Santa Margherita, Portofino

We arrived in Santa Margherita ~5:00 AM and the tenders started running ~8:00. I wish we were on one right now although through the lens of our camera this sleepy little town doesn't look awake quite yet. Gardeners are just beginning to water and there is almost no movement on the streets. We are in Italy though and nothing is ever early or open until midmorning in our experience. From the ship it looks like the shoreline is dotted with beautiful hotels, restaurants and a few churches. The steep hills are covered with deep green trees with houses nestled in dotting the cliff-like inclines.

I researched this trip extensively before leaving Houston and after hours of Googling and reading through reviews on Trip Advisor, Frommer's and Lonely Planet (amongst others) I finally chose only one restaurant to visit in this town- Il Nostromo. Via dell'Arco 6. It's run by 2 brothers and their mama who all rotate duties: dishwasher, cook and wait staff. The restaurant only contains 8 tables and people had nothing but fantastic reviews about the place so we emailed them for reservations 2 weeks before our departure date. Only hours before we left we received a message back in very broken English, "regret us, we no lunch open". There was no time left for more research; no more time to find those notes from all the hours of research to discover a second choice...so last night Gary asked the front desk. And you know how unhappy that made me? I'm on a roll here guys!! Pulling Catalana in Barcelona out at just the right moment- having to wait until Gary (who refused to take a taxi to anywhere and was willing to eat at a mall food court that night) had to be worn-down before I could even suggest it! He wasn't easy to convince but did a complete about-face after meeting Raul and having our first round of tapas. (In my heart of hearts I also believe that if my 6'7" friend had not been behind me we still wouldn't have gone!)

Then yesterday- the Hotel de Paris I struck gold- even though I had forgotten to order the Pistachio-crusted lamb chops, the pre-fixed lunch of thin veal tenderloin with anchovy sauce and stewed rabbit with mustard cream sauce and perfectly creamed potatoes and the outrageously huge soufflés from the 130 year-old recipe saved my back!!! I was looking good.

Today we are planning on taking a ferry to the other side of the peninsula to eat at a restaurant that the 25-year-old front desk attendant recommended called Il Pitosforo. He says that's its the best food in the area and also family-owned for more than 55 years. I'm not sure if its my pride that's getting in the way or lack of confidence in a child that's less than half my age but I'm not as confident as I should be in our lunch today. Gary tried to convince me last night- "Kandy, these people come here all the time. They should know where to go for lunch!" But he just doesn't understand...this is all that's on our agenda. It needs to be good. No, not just good, but something that I can write home about. We're not taking the shore excursion to Cinque Terre for 6 hours and $250 per person. We're not going to Rapallo to see the ancient castle. We're not going near San Fruttuoso- the mid evil village and home of the Benedictine Abbey. We're having lunch here in this sleepy little Italian town. One excursion, one lunch to make an impression that will last a lifetime. My only consolation - this little town produces my favorite Pinot Grigio. If all else fails we can be assured that the wine will not!! Wish me luck!!