Holy Bufala!

RESTAURANT RECOMMENDATION:

Fratelli La Buffala

www.fratellilabufala.com

When Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love, appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show, the first thing Oprah did is bring up the one passage of the book that sticks out in everyone’s mind: Her Culinary Experience.  (I think Oprah’s exact words were, “OH MY GOD… TELL ME ABOUT THE PIZZA!)

This Sunday, George and I had our OMG Dining Experience.

After winding through the foothills of Mount Etna, we arrived in Messina around 1:30 pm on Sunday afternoon.  While in all the guidebooks of Sicily, Messina is NOT a tourist destination – it is a gritty port town that sits across the water from Calabria & the Italian Mainland (Boot) on the North Eastern point of the island.  It is home to the ferry that crosses the straight, and does not resemble the rest of Sicily (as it was completely destroyed by a simultaneous earthquake/tidal wave in 1908, killing 60,000 people.)  As we rolled through the main streets, things were quiet.  Too quiet. (Cue: Spaghetti Western whistle and sage brush rolling across the street.)  It was as if the Rapture had occurred when we were on the highway and we were Left Behind.

Unsure of where to eat, we luckily stumbled across a cool looking restaurant – Fratelli La Bufala (Buffalo Brothers) – sitting on the waterfront.  We parked the car and headed inside, immediately noticing the authentic décor with a hint of Western Influence.  Modern paintings covered the walls, while large glass windows (which George did not break) looked out to the marina.  An open wood-burning oven with “Big Daddy” manning the controls stood in the middle of the restaurant, and the menus were printed on what looked like recycled paper.  I would say that it wasn’t as “authentic” as age-old establishments, however it was started in Italy so I really couldn’t say that.  According to the back of their menu, the chain was started in 2003 in Naples by the brothers – and now boasts 36 locations across Italy and the Globe (next time you are in New York or Miami look it up).

Primo Piatto: PASTA (La Tagliatelle, con pesto di pomodoro, caciobufalo e mozzarella)

Second Course: MEAT (Buffalo!)

Third Course: What else... Cannoli!!!

~ J. Twice