Ristorante Kalimera, Salerno

Ristorante Kalimera on the Salerno waterfront promenade offers southern Italian seafood cooking at prices that reflect the city's status as a working regional capital rather than a premium tourist destination — a significant advantage over comparable quality dining on the Amalfi Coast a short drive to the north. Salerno's Lungomare Trieste is a handsome seafront promenade in the Italian tradition, lined with palm trees and extending from the historic centre towards the modern harbour, and Kalimera's position here gives it views across the Gulf of Salerno to the Cilento coastline south of the city. The name Kalimera — the Greek greeting for 'good morning' — reflects the historical Greek presence across the landscape of Campania and the Cilento, and perhaps a nod to the quality of the morning's catch from the Gulf, which is the kitchen's primary preoccupation. The crudo di mare — a selection of raw shellfish and crustaceans dressed simply with olive oil and lemon — is the restaurant's most distinctive offering, showcasing the quality of the day's local seafood in its most unmediated form: oysters, sea urchin, scallops, and raw shrimp presented on a bed of crushed ice. The spaghetti con vongole e bottarga (clam pasta finished with the dried, pressed roe of grey mullet) is the standout cooked preparation, combining the clean brininess of the vongole with the concentrated savouriness of the bottarga. Salerno is an undervisited city that rewards the traveller who ventures beyond the most famous coast towns.