Niccolo Van Westerhout - MOLA DI BARI

Last night we had dinner at this amazing local 5 star restaurant. The owner Leonardo seated us and by the end of the night he was sitting with us, regaling us with stories of restaurants he 's owned in NYC, Dublin and Italy, all while opening yet another bottle wine. Part of the small restaurant is a jazz club at the end of the second dining room. Leonardo is a big jazz fan as am I so we chatted about Sonny Rollins, Chet Baker and of course Miles Davis. The culinary portion started out with some gifts of Bruschetta crostini, a small fish infused bread, some fried zucchini. Served with a local vino blanco from the Puglia region. First course was a grilled octopus salad with small seared potato slices in a delicate sauce. Another bottle of wine Next was fresh grilled shrimp on top of bed of quinoa Followed by another appetizer of homemade should go without saying gnocchi and clams Next a small portion of seafood ravioli in a cognac cream sauce. Another bottle of wine Main course I had the cod fillet that was so tender flaked apart with the lightest nudge from your fork. Renee had the grilled salmon prepared exactly how she likes it slightly undercooked medium rare. Another bottle of wine, but by this time Leonardo had joined us and he 's no wine slouch. For dessert, we had a vibrant raspberry sorbet to cleanse the pallet . followed by warm filo dough filled with cream, Then we shared a tiramisu. I had an espresso and then Leonardo brought out the Limoncello and some samples of infused grappa. We stumbled home and passed out .This morning we were rendered pretty useless and the bed in our Airbnb kept calling us back. Now after a long siesta we will venture out in to the afternoon here in Mola di Bari.

This amazing restaurant was a highlight on our trip to Italy! All the dishes were fantastic! It was so delicious that we dined here twice on our visit to Mola Di Bari. The owner, Leonardo and his wonderful staff were so welcoming and made sure we had the best experience. The restaurant is beautiful and has a lovely atmosphere. We cannot recommend this place highly enough!! Simply amazing!

The visit to this restaurant was fantastic on all aspects. The crew was very friendly, professional and enthousiastic. The food was in one word exceptional. Everything was so tastefull. And the host Leonardo did his very best to create a positive atmosphere . In which he succeeded completely. A superb experience!!

Posto molto intimo familiare, ottima cucina. Consigliatissimo il soufflé artigianale.

Finalmente e' tornato il grande LEONARDO AMORUSO a deliziarci con le sue OPERE D'ARTE CULINARIE....non esistono paragoni con altri ristoratori ! E' veramente il MASSIMO in ASSOLUTO come lo era gia' negli anni il prezzo alla fine e' meno di quello che offre !!!!!