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SICILY TAORMINA RISTORANTE IL DITO E LA LUNA, GRAND HOTEL TIMEO
Taormina’s name comes from the Latin for bull (taurus) and hill (mons). (The centurions apparently thought the geography reminiscent of a bull’s horns.) Walking along its long main street – and that is nearly all there is of this pretty town – I was struck by the modesty of its architecture. This is one of the reasons why the grandeur of the Classical ruins is so impressive: the scale is so different. I had spent the afternoon gazing at the arches and the amphitheatre and was quite hungry when I returned, turned into the adjacent gateway and entered the Grand Hotel Timeo.
In high summer I could have dined outside, but there was a chill in the air, so I stepped into the glass-walled restaurant. Piano music was drifting in from the bar as I crossed the wood-block floor and settled myself into a substantial wooden armchair before a tablecloth of off-white damask. ‘As Time Goes By’: it is played wherever affluent folk sit down to dinner, and I never tire of it. It made me feel at home as I noted the vase of 8 red roses and the single, tapered candle on my table. As is my invariable custom, I examined the glasses – of good size and shape, they bore the name ‘Inncrystal’. I asked one of the waiters in black tie about them and was told they were made in Sicily. Chef Vincenzo Pinto describes his food as Sicilian and Mediterranean. I liked it very much. I judged that this was a kitchen which took care to seek out ingredients of good quality and then treated them with care and respect. Gastronomic fireworks, no; properly prepared and enjoyable traditional food, yes.
About 350 wines are on offer from the cellar of sommelier Scimone Salvatore. They range in price from 23 euros for a local white (Foriero, D’Angelo Adele, 2003) to 580 euros for a 1990 Barolo (Monfortino, Conterno). The list is mostly Italian, but I was pleased to see a half-bottle of Austrian trockenbeerenauslese at an attractive price, for those discerning folks who like something sweetly elegant with their pudding (Muskat TBA, Apetion, 1998 – 70 euros). I was helped with my own bottles by the hotel’s stylish Food and Beverage Manager, Fiore Fabbro. My Sicilian white was a ‘very’ wine – being very full-bodied, very full of sherbet and very reminiscent of tropical fruit (Chiaranda, Donnafugata, 2001 – 55 euros). My Tuscan red was the wonderful Luce, in its 1998 vintage – plump and round, with a vegetal nose and oodles of ripe fruit (Frescobaldi – 102 euros). Its bottle is one of the most attractive you will find: dark, tapered and bearing a gilt sunburst. I have not stayed at the Grand Hotel Timeo. Perhaps I will do so in the future. I would certainly look forward to a visit. For – if it were as good as its dining room, the Ristorante Il Dito e La Luna – it would be a very good hotel indeed. And the views… well, if they were good enough for the Greeks, they would be good enough for me.
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ADDRESSES
RISTORANTE IL DITO E LA LUNA
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© Francis Bown 2003
Our Classical forefathers knew how to bag the best views. When the Greeks decided to construct a theatre in the place we now call Taormina, they chose the spot with the most spectacular panorama of the local volcano and of the bay below. The Romans needed a rather different building for their own, more blood-thirsty entertainment; but they realised that the location could not be bettered, and so built on the Greek foundations. And when, in the 1870s, a luxury hotel was needed to accommodate all those who were travelling to see so magical a spot, it was appropriate that it should be placed right next to the ancient ruins. Thus was born the Grand Hotel Timeo, at which I myself arrived to eat in its dining room, the Ristorante Il Dito e La Luna.
I was immediately struck by the hotel’s air of refined good taste. Everywhere I looked there seemed to be paintings and pieces of antique furniture. And the whole place was clearly very well maintained. ‘Pristine’ was the word which immediately came to my mind. I walked out onto the huge terrace and there was the view which had been enchanting observers for millennia. It was beginning to darken, so – as Mount Etna brooded above and the waters of the bay shimmered far below – thousands of lights began to twinkle across the countryside. 
I appreciated, too, the presentation of my first dish. On a large white plate came tender, well-cooked lobster, with gratinated aubergine, almonds and marjoram. Warm celery sauce was in a separate dish. I dipped pieces of lobster and aubergine into the sauce and then transferred them to my mouth. Delicious. Next came spaghetti ‘alla Norma’ – with cherry tomatoes, ricotta shavings and more aubergine – a large portion and decently done. My meat was roasted suckling pig, full of earthy flavours and accompanied by some glorious beans from Polizzi. An apple tart with almond sorbet and rosemary kept up the standards. (87 euros for these four courses.) I must mention, too, the service, which – under the smiling, young Assistant Restaurant Manager, Raffaele Barbagallo – was efficient and very friendly.