Ristorante Il Porto

Ristorante Il Porto occupies a harbour-facing position on Via Marina del Golfo in Locri, a coastal town on the Ionian coast of Calabria in the Reggio Calabria province. The restaurant takes its name from its proximity to the town's small fishing harbour, which supplies much of the seafood reaching the kitchen each morning.

The Ionian Sea that stretches east from Locri provides a marine character distinctly different from the Tyrrhenian catches that define western Calabrian cooking. The waters are warmer, calmer, and yield bluefin and albacore tuna in season alongside mullet, gilt-head bream, and abundant shellfish. Risotto ai frutti di mare ionica — a seafood risotto made with Ionian shellfish — is the kitchen's most popular first course: a short-grain rice dish built on a shellfish broth and finished with a mixed selection of clams, mussels, and small prawns from the local waters. Tonno alla calabrese — tuna braised with tomato, garlic, capers, and peperoncino — is the house meat course, a preparation common to both the Calabrian and Sicilian traditions and executed here with restraint. Baccalà mantecato, the creamy salt cod emulsion more commonly associated with Venice, appears as evidence of the preserved fish tradition that runs across Italian coastal cooking regardless of region.

The dining room is casual in register: tiled floors, functional furniture, good natural light at lunch. Service is relaxed and practical. The kitchen closes on Mondays. Walk-in customers are typically accommodated at lunch and on weeknight dinners.

Local Calabrian whites — including a house Greco — are poured by the carafe and by the glass. The wine list is short and primarily local. Locri is also the gateway town for the ancient Greek site of Locri Epizephyrii, and the restaurant sees visitors to the archaeological museum alongside local diners.