After one night on the ship in Siracusa we disembarked and barked our way to Europcar where we picked up our Alfa Romeo Giula. Our goal for the day was to make it to Agrigento about three and half hours by the scenic route. But before we went there we had lunch reservations at Ristorante Duomo. It was a place John had come across online before we left the U.S. It was too close to Siracusa to make it our stop for the night so we had to make it lunch. A tad bit tired of fancy food by this point in the trip, I gladly would have cancelled the reservation in favor of something much more rustic. Thank God we didn’t. I would have missed one of the best meals of my life. The drive to Ragusa was uneventful and finding parking there in a brand new municipal garage was pretty easy as well. But then again the garage was not exactly next to the restaurant. We had about 30 minutes to walk on, yes, another hot day. The walk to the Ibla part of Ragusa was scenic and happily we found an outdoor table at a cafe with a lovely strong breeze to cool us down before making our way to the restaurant.
I didn’t know that the restaurant was a 2-star Michelin establishment until I went to the bathroom about halfway through our extensive meal. Although we were tidy, we had on shorts and sneakers and I would have been a little self conscious about that. However, despite the formal appearance of the staff and the elegance of the dining room, we were made to feel right at home. They even brought a little stool on which I could place my messenger bag. The interior was sophisticated and chic and we decided on the tasting menu. I think they told us it would be seven to nine courses, but we literally lost track and left the place feeling stuffed and very happy.
From the “newer” part of town looking at the old part, Ragusa Ibla.It was a lot of steps down and then, thankfully, a pleasantly steep incline up to the restaurant.Pretty things along the way. The city is one of seven in the region that make up a UNESCO world heritage site.The ala carte menu looked tantalizing but we went for the 7-9 course tasting menu.This was a jasmine, ginger iced tea that might have been the tastiest, most refreshing ice tea I have ever had. I was tempted to keep them coming throughout the meal. John’s is an Aperol spritz. You can’t move 10 feet in the Med without seeing one.These were only some of the amuses-bouche we got. Actually if you look over toward John you will see two more. So I guess that make five each.A perfect plate of pasta with (I think) an oyster on top.I forgot to take a picture of this before I dug in. It was some sort of sweet potato or pumpkin mousse with sardines (maybe) on top segments of orange. It was one of the highlights for sure.Pretty sure that is a piece of fish that tasted very meaty. I should explain, I only have pictures of some of the courses and as I said I lost track of how many of them there were.Probably fish with shell fish of some sort. At this point in the meal I was thinking, surely it must be time for dessert. But then they brought our truffle gelato for a palate cleanser before our entree. Say what? First I hate truffles and the thought of it as an ice cream made me more than a little hesitant. But I popped the whole thing in my mouth and not only was it delicious but it did oddly cleanse the palate.This was a piece of beef and a piece of pork (I don’t recall which was which). I’m pretty sure this was the only meat we were served and it was spectacular.John also took the wine pairing (I was driving and did not). Here you see them starting to pile up.This was some sort of citrus sorbetto before dessert. Now, normally I don’t mind this kind of thing, but it would hardly be something I would want to talk about afterwards. In this case, however, it was so spectacular I wanted another. The pink thing on top was a grapefruit supreme that was itself spectacular. I don’t know what they did to it but it was sublime. And normally I can’t eat grapefruit as it tastes like the bitterest thing in the world to me.So the brought us some real, and delicious dessert but I failed to take a picture of it and I have zero recollection of what it was. I do remember it was very good. These sweets are the little confections they bring out about the time they bring the check. I was so full I didn’t eat much this.And then they brought out a panettone. I mean c’mon. I turned in my chair and said there was no way I could eat another thing, let alone a third dessert. They persuaded us otherwise.He gave us smallish pieces because we were so full. In retrospect, that was a mistake.First, the panettone was out of this world delicious. Second , whatever that vanilla sauce was it was the most amazing thing ever. Third, the preserved tangerine gave it a perfect bit of brightness. Even though I was full beyond comprehension, if the waiter had been anywhere near our table I would have asked for more. This was soul satisfyingly good.We waddled our way through the streets of Ibla past the duomo from which the restaurant takes its name.Some sort of sun dial I think?Modern porch looks perfect in this context.Lovely gardens at the edge of the town.Me, before the lunchtime blow out.
hogglestock 
Are you planning to head across to Agrigento AKA Montalbano country?
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I love this post so much. Thanks for sharing these photos! What an amazing meal.
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