Basilicata: Five Trattorias From Coast to Coast

by Giulia Ubaldi Contributor
September 25, 2019

September 25, 2019

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In the Basilicata region, tradition exists and resists. Here are the best restaurants and trattorias where you can eat well and spend very little.

Basilicata cuisine still reflects the sober characteristics of the Mediterranean’s pastoral civilization: durum wheat flour, olive oil, wine, vegetables, legumes, cheeses, mutton and pork. The table never lacks fresh pasta dishes, such as strascinati with ragù and breadcrumbs, or second courses based on baccalà with cruschi peppers, an almost ubiquitous ingredient. Another cornerstone of food in Basilicata is pork: almost all families raise at least one pig during the year to prepare home-made soppressata, pancetta and sausage, the luganega or lucanica, which dates back to ancient Rome.

And if you come to Basilicata in the summer, don’t be surprised to find herds of cattle crossing badlands during the seasonal migrations from the plains to the mountain pastures or on their way back toward the sea at the end of the season. With such a climate and shepherding tradition, you’ll find exceptional cheeses everywhere, accompanied by a nice glass of Aglianico del Vulture wine.

So, if you are in Basilicata don't miss out on these five typical restaurants.

Bernalda

Trattoria La Locandiera 

In this trattoria everything is exactly how it should be: the tables, the wines, the ingredients, the people. Each dish is a hymn to the land, always presented in a creative way, like the caciocavallo cheese crêpe on a shingle, or the small ricotta balls served among pebbles. A place where you can ...

Potenza

Da Peppe

When you enter Da Peppe, in the heart of the Pollino area, you don’t know whether to fall in love with him, his cooking, or the place. Though off the beaten path, this trattoria is worth your while, not only from a culinary perspective, but also a human one. His wife Angela and their daughters make ...

Avigliano

Trattoria Mauariedd 

This trattoria is so intimate and traditional that you can’t see it from outside because it doesn’t have a sign. You have to know it’s there, and once you go in you will never want to leave. The family here has been cooking baccalà for years. It’s a typical dish of Avigliano where Frederick II of Sw...

Terranova di Pollino

Luna Rossa

Federico Valicenti is the ambassador of Basilicata cuisine in the world and his dishes always have a story to tell. They are created not only by excellent local ingredients and by the creativity of an unusual flair. They are mainly the result of long in-depth research that he has carried out on food...

Bernalda

Trattoria Da Fifina 

Fifina’s kitchen has nothing to hide; for more than half a century it has been making generous and authentic dishes at very modest prices. Although based on the Basilicata tradition, here we already feel the influence from Puglia, as we are in Bernalda, right across from the great filmmaker Francis ...