Antonella Ricci & Vinod Sookar

Good Puglian food, but not as good as we expected for a starred restaurant. We got the €60 and €75 menus (wine included). The starters were the typical Puglian antipasti which were alright, but only slightly better than the ones we had in a regular cheap Osteria a few days earlier. The first pasta of the €75 menu was excellent, one of the best I've ever had, but the second, a lasagnette with dried olives was not nearly as good, and tasted just mostly of cheese. The third course was very disappointing, a much too salty piece of meat with an alright curry/coconut sauce and beet chips & sweet potato mash, but neither were enough to off set the salty meat. The two desserts were good, a citrus&ginger granita, very refreshing and a chocolate and hazelnut semifreddo, which was frozen solid inside, which made it hard to eat, with a chocolate sauce and little cake. But still felt both desserts didn't really take that much skill to make. All in all had much better food for the same price back in Belgium and better&cheaper in France. Not bad, but not worth the price or the praise. Service was good, though English is very limited among staff. Wines were good, but not mind blowing either and were the same for both menus, and the same across multiple dishes, so not sure if they're truly matched to the dishes. There was an alright rosé to start, a good red wine and a sweet white one to accompany the desserts.

A group of special friends from Toronto Canada had the honour of having Chef Antonella and her mother (pasta maker extraordinaire) and her sister (a Somellier with expertise in Puglia wines) at the amazing villa we stayed at (Masseria Benefico) last month in Ceglie Messapica. Not only did we enjoy a pasta making hands-on experience to start the evening, we also savoured an outstanding meal prepared by Chef Antonella, accompanied with an outstanding selection of wines. Truly our bucket list experience came true! Highly recommend engaging Chef Antonella and her team for your family and friends. She is a very special person indeed. A culinary "goddess" who cares about you, your experience and your love of food and (of course) wine. Grazie Antonella! . Please come and see us in Toronto. We love you!

Excellens! First-class service and food in a lovely location. One of Puglia’s absolutely best restaurants.

My most favorite restaurant in the specific region of Ceglia Messapica. Fantastic!!!

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A real experience

Per chi non conosce il Paradiso qui sulla Terra, deve recarsi necessariamente da Antonella Ricci e Vinod Sookar. Siamo stati il 2 giugno in occasione della Santa Cresima di mio nipote. Ceglie si conferma il n°1 nell'arte culinaria, ma in questo posto si supera davvero la perfezione. Ambiente curato, personale professionale ed efficiente, oltre che molto gentile. Lo consiglio vivamente a tutti! Turisti e non. Grazie Antonella&Vinood e a tutto lo staff. Grazie davvero! ❤️

Tutto ottimo dagli antipasti sino ai dolci, sapiente utizzo di prodotti e ricette locali rivisitate e innovate in modo creativo.Suggestivo anche il posto, soprattutto in questo periodo dell'anno. Personale professionale e accogliente.