Puglia was one of the few Italian regions that have not lost any starred restaurant compared to the previous year: all the eight restaurants of 2019 have been reconfirmed. This confirms the solidity of the Apulian gastronomic offer, so much so that the two new starred restaurants added in November (Memorie in Trani and Casamatta Vinilia wine resort in Manduria)were awarded for their skill in using and enhancing local products and productions.
This year the Michelin Guide inspectors have been particularly fascinated by chefs who know how to take advantage of what the territory offers. And therefore, Puglia can aspire to greater consideration by the guides if its chefs are aware of the potential of local raw materials.
Here is the complete list:

1.  Al Fornello – Da Ricci (Ceglie Messapica)
This restaurant has been starred for nearly thirty years, maintaining a very high standard year after year. Its traditional, territorial and genuine cuisine is created by Antonella Ricci and Vinod Sookar. The welcome and familiar atmosphere were created by Angelo Ricci, owner of the restaurant, and his wife Dora, and maintained until now. All this, in a country house that smells of Puglia from other times, as well as the dishes of the restaurant.
Prices: Tasting menu for 50, 60 and 75 euros.
Address: Via delle Grotte 11, Ceglie Messapica (BR) | +39 0831 377104 | www.alfornellodaricci.com | closed Monday and Tuesday

2. Angelo Sabatelli (Putignano)
Angelo Sabatelli offers creative cuisine, with local products but not restricted to the zero kilometer products or to the Apulian tradition, choosing to allow itself some digressions wherever want to go his incredible inspiration. On the other hand, in his career he started from Monopoli to discover the whole world, before returning to his homeland and opening this elegant restaurant.
Prices: Tasting Menu “IThe Classicals” 100 euros, Tasting Menu “Extra-territorial emotions” 130 euros.
Address: Via Santa Chiara 1, Putignano (BA) | +39 080 405 2733 | www.angelosabatelliristorante.com | closed on Mondays

3. Bros ’Restaurant (Lecce)
The star for the restaurant of the two enfants terribles of Italian cuisine, Floriano Pellegrino and Isabella Potì, had already been waiting for a few years. Great creativity, a good dose of cheekiness (both in character and in the culinary proposal), complex and never banal combinations, which aim to amaze and leave their mark on the guests. All this, combined with undoubted entrepreneurial ability and a super glamorous appearance.
Prices: Tasting menu in 15 courses 180 euros, tasting menu in ten courses 120 euros, tasting menu in five courses 80 euros.
Address: Via degli Acaya 2, Lecce | +39 0832 092601 | www.brosrestaurant.it | closed Tuesday and Wednesday

4. Due Camini (Savelletri)
The other new Apulian Michelin star is for the Borgo Egnazia restaurant, rebuilt and transformed into a luxury structure, loved by international VIPs such as Madonna and David and Victoria Beckham (who were there just last summer). Many local products (as expected by those who stay in a village that wants to recall the tradition of these lands) in a kitchen where the chef Domingo Schingaro aims to celebrate the Apulian heritage.
Prices: “Vin in Puglia” tasting menu 75 euros, “Divin Italia” tasting menu 150 euros, “Naturally” tasting menu 80 euros.
Address: Strada Comunale Egnazia, Savelletri (BR) | +39 080 225 5000 | www.ristoranteduecamini.it | Closed on Tuesday

5. Pashà (Conversano)
A restaurant with a fashionable name, but with great rigor: from the place that hosts it, the Episcopal Seminary of Conversano to the cuisine of Maria Cicorella, the chef born and raised in Puglia who has the precise objective of working on the tradition trying, from time to time, to bring it towards an avant-garde vision. A beautiful cellar and a restaurant that actually proposes itself as a home with a dining room, living room, kitchen and an ultra-romantic space reserved for only two people.
Prices: Tasting menu “Tradition and simplicity” 70 euro, Tasting menu “Mamma Maria” 90 euro, Tasting menu “Capricci” 130 euro.
Address: Via Umberto I 1, Conversano (BA) | +39 031 560055 | www.ristorantepascia.it

6. Umami (Andria)
It is a creative menu, with captivating and fashionable proposals, the one imagined by chef Felice Sgarra who, after bringing the star to Umami, went to the famous Grotta Palazzese in Polignano a Mare. He is still a partner of Umami, so his mark – at least for now – remains, even in the kitchen.
Prices: “Chiacchierando” tasting menu 50 euros, “Conversando” tasting menu 70 euros, “Philosophando” tasting menu 90 euros
Address: via Trani 103, Andria (BT) | +39 0883 261201 | www.umamiristorante.com | Closed on Tuesday

7. Bacco (Barletta)
This restaurant has always been a safe address for Apulian restaurants and for all of Southern Italy. Here, the imperative is to create an experience that makes the customer feel pampered and special, through the creative cuisine of Cosimo Cassano, which cooks fish as well as meat.
Prices: Tasting menu 75 euros.
Address: Piazza Marina 30, Barletta (BA) | +39 0883 334616 | www.ristorantebacco.it | closed on Mondays

8. Cielo (Ostuni)
A five-star relais, in an elegant but authentic atmosphere, houses this restaurant, where chef Andrea Cannalire enjoys combining Apulian cuisine and products with recipes and flavors from all over the world, in line with the expectations of an international clientele. You can eat inside between stone vaults or, in summer, outside, in a Spanish garden full of orange and olive trees.
Prices: Tasting menu “Water” 105 euros, Tasting menu “Fire” 95 euros
Address: Via Scipione Petrarolo 9, Ostuni (BR) | +39 0831 305925 | www.lasommita.it

9. Già sotto l’arco (Carovigno)
In a beautiful building in the central square of Carovigno there is this historic restaurant, a creature of Teodosio Buongiorno and Teresa Galeone: in the kitchen, she offers a traditional, local, rigorously seasonal, intelligent and elegant menu without frills. In the dining room, he composed a huge cellar, with over five hundred wines.
Prices: Tasting menu 100 euros
Address: Corso Vittorio Emanuele 71, Carovigno (BR) | +39 0831 996286 | www.giasottolarco.it | closed on Mondays

10. Quintessenza (Trani)
In his modern and minimalist restaurant, Stefano Di Gennaro offers local products, with attention to the zero kilometer products and to the authenticity of the raw materials and local preparations (extra virgin olive oil, for example, is produced in family and brought directly to the table). A simple menu, with fresh combinations, and measured creativity that gives priority to the ingredient rather than the chef’s inspiration.
Prices: “Liberamente” tasting menu in six courses 70 euros, tasting menu in five courses 58 euros.
Address: via Nigrò 37, Trani (BT) | +39 0883 880948 | www.quintessenzaristorante.it | Closed on Tuesday

11. Memorie (Trani)
Felice Lo Basso (now a veteran because he already has a star in his restaurant in Milan) selects and uses genuine and local products both in the preparation of simple dishes and in the most innovative ones. This restaurant was born from the nostalgia of Puglia, its products and the desire to return to the chef’s roots.
Prices: “Meat Lovers” Menu – 4 courses | € 50; “Traveling around the sea” menu – 5 courses | € 70; Menu “Tradition Vs Innovation” – 6 courses | € 80
Address: Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo, 160, 76125 Trani (BT) | +39 0883 179 4315 | www.memorie-felixlobasso.it | closed on Mondays

12. Casamatta – Vinilia Wine Resort (Manduria)
The taste of this restaurant is entrusted to chef Pietro Penna who offers a great character cuisine, clean, passionate and concrete.
Mediterranean flavors with raw materials that come directly from the Castle’s garden that houses the resort, and expertly selected products in search of taste and pleasure.
A careful selection and research of raw materials, connected to the meeting with local producers, has led the chef to find a cuisine that links the flavors of this land with the pathos and elegance of an emotional style.
Address: Contrada Scrasciosa snc, 74024 Manduria (TA) | +39 099 990 8013 | www.viniliaresort.com/en/casamatta-restaurant-gourmet-taranto

And if you are you on holiday in Puglia and don’t want to miss the local delicacies, here are the 10 unmissable typical Apulian dishes!