Katane Palace

Before anything else, this restaurant is a truly incredible bargain. In other words, its not just an extremely positive quality-price ratio for the diner, but is also cheap in regards to the service given and above all the cuisine. Situated in one of the best hotels in the city, Carmelo Chiaramonte looks after it with complete autonomy. He is a chef that personalizes the environment, never allowing more than 45 guests at a time. In this way, a small restaurant in a hotel has nothing to do with a hotel restaurant.

At first glance, the chef resembles a pirate: the bandana around his head, the sideburns, his simple manner, his common sense, the frankness in which he expresses his culinary criteria… a real character. A high-ranking pirate that gives his best every time and who offers the finest treasures of the market. Honesty and nobility are aromas that perfume the dining room. And the enthusiasm and vitality that is at work here is felt immediately. He has a youthful strength and the conviction of one who is convinced of success. He smiles, as well he should since he has turned this restaurant into the gastronomic Mecca of the city and one of the finest establishments in Sicily in a very small amount of time. Nothing that rises into the realm of modern haute cuisine, that expands its technique, that travels, that reaches international prestige… can truly succeed without talent.

A large part of the historical recipes of the region can be found on the menu, expressed with refinement and personality without altering the traditional flavors. It is a progressive cuisine that advances while preserving its essence. You can delight in the versions of macco di fave of Modica (broad bean soup), spaghetti blackened with squid with Norway lobsters, fresh tagliatelle with pork jus and ricotta, caponata with mint and cacao served with different fishes, potato gnocchi with toasted almonds, pumpkin and broccoli, Norma ravioli… all meticulously executed formulas that posses a captivating idiosyncrasy. Two popular dishes stand out in this way, preserving their authenticity while being infused with talent and virtuosity: the exemplary grilled calamari, virtuous, filled with a lemon ricotta very typical of the region, and the menestra of hard wheat with a sumptuous, consummate exaltation of mussels, stone bass and other treasures of the deep – a lucid vision of couscous seen from an insular perspective.

In short, an enchanting place, a chef with a message, simple and endearing attention and a price that incites gluttony, once, twice, three times… as long as the body can handle it. Work in progress.