Under the Arcade Leading to the Sea: A Day in Chiavari

It was 2 July 1610, and in the Gulf of Tigullio it was scorchingly hot. While in the harbour the usual picturesque coming and going of sailing ships and the gozzi of the merchants went on, a few hundred metres from the coast, just outside the heart of the village of Chiavari, several farmers were working in the vegetable garden. Among them was Sebastiano Descalzo, who at a certain point decided to say a prayer before a pillar shrine placed nearby, showing the Madonna with Saints Sebastian and Roch. While he was saying his prayer, at a certain point he saw a great light and within it a very beautiful woman: it was a Marian apparition. To tell the truth, in the same place the Madonna had already appeared about six months earlier, to the midwife Geronima Turrio.

Our walk around Chiavari begins right at this place, where the imposing Sanctuary of Nostra Signora dell'Orto stands, one of the most famous Ligurian sanctuaries, in which the image of the Madonna with the blessing Child is venerated. According to tradition that painting was commissioned from the painter Benedetto Borzone by donna Maria de' Guerci, known as Turchina, in thanks to the Virgin for having preserved her from the plague of 1493. At the time the image was placed in a niche in the wall of a vegetable garden, hence the name. According to one interpretation of the place name Chiavari, which would derive from "clavaro", this beautiful city is the "key" at the mouth of the Fontanabuona, Sturla, Graveglia and Val d'Aveto valleys.

Certainly its position, and also the development of the maritime trade that had begun to prosper here in the 14th century, really did make it the key to this territory. Besides its seafaring culture, Chiavari also saw crafts flourish, with numerous workshops in the very central Via Ravascheri, as well as in the Caruggio Dritto, the patrician streets of the time. Wandering among these beautiful colourful caruggi, we discover that Chiavari has been famous for centuries for the production of the chairs known as chiavarine. It's an extremely light chair, in cherry wood and white maple, with thin sprigs of willow woven in a herringbone pattern. During our walk we visit several of the many wonderful churches of Chiavari, including the Parish Church of San Giovanni Battista, founded in 1181, and the Church and monastery of the Clarisse, dedicated to San Bernardino da Siena.

According to a manuscript, nearby stood the first Franciscan convent, founded in 1216 by Saint Francis of Assisi and called Cadè, House of God. In the centre we also admire several sumptuous palaces, including the Palazzo Bianco, seat of the Town Hall, and afterwards we also go to visit the Castle of Chiavari, set on a hill and erected in the 12th century by the Republic of Genoa to counter the Fieschi of nearby Lavagna. After a relaxing walk under the palms of the seafront, we reach our tasty destination: the Ristorante Il Portico, in Corso Assarotti, a stone's throw from the Cathedral. We settle into the dining room with its intimate atmosphere and characteristic 19th-century ceiling, and as we begin to study the menu we exchange a few words with the owner Marco Cuneo. "Our strong point is the quality of the raw ingredients, always beyond question.

We make the bread in house, as well as the pasta, always fresh, made to order. We serve typical Ligurian dishes, both from land and sea, simple, not too elaborate, to let you taste the authentic flavour of the dishes. We do things the way the customers want: when we have fresh prawns, fished in our sea, the customer decides exactly how they want them prepared," the owner tells us; he has run the restaurant for twenty-five years together with his wife Lara, along with Luigi, who has worked with them in the kitchen for fifteen years. We start with a seafood starter, which, as they explain, always includes 4-5 specialities based on the catch. So we have the pleasure of tasting the cuttlefish salad with artichokes and the stuffed squid, while our friends, keener on land specialities, sample some little pies, stuffed vegetables and chickpeas in zimino.

Among the first courses we enjoy a nice minestrone, the pansotti with walnut sauce, strictly made to order — in fact we even went and had a look in the kitchen and followed how they're made. We also tasted the penne with prawns and the risotto with cuttlefish ink. Moving on to the mains, we certainly didn't pass up tasting the typical cima, as well as the fritters of salt cod and stockfish, a speciality offered from October to Good Friday, every Friday. Some of us instead chose the oven-baked mushrooms with potatoes and the egg taglierini with truffle. The sweet epilogue to our dinner involved us in irresistible temptations such as the tart with jam made from the fruit of the owners' trees, the crème caramel, sorbets of persimmon and pomegranate, as well as the classic low Genoese pan dolce. We'll certainly return to Chiavari soon, a wonderful city to discover even out of season.

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Ristorante Il Portico Corso Assarotti, 21 Chiavari (GE) Tel.: 0185/310049