What We Ate in Cinque Terre

It is no secret that I love ice cream. The days leading up to our trip to Cinque Terre, I told the fiance that we had to have gelato every single day (not that many since we were only there for 3 days really). Since we got to Vernazza in the evening on Friday, we had no gelato. That meant that we had to eat two on Saturday and of course we ate one on Sunday as well. We tried a gelato place in Monterosso, in Vernazza, and in Corniglia. They were all good, but the best gelato we had came from Gelateria da Stalin. Not the best name for a shop but their pistachio gelato was amazing. So creamy and so nutty. Delicious! We also had the richest chocolate gelato at Un Mare di Yogurt in Corniglia and they had a cute little back patio where you could sit and rest for a bit after hiking to get there!

But even better than the gelato we had in Cinque Terre was the seafood. Oh. My. Goodness. Mussels galore! I had seafood pasta twice, I had calamari twice, and they were all delicious (which is why I had to eat the same things again and again) but the best thing I ate by far were the stuffed mussels. We had dinner at Trattoria de Sandro in Vernazza on Saturday evening. It is a cozy little restaurant on the main street really close to the train station. Like I said, I had stuffed mussels and they were amazing. The boyfriend also had a really nice fish dish but you will have to ask him about that! The mussels were stuffed with a breadcrumb filling and the mussels were baked in a delicious and simple tomato sauce. We asked one of the servers how they made the mussels and she said that they open up the mussels while they are alive, put the breadcrumb filling in and close them back up. Amazing! I mean, how do you even pry open a live mussel? That was my most memorable, and the most delicious dish I had while we were in Cinque Terre. The seafood pasta that I just had to eat twice was from Antica Osteria il Baretto, also in Vernazza. The mussels, clams and shrimps were fresh and it was cooked simply so that the seafood and the salty sea flavor really shone in the pasta. I loved it. Antica Osteria il Baretto is not a fancy place, instead it felt like a really homey restaurant where the chefs were cooking in the same way they would at home. Simple, fresh, and delicious.

Eating in Cinque Terre was a lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed everything that we had. Italy is just full of so much good food that I can't wait to visit another part of the country! Maybe Tuscany next time?