This unforgettable trip began in Lamezia Terme, as for many visitors coming from elsewhere in Italy or the rest of the world . Lamezia is much more centrally located on the Tyrrhenian Sea and at a short distance from the Ionic coast, Also the international Lamezia airport is minutes away from the main train station, Just a 15 minutes drive and you will discover the best place possible to relax after a long trip and enjoy our first bite of Calabria.
Welcome to Hang Loose Cottage in the small community of Gizzeria Lido, but it really is a world of its own, above the sea and boasting a gorgeous swimming pool embodying the spirit of the place.
For dinner you ll have to taste the most traditional Calabrian peperoncino product: n’duja. a spicy spreadable pork sausage. It is sold in butcher shops but also supermarkets, and specialty stores. Here it was served along the best grissini I have ever tasted, due to their irregular shapes: the thicker parts had a bit of chew and the thinner ones were super crispy.
This area is known for having strong winds and you’ll have your chance to kitesurfing, windsurfing, stand up paddle (sup), sailing, canoeing. All the equipment is there and the experts too to show you the ropes of the activity
Try a selection of them cold as a generous antipasto, then cooked in a perfectly prepared in a traditional hand made pasta
Not to get dehydrated, the restaurant offers an impressive selection of local wines, including the beautiful Cerauto Grisara which has the roundness and body that makes it a wine fit to match the flavorful cuisine.
What makes the fame of the city is not only the beauty of its center, but the beautiful beaches that spread below the cliffs.
After a nice swim, we tasted the cuisine of Chef Dario at the helm of Tropea Sunset Beach Club. . The beautiful airy and full of light of the restaurant matches the preciseness of the cuisine. Vongole and mussels combined were perfectly cooked, still plump and juicy, to honor their incredible freshness. Here too, peperponcino was brought fresh and whole to the table to bite into it at will.
What a wonderful sea in Tropea!
And what a desire to enjoy a catch of the day, perhaps on a terrace overlooking the blue. Sunset Beach Club) a restaurant perfectly in tune with the magnificent panorama.
At the helm we find Chef Dario Jannello, who confesses to me that he has always been “curious in the kitchen”, since the age of 8 … and the results are evident, a sincere, lively, tasty cuisine… 
Here the fish triumphs, starting with the cod meatballs, also in the “gourmet” version with potatoes, caciocavallo silano and tomato chutney, to the crispy breaded anchovies (but how good they are …) served with nduja mayonnaise.
I then enjoyed an exquisite mussels with pepper and a dish of linguine and clams that tasted of the sea,
All washed down with an excellent Almaneti Liprandi, a label well known to local and non-local enthusiasts. The cellar boasts 150 labels, 80% of which are Calabrian. Sunset Beach Club Tropea is a perfect place for a lunch, a romantic dinner or an unforgettable aperitif with tapas.
Foodwise, Tropea is also known for the famous red onion that carries its name. It definitely grows in the area, and I actually noticed a whole field of them right next the Hotel Stromboli where we stayed, just a bit down the coast in Capo Vaticano.
Besides the neighboring fields that dominate the sea, guests of the hotel tend to watch the beauty of the sea that you can enjoy from the beach and the terrasse of the restaurant down the road or just from your balcony where sunsets showcase the famous Stromboli island and its volcano as a black pyramid licked by the drowning sun.
Less than 1 hour away, you’ll find Amantea, a small town that prides itself on also growing Tropea onions, seen as a Calabrian product consumed from coast to coast, and not the exclusive possession of the town that gave its name to them.
to savor cuisine of the area, we got to dine at Molo Bretti Restaurant. a seafood restaurant attached to Baia Di Tempsa Hotel.
If those made it to the shore and attempted to seize the perched villages, castles became real fortresses capable of withstanding aggressions from a dominant standpoint and survive within closed walls thanks to savvy reservoirs of water and foodstuff like grain.
We started our “borgo adventures in Savuto where the views are enjoyed from the castle remains. From there, we hopped to Cleto
Where we were hosted to have an aperitivo along with, you guessed it, some n’duja on crostini as well as olive spread, different charcuterie and cheese. The local red wine (Savuto classico from Antichevigne) was robust, but not heavy or cloying. But, what stoof out for me was the collection of “amaro’ liquors, including the Rupes one flavored with peperoncino: not hot per se, but leaving a little tingling on the tongue. . Another stand out was the Jefferson which gets its strange name from the date of its creation in 1871!
From Cleto, we hopped to another hill to visit the beautiful village of Aiello, rich in history and counting several noble mansions (like the Palazzo Cybo-Malaspina).
No time to dine, but the Osteria Malaspina is a gastronomic reference in the area, thanks to the chef-owner who has an impressive collection of Calabrian wines. Not to be missed is the various local honeys you can get at Bernardo Apicoltura.
Back to Amantea, one gourmet stop that cannot be missed to finish the day is to get a gelato at Sicali. It’s a real institution in the area, and beyond, for the creaminess of its biggest hits (orange and pistachio), as well as a stuffed pastry which recipe is kept as a family treasure not to be shared.
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