QuattroVenti Comfort Food, some advice on where to eat in Palermo

The year 2018 will be a highly interesting one for Palermo, in addition to hosting Manifesta 12, the bi-annual European event for Modern Art (among the most keenly awaited events will be the reopening of the Palazzo Butera palace), we will have to defend the title of European capital of culture. Both events have created, in recent years, a lively and stimulating atmosphere in the city, which is attracting visitors from all over the world.

We at WineinSicily.com will create a section with our advice on what to do, see, visit, and clearly where to stop to eat and drink well in the city.

We can begin with a spot which we greatly enjoy both for the welcoming and relaxed atmosphere and for the cooking, centered on the philosophy of comfort food. The QuattroVenti Restaurant opened in 2015, and the impulse behind it was that of entrepreneur Gabriele Amato, a lover of fine food, who brought into the project Filippo Ventimiglia, a young chef with years of working experience in Italy and in Europe.

One of the spot’s strong points is the exemplary welcome given to clients by the serving staff, something somewhat rare in Palermo. Reading through the menu brings back memories of the food prepared by mothers, grandmothers, and aunts, reinterpreted in a gourmet style. Gabriele and Filippo had clear ideas in mind from the very start: no to pyrotechnical plates, yes to the comforting dishes of yesteryear which bring back to the mind the lovely memories of our childhood. Those who dine regularly at Quattro Venti  know that they will find excellent dishes of Sicilian fish. There is a search for quality whose starting point is the attention given to the fresh local catch: Mediterranean dolphin fish, amberjack, baby tuna, and shrimp from the local Porticello fishing port or the mupa fish (Schedophilus ovalis) from Ustica or the octopus fished on the line, one by one, from the seaside hamlet of Addaura to the west of Palermo.

The kitchen opens every day at 2 p.m. to prepare the fresh pasta, the bread, the bread sticks and all that will be served to customers during the evening. The menu, properly, is based on seasonal produce and is reworked every three months. Our advice is to take a look at the plates of the day indicated on the large blackboard in the center of the restaurant. You will never know what surprises from the sea or from the creativity of the chef are in store.