Taverna La Focagna — Restaurant in Matera

We were sat wonderfully, and given drinks promptly. I asked the server What he recommended and he said our choices were “amazing”. I have been a chef for over 10 years at some of the top restaurants in Canada and a private chef in Germany, I have travelled to Europe many times. The appetizer was good, confit onion on traditional Matera bread. We ordered a traditional legume dish which was good, but lacking seasoning. We shared a pasta dish with anchovies , now I love anchovies / fish, I cook with them often. Immediately upon the delivery it smelled “off”, I tasted the dish and it was border line rancid. We tried to talk to ANY server about it but they were so fast to leave we couldn’t chat, it was over 40 min we waited with empty glasses and rancid food. We went to pay and brought up that the food tasted “off” the owner got mad fast. I tried to speak calmly and respectfully but she raised her voice and then called another server to speak to us. I tried to explain that the one dish tasted off but everything else was good, she yelled at us saying we didn’t have taste. Reminder I’m a chef, and have been for over 10 years… it was not my taste and I know it, it was the fish… it was off or improperly prepared. I asked the server to “please lower your voice” to which she got more mad, I said “ I’m just trying to explain my experience, could we get a dessert instead?” The server said “ no it’s you’re taste” I asked if the pasta was made in a large batch or small batch? She got more mad, I tried to explain that maybe it was just ours that was off and she got more mad and raised her voice again. She yelled at me and said she would get the fish to show us. When she left I entered the bill total, paid via card, and left as I had no interest in arguing with this woman more.

In Canada I tip 25% + for a good dinner, here I paid the exact amount and left. I’ve never left a review on a restaurant, I guess this place made me change my mind on reviews.. don’t come here unless you want aggression and dissatisfaction.

Sincerely an upset...

Where to start? When we arrived at the restaurant the waiter asked if we could pay in cash. He said that they had no connection to visa. Fine with us.

We ordered three pizza, a dish with pasta and a beef with potatoes. I guess that they are making pizza from the freezer. They were the worst pizza we ever had in Italy and they should be ashamed to serve something like this for money. They pasta was half warm half cold and we guessed they made it in the micro oven. The beef didn’t look like something for a boy at age 5 but more something for a dog. Worst food after three weeks in Italy.

Then the payment. We asked for the check and he told us to pay 68€. We said fine but we need the check. They then kept us sitting for 15 minutes. We then again asked for it and the became angry with us. Shaking their head and said some words in Italian. The other tables around was getting checks and paid with credit card. We told the waiter that we wanted to do the same. He then verbal attacked my wife and told he couldn’t give us a check because of the system. Everybody else were getting checks and paid with card so we knew he was screwing us. At last we paid in cash because they were not very polite and we hope nobody will experience the same as us. Never,...

La Focagna deserves special mention for its pizza, specifically its pizza crust. I’ve been around a bit, and have developed the heretical opinion that the best pizza in the world is found not in Italy but in southern Brazil. This is because in Italy the crust is typically so thin and the tomato sauce so watery that the center of the pizza becomes soggy and goopy and you have to eat it with a knife and fork; you can’t just pick up a slice by hand and eat it. After visiting every region of Italy including both major islands, this is the only time I can remember getting a pizza where the crust is what I’d call right: it’s thick enough and stays crispy enough that you can actually pick it up and eat it without utensils. I couldn’t decide between the regular sausage or the spicy Calabrian sausage, so they did a half and half for me. If you have the same dilemma, ask them to do...