Accursio

Accursio Ristorante is the eponymous Michelin-starred dining room of chef Accursio Craparo, one of Sicily's most decorated chefs of his generation, who took the Modica Bassa palazzo on Via Grimaldi in 2014 and won the Michelin star within twenty-four months. The restaurant occupies a converted 18th-century palazzo on the western edge of the lower town, with stone-vaulted ceilings, exposed limestone walls, and thirty covers across two intimate rooms.

Craparo's cooking is contemporary Sicilian, leaning on the regional Iblei larder of Modica chocolate, Bronte pistachios, Avola almonds, Pachino tomatoes, Iblei sheep's-cheese, and the Marina di Pozzallo fishing fleet. The eight-course dinner tasting (€130) and the five-course lunch tasting (€60) both rotate seasonally; signatures include a hand-rolled tagliolino with Mazzara red prawn and Cetara colatura; a slow-cooked Iblei lamb shoulder with thyme and rosemary; a Pachino-tomato risotto with Avola almonds; the famous 'crispella alla Craparo', a Modica-chocolate-and-Iblei-ricotta dessert that Craparo refined for over a decade.

The wine list runs to 600 references with deep Sicilian smallholder coverage, Etna DOC, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, Frappato, Nero d'Avola, and a respectable Italian-national section. Sommelier Salvatore Asaro runs the floor and the pairing flight at €75 is heavily Sicilian-led.

The dining room is the most intimate of the Modica Michelin-starred kitchens, thirty covers, the original 18th-century palazzo limestone-walled rooms, and the kitchen pacing is leisurely. Craparo himself walks the room before the cheese course; the captains rotate from a year-round seasonal pool. The €60 lunch tasting menu is the single most reasonable Michelin-starred lunch in southeastern Sicily and the way most first-time visitors should encounter the kitchen.

Accursio is the proposal-grade table in southeastern Sicily, the thirty-cover palazzo room means total privacy, the Michelin-starred cooking is the conversation, and the eight-course pacing accommodates a slow-moving evening. The €60 lunch option also makes it accessible for a less weighted occasion. Brief Salvatore three days ahead and ask for the corner two-top in the smaller dining room.