Concezione Restaurant — Restaurant in Catania

We had a dinner tonight for my birthday at Concezione.

Beginning: On the website it was stated that there could be a plant-based tasting. However we found out in the communication with the maitre d' that making it vegan (lactose intolerance) was a potential issue. This is probably due to a misunderstanding about terminology which may not be the same in every language, but we did get the idea that we posed a problem for the kitchen and that felt a bit awkward (because the open kitchen showed the confusion clearly).

Atmosphere and service: The service was formal and good with attention to detail in a very minimal (almost clinical) atmosphere with an open, visible kitchen. This is a matter of taste, but since we were the only ones in the restaurant, we thought the setup was a bit cold for our taste.

Food: We went for the 7 course tasting with wine arrangement. The dishes were highly conceptual but some of them lacked something special. In a restaurant like this you expect your mind to be blown in every course. This was basically 50/50 in our menu. I do want to stress that the ingredients were expertly managed and cooked. It just lacked a bit of "special" flavour here and there. If this was because of the misunderstanding regarding plant based or not is hard to say. We must admit that in some cases the level of creaminess of a dish was amazing considering there was no egg or dairy in it.

Wrap up: 5 stars is too much considering the misunderstanding regarding menu, but mostly because we were asked if we wanted an extra sparkly wine in the beginning and a dessert wine in the end. One would expect a dessert wine to be in a wine arrangement (especially considering there was a pre dessert, a dessert and petit fours after) so we went for the "extra" wine. In the end on the bill, those extra 2 wines were almost as expensive as the wine arrangement (30 vs 40 euros). That left a bit of a sour aftertaste (even though the dessert wine was sweet and good 😊)

This 4 stars review could be 5 stars if the communication improves and the Vegan experience gets a bit more special. All in all it wasn't bad but in value for money we didn't have the best experience we could have, even though it was the most expensive dinner in history for us.

We hope the above points are used to improve in the future, because we do see and appreciate the effort...

Nothing compares 2 U when you create a Concezione Restaurant. I happened to be invited to a birthday surprise dinner in Catania by my glamorous young always beautifully adventurous friend Frida. Entering Concezione Restaurant we where welcomed with pure elegance - our companion for the next 3 hours - through this steep fantastic night of a slow multitude explosion from tongue to brain. While we were seated I was flashlight blinded by the silver mirror letters on the opposite door: Toilet. Brillant design and more when this door ever opens. Eyes Wide Shut I glanced into the horizon- the kitchen - where 3 young men and 1 woman worked as a silent lubricated Gang minus one member who was down. “Trust in youth - stay out of their way but by their side” blossomed my mind as we choose from street names, earthy ingredients of spitting mountains and funny sideswips. An excellent wine was chosen for us as we where unable by our excited expectation. And right we where to safe our capacities as the high tide ride began with a first bite moving through textures, clear tastes and countryside colours. A warm inviting hand to step up further to the second bite : a sliding rumour of continental plates crashing into remembrance of the past. Here comes the sun hitting your nervous system if you make no concession taking your third bite. Tears of conquer, dirt of Duccati wheels squirts around your mouth, U- turning the former stories of ingredients, textures of the past by constructing the future. My tongue slides searching along the moulded warm porcelain. Finding a blank plate comforts me as more is still to come. With Lust for Life I taste that needed contradictions only arise from intellectual risk. Than later the divine dark sweet dessert flirting with the bitter, splitter of salty sand floating down a rocky Mountain slope splashing as a bright smile with la Sole d’ Agosto into the sea of me. As Tears Go By the Ragusa Star respectfully fades away in his mist of classic harmony and the narratives of applause die high in the sky. In retrospect I still believe Like a Prayer: Nothing compares 2 U ! Thank you Manuel Tropea 4 +1 missing for this spectacular, glamorous Adventure created with some Sicilian gifts of Nature but running Like a Passenger through your most...

Update for the readers: see in what situation you put yourself if you go eat there; read comment owner.

This place is insane! Sadly in a bad way…The dishes were like in the movie Star Wars where they eat all these weird space dishes that look terrible. Endless amuse bouches; one worse than the other. I just copied a review of an other customer because he also expressed the same feelings we had…but some extra criticism: charging €7,- pp for couverts, forcefully serving extra bottles of water (each €10,-) without us asking and wanting more, obligated to take 3 courses when you just want to eat ‘a la carte’….. Maitre was pushing and pushing for the expensive wines… Location and interior are questionable. Many 5 star reviews are made by people that only placed one review ever…..

Came late in 2 min for the table, said we cannot have the tasting menu. Food was so bad, we tried all that vegetarian. We returned 3 dishes just because they were not edible. The flavours were to salty, no balance and bad textures. I would recommend, only if you hate yourself to eat the good morning Catania.when the chef came to introduce himself and when told that some were no to our liking he made us feel like it’s our fault for not understanding the place vision.

Ps: we had a dessert with garlic, white chocolate and parsley sauce….is the guy that calls himself the chef the son of a verg rich family, where the are just happy their son is of the streets and doing something? I just don’t know...