Sans conteste le meilleur restaurant de Calabre. Nous avons pris un menu dégustation et tout était absolument magnifique et délicieux : des mises en bouche digne d'un 3 étoile puis une succession de plats tous plus délicieux les uns que les autres : langoustines marinées, bouillon de cèpes et châtaignes, noisettes d'agneau fondant..., sablé avec une mousse de bergamote et mignardises. Le chef travaille des produits locaux et de saison. Il magnifie les spécialités de cette Italie qui reste à découvrir. Pour couronner le tout un service extrêmement professionnel, attentif et chaleureux.
I have been thinking about writing this review, but I think that among other glowing reviews, a little reality check is in order. First of all, this is a beautifully restored building with spectacular views and the staff (who gave us a short tour) were very friendly. The restaurant has a beautiful interior with great attention to detail. Unfortunately we could not dine outside (although I would say the temperature was mild enough). However, restaurants are primarily about the food and here the food fell short of expectations. Many people write that this is a Michelin-starred restaurant. It is not. It is only mentioned in the Michelin Guide and, in my opinion, is far from getting its first star. As is so often the case, the part of the tasting menu (we opted for the larger menu) that included the starters was the best. the “primi" were particularly bad. A poorly conceived pasta dish (a kind of angel hair pasta) and a rice dish that was basically carnaroli rice with some kind of “jus” and bacon were followed by a very mediocre pigeon with a bone-dry pigeon leg confit - the very idea of making a confit out of something so small is questionable. Although I am not a fan of pigeon, we had eaten pigeon in two German 3-star restaurants a few months before: Waldholtel Sonnora and Schanz, and the contrast in imagination and quality could not be greater. The vanilla panacotta dessert was banal and not particularly flavourful. Since you either have to walk 20 minutes or take a taxi to get there from Tropea, and the cost is at least double that of a more creative restaurant in Tropea (e.g. Sublime), De Minimi is hard to recommend. Another thing worth mentioning is that when we asked the waitress which dishes were included in the two available tasting menus, she told us that she could not say because it was supposed to be a surprise. I find this very annoying. Some restaurants still do this, but it has to stop. How can you reasonably choose between two available tasting menus or between a tasting menu and ordering a la carte if you don’t know what you are going to be served?
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