Among artists, kings and dolphins, in the world's most famous village: a day in Portofino

“And then, suddenly, discovering a hidden cove of olive and chestnut trees. A small village, Portofino, spreads out like an arc of the moon around this calm basin.” With these words Guy de Maupassant praised Portofino in 1889. The famous French writer was in fact one of the countless figures who had fallen in love with this picturesque fishing village, making it the quintessential destination for Italian and foreign VIPs, be they artists, entrepreneurs, politicians, kings or queens. Founded during the Roman Empire, the village, as Pliny the Elder's chronicle reports, was called Portus Delphini, probably because of the large dolphin population in the Gulf of Tigullio. But according to some legends, the Greek and Phoenician peoples already called the inhabitants of the place "dolphins", in homage to their great skill as sailors.

Moreover, it was reportedly the sailors of Portofino themselves who noticed the resemblance of the Promontory of San Giorgio to the back of a dolphin. During our walk through the village immortalised by numerous great painters, including Michele Cascella, who dedicated many works to the beauty of the harbour, we visit the Parish Church of San Martino, dating back to the 12th century, inside which we admire several precious works, including a wooden group by the Genoese sculptor Anton Maria Maragliano. Reaching the equally ancient Church of San Giorgio, dedicated to the town's patron saint, we discover the legendary devotion of the inhabitants to the saint, whose relics are kept inside the religious building, brought there by the sailors of Portofino returning from the Crusades.

The cult of San Giorgio had always been very strong in the Maritime Republic of Genoa, to the point that the very banner with the red cross on a white field was born after the Saint, during the Battle of Antioch, appeared to the victorious Genoese fighters surrounded by dazzling celestial creatures with numerous red-cross banners. After also visiting the Oratory of Nostra Signora Assunta, founded in the 14th century by the Confraternity of the Disciplinati, and La Cervara, that is the Abbey of San Girolamo, today privately owned, we go on to discover the 15th-century Castello Brown. Near the fortress, once dedicated to San Giorgio and purchased in 1867 by the British consul Montague Yeats Brown, the remains of an ancient Roman-era watchtower have also been found. Today the castle is used as a venue for cultural events.

Our day moves towards evening in grand style: following in the footsteps of figures such as Clark Gable, Laurel and Hardy, Ernest Hemingway and Grace Kelly, to name but a few, we treat ourselves to dinner in the legendary Piazzetta of Portofino, in one of the most famous restaurants in the world, long frequented by celebrities: Ristorante Puny, run by Luigi Miroli. The fame of the place, listed by an authoritative guide among the hundred best restaurants in the world, doesn't intimidate us, however, thanks to the kindness with which we are welcomed by Puny, a personal friend of so many great figures. We discover that only the other day Queen Rania of Jordan was among his guests, and the Agnelli family are also regulars. “Our family business began in 1851, when my maternal grandmother started a small trattoria on the Calata Marconi.

My mother Evangelina, marrying a man far removed from the world of restaurants, followed my father's work in Genoa. He passed away in 1944 and my mother decided to open a small restaurant, the Navicello, together with her sister and brother-in-law here in the square in 1945. In 1980 I took over the Puny, and this business has rewarded us enormously, on a human level too. My mother was in great form, and our Genoese trattoria cuisine has always been much appreciated by the important figures who still feel at home with us,” Puny tells us. We begin with warm sea bass with Russian salad, warm prawns with layered vegetables in a green sauce, and skewers of baby octopus with finely sliced octopus, fresh tomatoes, pine nuts and green sauce. After this tasty starter we try the pappardelle with pesto and tomato, as was the custom in old Genoa.

Some of us instead choose the spaghetti with baby octopus and the rice with a very light curry with petits pois and prawns. Next, we enjoy an excellent salt-baked fish, cooked with the innards and cleaned in front of us, along with baby octopus and king prawns baked with lemon, fish in a light stew and the prawn crostone. Our dinner ends with mouth-watering desserts, all homemade, including cakes, puddings and tiramisù. After this splendid day we too feel a little like kings and queens, and we will certainly return as soon as possible to the little square that, more than any other place in the world, has witnessed anecdotes, loves and moments of leisure of the people who made the history of the 20th century.

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Ristorante Puny Piazza Martiri dell'Olivetta, 5 Portofino (GE) Tel.: 0185/269037