such as that of 1226 when the nearby Noli, allied with Genoa, invaded and sacked Spotorno. To recall these and other battles, today there are the ruins of the Castle, destroyed and rebuilt several times, on the heights from which a splendid view of the coast opens up, but also the watchtowers built towards the end of the sixteenth century to control the sea and prevent the attacks of the Turks and pirates. In the past Spotorno was known even abroad for its intense lime production, as some ancient kilns that can still be seen in the town testify.

Wandering through the very colourful historic centre, characterised by the typical Ligurian caruggi, we arrive near the Civic Library, where we notice some nice tiles with amusing drawings dedicated to the town: these are the works created for one of the past editions of SpotornoComics, a satire and comics festival that every year has its highlight in the month of August, during the Night of Cartoons. In 2006 the edition was dedicated to the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, and here a nice fish, with teeth shaped like a piano keyboard, asks us smiling: "Did you know that Mozart passed through Spotorno?" Certainly other well-known figures of art and culture have passed through here, such as the British writer D.H. Lawrence, author of the novel "Lady Chatterley's Lover", and the poet Camillo Sbarbaro, a great friend of Eugenio Montale.

Born in 1888 in Santa Margherita Ligure, Sbarbaro, to whom the Library is dedicated, stayed here numerous times, also because of his Spotorno relatives. During our tour we also visit some beautiful churches, including the Parish Church of the Santissima Annunziata, with works dating back to the seventeenth century inside. On its façade stands one of the most beautiful sundials in the town, conceived according to the Italian system (different from the method of French sundials), to show farmers how many hours of light remained available to them. Happy with this splendid day at the sea, we could only choose, also for our dinner, a place that reflected our joy: the Ristorante Zu a Ma, in Via Cavour.

A Ligurian dialect name that means precisely "Down by the sea", and identifies this new Locanda that has already distinguished itself for its natural cuisine, offered by the owner Giacomo Gallina, a chef with a long experience behind him, which had led him to work for very renowned Hotels and Restaurants both in Italy and abroad. "This place was an old boat shed for gozzi. In renovating it, we wanted to enhance this characteristic flavour of it, combining it with a modern, light, elegant but informal decor," Mr Giacomo tells us; he runs the place together with Giusy, a very talented creator of exquisite desserts. We start with a little anchovy pie with potatoes and a sweet-and-sour vegetable escabeche, and with courgette flowers stuffed with ricotta, served with chopped black truffle. We also taste red prawns seared on a purée of pink peaches.

We follow this rich starter with potato gnocchetti with lemon zest, prawns and vanilla, and with risotto with courgette flowers and tuna ragout. Every dish we taste delights us with its savoury character and at the same time lightness, due to the freshness of the ingredients and the skill of the chef, who is also very attentive to health. We also taste an exquisite grilled turbot with a caponata of vegetables, while some of us taste the filleted sea bass with potatoes and porcini. The grand finale of our dinner rewards us with a rainbow of sweet bliss: Giusy's modern cassata, the Linzer tart, the New York cheesecake and the tiramisù. We set off again for the town with the Ligurian colours in our eyes, certain that we will return many more times "Zu al mare"...

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Ristorante Zu a Ma Via Cavour, 36 Spotorno (SV) Tel.: 019/747891