by Marco Contursi
“We always remain open because we offer a service to those who come to this hamlet of Massalubrense. If someone wants a coffee or needs to go to the bathroom, when the only bar closes, what would they do? I believe that a tavern is also a social commitment, not just a job, which is why we only close when forced, for example when they turn off the water, then always open for 40 years.”
Listening to Enzo De Simone, owner of the Eughenes restaurant in the Termini hamlet of Massalubrense is, and should be, a lesson for many restaurant business owners.
Because a place must not be seen only as a way of making money as much as possible, because some trattorias become an indissoluble part of the social fabric in which they are found and, lastly, because when there is no water one must stay closed and not do as a famous place that remains open in defiance of laws and people’s dignity.
I came back after years and everything is the same. We are a stone’s throw away from immortal restaurants such as Don Alfonso, Quattro Passi and Taverna del Capitano. No stars here but you turn a bend and you have Capri so close that you feel like you can touch it.
Enzo has been an innkeeper for 40 years, with his wife in the kitchen and his son Gaetano in the dining room. The joke is always ready, he listens, advises, but then, when at the end of the service, he sits down, he offers pearls of gastronomic wisdom, typical of those who have understood the true essence of this profession: “I have thought about closing many times, but it would be a lack of respect for those who have come in recent years, because they return and want to find our cuisine”.
Already the kitchen. The traditional one at home, at a price that buys a pizza and a beer elsewhere.
The starter is the same as always, vegetables, dairy products (excellent braid), and homemade fried foods, I really like the crocchè.
The first courses are also as classic as you can get, the Nerano is very creamy and tasty, the spaghetti with clams is also very good, with clams so plump that they look like oysters.
If I wanted to be technical, I would have only used an oil from the area, perhaps a small one, but I realize that it is a gastro-technical whim, even if it would give an extra something to an already good dish.
The creel prawns are there and you can’t miss them, simply sautéed with salt and pepper. The closure? Caprese, the traditional one, but there is also citrus fruit and a drop of cafoncello, coffee liqueur and limoncello. Small wine list or house wine, unpretentious drinker.
A precious address for those who take a tour of the coast and want to eat well without bleeding. Here we are around 30 euros per person for starter, first course and dessert.
And a chat with Enzo will make you understand that behind that light-hearted way of doing things, there is a professional with a capital P.
Who could give lessons to certain “entrepreneurs” I know who see the customer only as an ATM. Other people, other values…
Eughenes restaurant
Via Roncato 9 Termini, 80068 Massa Lubrense
tel 081 808 1989
Card dated April 25, 2017
by Marco Contursi
Eating well, spending little, in one of the most beautiful locations in the world and a stone’s throw from the highest Italian concentration of starred restaurants?……you can…you can…. Just take my advice and come to Enzo.
Where? Trattoria Eughenes in Termini di Massa Lubrense.
To clarify, you turn a bend and Capri is so close that you feel like you can touch it.
Here, a stone’s throw from Don Alfonso, Quattro passi and the Captain’s tavern, there is this very real family-run trattoria.
Plastic or straw chairs, checkered tablecloth, informal service, friendly price. A real trattoria, a precious rarity.
Stay away from gastroghettos, from the series “I want crystal glasses and water only in glass.”
Sit inside or on the cool terrace and Enzo, the very nice owner, will ask you what you prefer to eat. Every time he enters the room, he’s ready with a joke, a born comedian. His son Gaetano, who helps his father in the dining room, is also nice and kind.
Warning: the portions are generous in both seasoning and quantity, so divide by two.
The mixed appetizer is a riot of local vegetables, fiordilatte and caciottina always from local artisans (it is bred here..), and arancini and crocchè, the latter stre-pi-to-si. I would have eaten a ton of them.
Among the first courses, the flagship, namely spaghetti alla Nerano, among the best in the area, a sumptuous pasta and potatoes with provola or an equally rich spaghetti with seafood (clams, mussels, razor clams, cockles). Pasta cooked to perfection and lots of seasoning.
As for the latter, what can I tell you? Pot prawns, caught during the night, lightly seared with salt and pepper.
What are they like?…..in your mouth, the sea!!!
It ends with caprese, always homemade in various variations (traditional, hazelnut, citrus…), really good, and artisanal liqueurs from a local producer.
Limoncello, fennel and cafuncello. For me the latter, limoncello and coffee put together to recall the custom of some elderly people of drinking coffee with lemon peel inside “to digest”. Bulk wine, which I don’t recommend, and some good labels from Campania.
You pay around 25 euros per person, calculate around 10 euros per portion and I repeat, some must necessarily be divided if you want to try more things.
Enzo’s overwhelming friendliness and the spectacle of being in one of the most beautiful places in the world are included in the price.
ps Enzo is pro-Bourbon and pro-Calcionapoli… Juventus fans, AC Milan fans, Inter fans etc. remain anonymous….
