La Zagara — Restaurant in Anacapri

i've been traveling in italy for a month solo, and hands down this was the only truly bad food experience i've had. from the moment i walked in i felt out of place, staff was not warm or welcoming and seemed to see my table of one as an inconvenience. the menu was limited and expensive, which i am fine with if the meal is worth it! this was not. my reservation was for 8 pm, i was served and handed a bill for €52 at 8:17 pm. i ordered water (€6), wine (€12), and a pasta dish that featured pumpkin and octopus (€28) plus a table service charge for an additional €6 (charge is not uncommon but this is high). I asked two waiters if there was tomato in the dish and both said no without being able to explain the dish or the way the octopus was prepared. The meager portion arrived with tomato, which i never pair with seafood, and i decided it was easier to eat the few bites than to try and get the staff to pay attention. It was the most expensive dish and smallest portion i've received in Italy, and as a rule of thumb these are not the types of restaurants i'm interested in, but again I'm willing to pay for amazing quality and service. Neither of those exist at La Zagara. The atmosphere is aesthetically nice if you remove the vibe given off, but that was the only positive. I received a bill 17 minutes after being seated, i still had a bit of wine and a full bottle of San Pellegrino at the table. I asked a waitress where the bathroom was (i had not yet paid), and when i returned my table had been cleared. The restaurant wasn't too busy, so this was truly a careless act. I was very uncomfortably with the whole experience, i asked a server where my table went and there was mass confusion like they hadn't even realized i didn't pay yet. they brought my water bottle back from the kitchen and offered it back to me, to which i said no thanks ill just pay but please remove that from the bill. I left right away to find somewhere else to get a proper meal, upset that i had just spent time and money at La Zagara. I reached out to management to explain my story and his response was that i can come back and try again... no thanks for spending another minute of my few days on Capri there. I explained not enjoying the food was a secondary complaint, my real issue was with the service and being rushed out. He admitted an issue with service but offered nothing worthy seeing as i would not want to spend more of time here returning to a place i felt so unwelcome. Unless you are looking for a careless, overpriced and underwhelming dining experience, i do not...

I never write such long reviews, but this was a difficult review to write, because we had an overall WONDERFUL experience, the staff we interacted with was exceptionally kind and welcoming, and the food was fantastic! HOWEVER, a vegan individual at our table was served tomato pasta which had small bits of ground meat in the sauce at the bottom - almost fully eaten was returned. I'm capable of traveling a lot just to eat so I am very tolerant of people and places, and of course nothing bad happened - as I said, we had a great experience - but this is an ethical concern because it means the chef either tried to fool us, rather than doing his job, or it was an honest "mistake" (I don't who accidentally puts meat in a sauce) but we didnt hear back from the kitchen or get an apology so I'm inclined to believe the first due to lack of care. Since I believe it was intentional, here I am intentionally providing feedback (trying again). So if that's the case, the chef should not be providing a service they cannot uphold, which includes SERVING clients food at their dietary discretion - common, we were the only table in the restaurant, make a clean tomato sauce, lazy... Good thing there was no one with severe allergies! This rating is feedback for the restaurant to consult with the chef, because BESIDES this, I want to give credit where credit is due. IF it wasn't for this incident, I WOULD HAVE GIVEN 5 STARS +! The ambience was great, the staff was fantastic, the shrimp carpaccio, ossobuco ragu and deserts were delicious (along with pretty much all the food, pasta could be more al dente), and the deep fried calamari/shrimps were honestly some of the best I've ever eaten, anywhere. If you have no dietary restrictions, I absolutely highly recommend...

La Zagara is more than just a restaurant, it is an experience of artistic, culinary beauty. I went in the summer of 2022 for dinner. The atmosphere was fresh, temperamental and comfortable to the point that I felt that I wasn't even outside. The Mediterranean summer night combined with the back drop of a beautiful lemon grove, made it feel as though I was watching a cinematic in first person. I choose their 5 courses tasting menu paired with an incredible Prosecco Rose from a small winery in north, east Italy. Each dish completely launched my pallet into another dimension. I was astounded by the combinations of the components each dish delivered to my senses as I was unaware that even such things were possible.

This is why I say it’s not just food, it's art. The level of creativity brought forth by Davide Ciavattella, the executive chef and Serena di Valentino, the pastry chef was unmatched by any other meal ever had. Moreover, the service was perfect. The front of house were also the nicest people that catered to every need, sometimes even predicting what I wanted before even asking! My pleasantries and praise apparently were well communicated by them to the kitchen throughout the meal and so the kitchen was so kind to also provide a mixed truffle plate along with the final course desert. Again, incredible.

I have visited Europe many times and to many different countries and this was by far my best meal I have ever had both in the EU and the US. It was also a pleasure meeting you Davide. Your restaurant is more than certainly Michelin star worthy and I hope you...