Osteria Villadorata — Restaurant in Noto

This is such an embarrassing situation to write about, this place is an empty shell from what it was. I cannot believe that this is the reality that is left after Viviana Varese left Viva Il Bistro, because Osteria Villadorata with Ida Brenna is nothing but an insecure, arrogant bunch of people that are an imitation of something chaotic between home cooking and it’s good enough for an unaware tourist trattoria. So sad to see it becoming such a disaster so fast.

We have frequently dined in restaurants of Viviana Varese that belong to Villadorata. We loved it, some called it overpriced, too Milanese priced, unprofessional staff, but we loved it. We enjoyed how consistently surprisingly balanced the dishes were: punchy in taste, knowing in product, generous in combinations, but never heavy on the stomach. We have always given compliments to the chef and asked ourselves is it Ida Brenna that is so good and Viviana Varese is taking the advantage of her talent or is it Ida Brenna that is so lucky to work under the brilliant structure and vision of Viviana. Well it’s clear that Ida without Viviana is equal to being sick to your stomach from the amount of fats your body needs to process to compensate for the lack of ingredients. Why keeping the same menu and dishes while taking away all what’s good about them?

This is just a sad story of decay where you get sick from the amount of ignorant and careless food you get presented. The changes that are made by Osteria Villadorata are designed to destroy your health. It’s like eating food from a freezer warmed up in the microwave. The changes that are made, make the dish look similar on the menu or even picture (not the couscous) but are completely structurally destroyed from the inside. How to be cheap in the wrong way. Getting away with this requires a bit of intellect or at least vision.

We wanted to believe that this is a mistake, something went wrong and we wanted to address it privately on the phone with someone from management, but we quickly understood that this is not a mistake, but a belief system. They are not interested in having good intentions or for the customer to want to return. They are interested in selling a cheaper version of what it was, for the same amount with less preparation and it’s good enough attitude. This restaurant is not safe to eat at at the moment, maybe it’s a distress of change or maybe it’s just the true essence of the chef coming forward with no possibility to hide behind someone else’s name. The cous cous you see on the pictures is from Viva Il Bistro, that doesn’t exist anymore. The couscous now is without prawns, with no decent fish and a julienne of cubes of 1x1cm of undercooked carrots and bland courgettes with 5 dried mussels in it. With a veggie stock to compensate for the embarrassment. Let’s pretend that no one will notice. This famous couscous is dead, like this restaurant. They don’t have the energy for greatness. They are already tired before they even started.

I am writing this while drinking chicken bouillon together with stomach pills and ginger tea to process the food experience of an uneducated, unprofessional staff presenting not eatable food without any intention to change. The manager called me back just to scream at me for being sick from their food, when I asked for his name he did not want to give it, because he had problems before - what a delusional experience. I feel sad that when given an opportunity to shine with its own name you do this with an opportunity like that. I doubted to try again, maybe it was just once, but the experience of a sickening feeling of heavy stomach is not worth it (I am not allergic or I ate too much) so don’t trust what you read here in reviews, this restaurant doesn’t exist anymore. This is the reality you will be...

I had the pleasure to dine at Osteria Villadorata a few days ago, during a brief trip to Noto and what an exquisite experience it has been! Everything from the interior to the welcoming service was spotless and flawless. We were a group of 5 and set in the inside area (they also offer a lovely terrace but we preferred to have a more intimate space), the room itself is stylish but what makes the real difference is the quality of the service we received: warm, friendly and extremely professional. We ate nearly the whole menu (the portions were generous and ended up super stuffed!) since everything looked delicious and couldn’t help ourselves from wanting to try as many dishes as possible. From the starters to the desserts not a dish disappointed us: creative, tasty and with an eye to sustainability and seasonality of the fresh products. Even thinking back to the dishes we ate still makes me mouth watering. I’m a professional sommelier so anywhere I go I’m always throwing myself in the wine list and even that didn’t disappoint: a great selection of Sicilian wines for all kind of pockets and tastes! From the small producers to the most famous, the work Jessica (the young and knowledgeable sommelier) is amazing and gave me the chance to try wines I couldn’t have find easily! With this said, I would 100% recommend Osteria Villadorata to anyone visiting Noto or even the surrounding since it really deserves the trip. Thanks to the whole team, for the...

Osteria Villadorata in Noto is a wonderful place to dine. Although we came without a reservation and could only be seated indoors, the setting was still very stylish and atmospheric. The very first question from our waitress was whether we had any allergies – which, as someone with celiac disease, immediately made me feel at ease. There are several gluten-free options on the menu, and all pasta dishes can be prepared with gluten-free pasta. I had the Pasta alla Norma, which was delicious, and even received gluten-free focaccia with sesame and olives to start, while my boyfriend was served regular bread. The Negronis were excellent as well. With friendly service and truly tasty food, this place is highly recommended.

As a small remark: in many Italian restaurants, gluten-free pasta is often only available as penne. It would be lovely if more places offered shapes that better match the dish – but that’s just a suggestion, not a complaint, in what was otherwise an...