Ristorante Indaco

Anacapri's relationship with dining has always been more considered than the main town's. Removed from the ferry crowds and the piazza theatre, the higher village attracts visitors who have come to the island for reasons beyond being seen. And Ristorante Indaco, set within the gardens of Hotel La Residenza on Via Roma, is the restaurant those visitors deserve.

The kitchen works within a contemporary Italian framework that takes its seasonal obligations seriously. Summer menus lean heavily on local seafood. Red prawns from Sicilian waters, locally-caught sea bass, octopus prepared with the patience its texture requires. While the vegetable programme reflects whatever the surrounding agriculture is producing at its peak. Pasta is made daily: mezze maniche with Campanian ragout, paccheri with bottarga and lemon, tortelli filled with ricotta and Amalfi citrus. Presentations are precise without crossing into self-consciousness.

The garden setting separates Ristorante Indaco from every other serious restaurant on the island. Tables spread across a landscaped terrace sheltered by bougainvillea and lemon trees, with the ambient temperature a reliable few degrees cooler than busy Capri Town below. The sound of the sea is present but distant. Conversations stay private. The service operates with the attentiveness that hotel restaurants develop when they understand that the dining room is an extension of the guest experience rather than a separate commercial operation.

For a client dinner, the calculation is straightforward. The hotel address conveys considered taste without the competitiveness of Capri's more prominent venues. The menu provides enough to discuss without requiring specialist knowledge. The garden absorbs business conversation naturally, providing both intimacy and an environment too beautiful for anyone to remain entirely focused on the agenda. That combination, on a Mediterranean island, is precisely what an impressive evening requires.