If you are a foodie, then you will be in heaven in Vasto! Start your meal with an anti-pasti of local cheeses and cured meats from the surrounding area, followed by your prima piatti (first course) of delicious pasta or risotto with seafood. For secondo, try our local speciality, Brodetto alla Vastese, which is a fish stew, consisting of various types of locally caught fresh fish and seafood, prawns, langoustines, mussels and clams, all cooked in local olive oil, garlic and tomato. Fresh fish is a speciality of Vasto as it has always been an important fishing port and the locally caught fresh Adriatic fish is the best you will ever have! Another local fish dish is baked Seabass, or delicious fritta mista – deep fried small fish, calamari, and prawns in a light batter, served with a chunk of sweet lemon.
If you are not a fish lover, there is always porchetta – whole roasted suckling pig stuffed with rosemary, herbs and almonds. Or try a tagliata – sliced steak with cherry tomatoes, rocket and grated Parmesan cheese. There’s plenty for vegetarians too, like the delicious Melanzane or Zucchine Parmigiana – layers of griddled aubergines or courgettes, fresh passata (tomato sauce) and cheeses, baked rather like a lasagne. Or what about stuffed zucchine flowers, lightly fried…
Don’t forget to order a glass of local Pecorino or Trebbiano white wines to go with your fish, or a Montepulciano D’Abruzzo red to go with your meat. You can even visit the local vineyard here in Vasto for the afternoon for a wine tasting and a spot of lunch. Salute!
What about desserts? Small sugary buns filled with cream or fruit, tiramisu, sweet fresh figs and of course gelato!
At the end of your meal, you may want to try a digestivo – limoncello, grappa or a sweet cherry and montepulciano wine liqueur called ratafia.
Delicious tasty treats are in store for you – either from local restaurants and snack bars, or from the local fresh produce market and the shops within the town for you to create your own Italian gastronomic masterpiece. On a Saturday morning there is a local produce market selling cheese, cured meats and organic fresh fruit and vegetables from the local farms. It is full of local characters and a great photo opportunity.
Eating out
The restaurants, bars and cafes around Vasto have lots to offer visitors, from a simple Italian espresso coffee and croissant for breakfast, to traditional rustic Italian dishes and local specialities, all the way to fine dining. Vasto is more than pasta and pizza, with the speciality being locally caught fish and seafood.
We have a full brochure of recommended restaurants available to our guests. You can make the choice of eating in a rustic cafe of cheap homemade treats overlooking the sea all the way to fine dining in a restaurant owned by a world class MotoGP champion. You can have lunch in a beautiful vineyard or even in a castle.
One of the highlights of eating out here is a meal on a Trabocco fishing pier. These ancient wooden structures built out over the sea were originally for catching fish, but most are now either privately owned or turned into restaurants serving only locally caught fresh fish and seafood. We are lucky enough to have one right here in Vasto, that has been voted as one of Italy’s best restaurants! This is a once in a lifetime experience and one you will always remember, sitting in the sun with the fish swimming beneath you and the sound of the waves lapping the trabocco .
You’ll be spoiled for choice – you won’t go hungry here!