Osteria della Divina Provvidenza — Restaurant in Lecce

When we arrived we were struck by the coldness of the staff and we almost thought it was a gimmick and were quite amused. There were no problems in ordering and the food was fine, especially the orecchiette. However, after we had been served our pasta, service was over. It took at least five minutes after we had finished until someone took our plates - and he did so without a word. We waited another five or ten minutes for a waitress or anyone to attend to us, ask us if we were content, wanted dessert, coffee etc. Tired of waiting we decided to skip digestives and went ourselves to the bar to pay. Even at that point, we weren't asked if we had enjoyed our dinner or anything. This treatment wouldn't have bothered us that much if it was a busy restaurant or a low scale lunch place. This quite expensive place wasn't full however and there were lots of staff around who could have checked in on us in the absence of our waitress. It was really odd to see them linger around seemingly without much work but completely ignoring us. Also odd was the woman who appeared to be the owner of the restaurant who was all the time moving around the restaurant and being very social with the guests at all three tables except ours - while she didn't acknowledge us with as much as a look. Since there was really no teamwork among the staff and they seemed very tense without the restaurant being busy we were speculating if maybe they were stressed about an upcoming event later or if maybe their boss was giving them a hard time. This would have been a pleasant dinner if it wasn't for the strange behaviour...

Mixed feelings about this place. When we arrived we were given a warm welcome by the waitress, who spoke very good English and was very helpful with the wine selection. However, we were a bit disappointed by the food and it was not as good as the reviews said. The gluten free pasta was good, but the pumpkin, mushroom and bacon with it tasted burned and was oily. The vegetarian version of this was literally only pumpkin and some tartufo…. Bacon removed and no effort to add something to replace the bacon. It’s not suitable for vegetarians. When mentioned to our waitress that we weren’t happy with this, she was apologetic but not much was done after. So in the end, a bit of a mixed bag, but disappointing given some of the...

Charming restaurant tucked away in vaulted rooms, very atmospheric. We chose the daily special appetiser - a selection of fish and vegetable dishes, plus two secondi - seared tuna and veal with rocket and Parmesan. Two bottles of water and one glass of wine. €75. There was a musician and dancer which was unexpected but really added to the evening as some of the diners joined in the organised circle and partner dancing. The service was attentive and friendly. The wine pairing was elegant and fruity rosé. We booked easily after finding this restaurant through Google maps, which was one reason we chose to come after a long day of travelling....