Mammà

Via Madre Serafina, 6

80073 Capri NA

Tel. +39 081 837 7472 

BY IAN D'AGATA | AUGUST 17, 2018 

The Food:

Ziti with Neapolitan ragù (Ziti con ragù napoletano)

Squid soup with shellfish and rockfish (Zuppetta di calamari con crostacei e pesce di scoglio)

Roast suckling pig with sweet-sour tomato and shallot chutney with caramelized pineapple (Maialino arrosto con chutney di pomodorini scalogno agrodolce e ananas caramellato)

Rum-scented babà and small wild strawberries (Babà napoletano al rhum e fragoline di bosco)

The Wines:

A quiet, ideal place for lunch

Mammà offers striking views and terrific food and wine in one of the world’s most singularly beautiful places, the island of Capri. Professional service and a talented chef take care of the rest.

As far as the world’s greatest vacation spots, it’s hard to go wrong with Capri, the ultra-famous,  bucolic island in the middle of the baby blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Places like Mammà only add to the “away from it all” feeling while taking a stroll along the beautiful alleyways, the white buildings, and the friendly if amiably noisy locals. And this because despite the island’s glitzy charm and its never-ending waves of tourists, Mamma is a serious, high quality spot that takes Capri’s island dining scene to a whole new level.

Ziti with Neapolitan ragù

The restaurant was born in 2013 when two friends and collaborators, the multi-award winning Gennaro Esposito and Salvatore La Ragione (who trained under Esposito) joined forces to launch this very ambitious project. La Ragione has since taken over the restaurant and now drives solo, but the place has not missed a beat. It is also very elegant with its soft pastel white and azure colors, the old black and white photographs on the walls, the bright floral compositions, and the spotless linen and crystal glasses. The cuisine is resolutely Mediterranean and very Campanian, with all the usual ingredients and preparations you’d expect all present in spades, including pezzogna (a marine fish that lives only in deep waters of the the Tyrrhenian Sea and is impossible to farm), small pomodori del piennolo, high quality mozzarella, ziti, ragù and, for dessert, babà. The dishes all reach the table in a reasonable amount of time and reveal very good culinary technique and precision, with crisp bright flavors that just sing on the palate. I especially enjoy the traditional ziti with ragù, very flavorful and traditionally rendered in their thick, concentrated tomato sauce, but the roast suckling pig dish turns out to be one of the more memorable dishes of the year, with the sweet-sour tomato shallot chutney and caramelized pineapple intelligently providing a sweet-sour counterbalance to the juicy, fatty pork meat.

Squid soup with shellfish and rockfish

The wine list at Mammà offers a lot of great choices, both Italian and foreign, and despite this being Capri, is not out to gouge the client’s wallet. On this day, I stick mostly to local: and you should too, as many wines listed, especially those from the immediate surroundings, are made in small quantities. Most likely, you will find them only here or during your stay in the region. The 2016 Scala Fenicia Capri Bianco is just such one wine. It is literally impossible to find elsewhere in Italy, never mind in your neck of the woods. Saline and juicy, it makes for a wonderful aperitif, but has more than enough body to stand up to most of the vegetable and fish dishes on the menu. Save for the suckling pig, for which it lacks a little flesh, it certainly matches well to the dishes I try on this day.

Roast suckling pig with sweet-sour tomato and shallot chutney with caramelized pineapple

Two Rosatos also provide a great start to the meal. The 2017 Petilia Rosato Campania Petrose is a bit more savory and dense, while the 2016 Ronchi di Cialla Rosato RosediCialla is lighter-styled and brimming with easygoing floral appeal. The former actually stands up to the complex aromas and flavors of the pork dish quite well. I always find it impossible to refuse a chance to try rare sweet wines from Italy, and so the last two wines are a no brainer. Both are made in a thick heavily raisined style and make up for what they lack in gracefulness with sheer opulence and power. The 2014 Sclavia Pallagrello Bianco Passito Bianco Terre del Volturno Pallaré is the lighter (in color and in texture) and slightly less sweet wine of the two, and is better suited to fruit cocktails and food tarts, while the rarely made 2011 Bambinuto Greco Passito Campania Proditio is a dessert in itself.           

Rum-scented babà and small wild strawberries

One last recommendation. Mammà offers a romantic scene overlooking the Gulf of Naples come evening and is a more than ideal place for a date, but the restaurant’s coolly sophisticated and refined ambiance pleases the eye at lunchtime too, when you can sit out on the terrace and watch Capri from above under the turquoise Campanian skies. And before you know it, you’ll find the food, service and wines will have combined to make the time spent at Mammà literally fly.