"We were in Grottaglie for some ceramic shopping, but in Italy you need to eat too! This beautifully stocked shop has so many wonderful products, and interwoven into the shop itself is a restaurant which serves delicious, carefully prepared food lovingly served by the most helpful and charming Daniele and the rest of the family. While we were there, a family with small child, a lone older gentleman, and 2 men wearing biker jackets sat at adjoining tables for lunch. But first the wine. Daniele asked us what we liked, and he brought out 4 or 5 bottles of local Puglian wines, from which we chose the Vigna Castello of the famed Vallone estate, a mix of Negroamaro and Sussumaniello, well priced and absolutely terrific. The food came:: first, a large selection of Italian cured meats, featuring the rarely seen in US Coppocolla de Martina Franca, lardo, prosciuttos from Puglia and other regions, and then a equally copious platter of only young cheeses: several different sizes and shapes of mozzerella, a primo sale ricotto that was like a custard desert, and a smoked burrata which was so perfectly scented with a wisp of smoke that in no way overwhelmed the cheese itself. Anywhere else in the world, this would have been enough, but not in Italia! We both had a red wine and caciacavallo risotto which changed the way we thought about risotto. This experience over 2 hours was a delight in every way, and after that we just wanted to food shop. So we picked up some of the aforementioned Cappocolla de Martina Franca,, some very young ricotto, chocolates, spices, etc. and went on our way. Thanks Daniele and family, for the wonderful experience in this classy wine shop on the edge of town."
