Ristorante Natta

Ristorante Natta is a respected traditional restaurant in the historic centre of Sassari, the large university city of north-west Sardinia whose cooking forms a distinct strand of the island's cuisine. Sassarese food differs markedly from the shepherd traditions of the Barbagia, carrying greater Spanish and Ligurian influence and a strong streak of hearty, characterful peasant dishes, and Natta is a fine place to explore it. The signature is farinata sassarese, a baked chickpea-flour flatbread closely related to the Ligurian fainè brought by Genoese settlers — a local specialty rarely found elsewhere on the island. Equally emblematic is zuppa cuata, a rich baked dish of bread layered with cheese and meat broth, a comforting Sassarese classic almost never encountered in the south. A grilled meat platter rounds out a menu that leans toward the robust, inland flavours of the Sassari hinterland. The dining room is traditional and welcoming, the service unfussy, and the clientele a reassuring mix of locals and visitors curious about regional specialties. Prices are moderate, around €25–€40 per person, and a reservation is recommended, especially for dinner and at weekends. The wine list keeps to Sardinian growers, with the reds and whites of the north-west — including Vermentino — well suited to the cooking. Sassari's centre, with its churches, the Duomo and the lively Corso, surrounds the restaurant and makes a meal here easy to combine with a walk through the old town. Natta suits travellers who want to taste the specific, lesser-known cuisine of north-west Sardinia — chickpea flatbreads, baked bread soups and grilled meats — rather than the island's more familiar coastal or mountain dishes, and who value authenticity and regional character.