San Biagio Bistrot

…on the primi piatti list there’s basically the four traditional roman plates (Cacio e Pepe, Gricia, Carbonara & Amatriciana) and then a couple of local classics (pasta with pomodoro and cacioricotta for example). The roman plates in particular are both not hard to well, and extremely difficult to find done well in restaurants around Lecce. As someone who is not native to Salento and loves food from all over Italy (and frustrated when I can’t find good central/northern plates here) I was delighted to eat a really rich Amatriciana that is really every bit as good as you’d find in Rome. The roman pasta is not homemade for the purists out there, its not a problem for me. Our pasta was truly wonderful. The salentino pasta plates are homemade and this is really excellent place to try some restaurant grade Orecchiette. They don’t always bring cheese so if they don’t ask for it, and if you remember, ask for cacioricotta (this is a local cheese that is the correct cheese to put on Orecchiette Pomodoro, it’s hard and salty like Parmesan but because it’s actually a ricotta it has that slight creaminess).