Le Cassone

Le Cassone sits within the upper citadel of Bonifacio on Rue Simon Varsi, offering straightforward Corsican and pizza-based casual dining in one of the most dramatically situated old towns in the Mediterranean. The citadel of Bonifacio rises on a narrow limestone promontory above 70-metre white cliffs, and the restaurants within its medieval lanes occupy a different world from the marina-level seafood establishments below. Le Cassone fills a practical need: affordable, unfussy eating in a location where most food options are either tourist-facing fine dining or overpriced café snacks. The pizza here is wood-fired and uses Corsican charcuterie toppings — figatellu, lonzu, coppa — as its distinguishing local element; the panzarottu (a fried, sealed calzone) is the house speciality that most clearly separates Le Cassone from a generic pizzeria. The wine list is intentionally simple: a house Corsican rosé by the carafe and a small selection of island bottles provides all the accompaniment a casual lunch or early dinner requires. The dining room has a worked-in character appropriate to the citadel setting: stone walls, wooden furniture, and a terrace on the narrow lane for warm weather service. Le Cassone is particularly useful before or after the afternoon boat excursions to Bonifacio's sea caves and the Îles Lavezzi, which depart from the marina below. The restaurant operates April to October and does not typically require reservations except in the height of August.