After my usual late-afternoon nap, we hiked back down to the beach area to find aperitivi. I was under the impression that everyone in Italy goes out for aperitivi -- pre-dinner drinks and snacks -- and I looked for evidence of this in every city we went to but didn't find it. I'm not sure if my timing was off or what, but I decided regardless, we would go find some pre-dinner drinks and snacks in Positano.
We wandered into a little bar right near the restaurant where we had lunch, and they had an extensive list of pre-dinner drinks. We sat down, and I ordered a Campari spritz, and Jeff got a glass of Pinot Grigio. The bartender also brought over some olives, chips, and taralli (these little hard bread/cracker rings, flavored with anise).
We snacked and drank, and I switched to an Aperol spritz. I found it just a little sweeter than the Campari spritz. It was nice to just sit and relax and kick back before dinner.
Eventually we did wander over to dinner, which was just around the corner. Earlier in the day, we had seen Chez Black (and it's recommended in several of the guidebooks), so we stopped in and made a dinner reservation. The waiter who took our reservation recognized us when we arrived for dinner and showed us a to a table right at the front of the restaurant. Had it been light out, we would have had a great view of the water.
Shortly after we were seated, he brought us over an amuse-bouche of bruschetta with white anchovies. We both loved this. And it definitely started the meal off on the right note.
We wanted to get a half bottle of white to share since we'd already gone out for pre-dinner drinks, and I asked our waiter to recommend something local. We ended up with a really nice food-friendly white.
To start, we shared an order of gnocchi with mozzarella and tomatoes. They split it for us -- so that's actually a half portion pictured below. I really liked the flavor of the sauce and all the cheese, but the gnocchi were a little gummy and dense, almost like eating really thick gluey mashed potatoes. It was the only part of our meal I didn't love.
There was no way I was leaving the Amalfi Coast without trying spaghetti with clams, and when I saw that Chez Black makes the dish with wild clams, I quickly knew what I was ordering. When my dish arrived, I was so surprised to see teeny tiny clams with swirly brown and white shells (the heat lamp above us did no justice to my pictures). These were the smallest, sweetest clams I've ever eaten. I loved them. And the pasta was nicely flavored with olive oil and lemon.
Jeff ordered grilled swordfish, which he enjoyed.
We were both too stuffed for any dessert, but our waiter brought us these little lemon slushie-like drinks at the end of our meal, which hit the spot.
We loved the restaurant, the atmosphere, the service, and the food. I can see why the guidebooks recommend it.
Next up: Day 9 -- Amalfi (Morning/Afternoon)