Da Paolino

Trattoria da Paolino is the Pirrera-family-run dining institution on Via Iditella — the cobbled lane running uphill from the San Pietro harbour — and is Panarea's most authentic classic-Aeolian family trattoria. The Pirrera family have run the kitchen for over thirty years and the menu is built around the daily Aeolian small-fleet seafood catch.

The menu is unrepentantly classic Aeolian. Hand-rolled busiate alla trapanese with Mazzara red prawn; pasta alla siciliana — sea-urchin pasta from the daily catch; spaghetti alle vongole with Aeolian-coast clams; a slow-cooked Mediterranean octopus; a wood-fired Aeolian-island dentice with capers; the famous 'cassata aeolian' for the dessert course.

The wine list is short and almost entirely Sicilian-Aeolian — Etna DOC, Lipari Malvasia, Pantelleria Passito — at the most reasonable Panarea prices. Glass pours start at €4. The cellar holds about 80 references.

Service is family-run — the Pirrera siblings rotate the floor. Trattoria da Paolino is the dining room that local Panarea residents, Aeolian fishing families, and serious-budget travellers all use as a default lunch and dinner address.

Trattoria da Paolino is the team-dinner room in Panarea — the classic-Aeolian menu is shared-format, the wine list is forgiving on a multi-bottle dinner for eight, and the working-island setting is the conversation. It is also the easy first-date answer when both diners want Aeolian atmosphere without precious tasting-menu format. Book the corner four-top.