GourmetWhere to eat

40 years in business for Peppe Zullo restaurant

Peppe Zullo in cucina

Peppe Zullo is hospitality made person, if hospitality is an art in him it is an innate gift.
He welcomes everyone with open arms, with a frank smile and sly eye, every guest feels at ease, as if he were at home.

Leaving to return and then begin again.
In 1976, with the journey from Orsara di Puglia toward Boston began the adventure of
Peppe Zullo, the peasant chef ambassador of Puglia to the world. This year the eponymous restaurant in Orsara is celebrating its 40 years of activity and Peppe Zullo at 70 years old continues to grind out kilometers, the length and breadth of the globe, to tell and savor the authentic flavors and colors of Apulian biodiversity with an energy and drive to make people envious.

Peppe Zullo is hospitality personified., if hospitality is an art in him, it is an innate gift.
He welcomes everyone with open arms, with a frank smile and sly eye, every guest feels at ease, as if he were at home.

In the 1960s with my mother we ran a kiosk with the only gas station in the village.
We sold bologna sandwiches and beer, rented out a room to people passing through.
And today we talk about street food and bed and breakfast.”
Peppe Zullo tells.

“At the age of 24, after serving in the military, I went to Boston to pursue the American dream – Zullo continues – after a while I opened Peppe’s Buongustaio, a tough first experience. Later, I moved to Mexico to Puerto Vallasta.
The Italian-American cuisine was difficult to digest, parmigiane, lasagna and super-stuffed cannelloni or spaghetti with bread balls.
Slowly I introduced
Lighter, healthier vegetable-based cuisine.
Da allora, il mondo della ristorazione è cambiato, i ristoranti italiani all’estero sono tanti e di buon livello
“.

“From the Land to the Table”

Peppe Zullo restaurant, the fried sage
Peppe Zullo restaurant, the fried sage


After a decade, spent between the US and Mexico, Peppe decided to return to his dear homeland.
He is very attached to
Orsara di Puglia, the small village nestled on a slope of the Dauno Apennines, in 2007 elected a Slow city.
In the kitchen, Zullo enhances the fruits that nature offers spontaneously: from flowers to wild herbs, from mushrooms to forest fruits.
“From the land to the table” is his philosophy..

Almost all the products used come from the plants in thegarden of flavors, twenty thousand square feet surrounding Villa Jamele and the New Paradise Room, the other two restaurants in Orsara.
The garden follows seasonality; there are artichokes, asparagus, squash, basil, parsley and wild herbs, borage and “marasciuoli,” (a really tasty wrinkle that gives little white flowers).
In thefarm they raise pigs, geese, chickens, baby goats and donkeys living in semi-freedom and attached there is also a small dairy.
Lo spreco è bandito, non ci sono scarti perché gli animali sono ben felici di divorare gli avanzi.

“The future is in nature.”

Peppe Zullo Restaurant, squash blossoms
Peppe Zullo Restaurant, squash blossoms


Peppe is a forerunner and interpreter of a new culinary strand that aims to
rereading traditional typical dishes in a modern key and to consolidate their longevity by projecting them into the future.
Not surprisingly, he likes to reiterate:
“The future is in nature.”.

At Peppe Zullo’s you don’t just happen, you go to enjoy his delicacies and the unfailing enthusiasm of his willingness to do.
Da provare le ostriche di montagna ovvero
borage leaves mashed in water and flour and fried, the famous borage parmigiana, his most iconic dish, and then the zucchini flowers stuffed with fresh cheese.
Good are the orecchiette di grano arso, zucchini tops, datterino and cacioricotta cheese, and not to be outdone is the main course with veal ravioli stuffed with caciocavallo cheese and zucchini with a side of vegetable caponata and crispy potato chips.

“Food is the first vehicle of culture and change in the world, always has been and will continue to be, simple food for intelligent people.
Il km 0 è un modo per far scoprire il territorio attraverso i suoi sapori, puntando su unicità, stagionalità, freschezza e tracciabilità”,
Peppe Zullo concludes.

What’s more, the cellar

Peppe Zullo Restaurant, wines
Peppe Zullo Restaurant, wines


Not content with his restaurants, Peppe Zullo also produces wine.
The winery was designed by architect Nicola Tramonte with the collaboration of art master Leon Marino.
In 2010 it was selected to participate in the Venice Biennale, International Architecture Exhibition, in the section dedicated to
“Wine Cathedrals. Rising beneath the vineyard, its interior features stone arches, frescoed rock walls, and rooms designed as small squares.

Here, rest the wines produced-Orsarosa, A Jamele, Aliuva and Ursaria.
The varieties grown are Nero di Troia, Tuccanese, a
native grape variety expressive of the territory, Cabernet Sauvignon and then Merlot.
In collaboration with winemaker Donato Giuliani, a new label, Calatrave based on Nero di Troia, will be presented next year.

Wines

Daunia Rosato Orsarosa 2022 Peppe ZulloDaunia Rosato Orsarosa 2022 Peppe Zullo
90 euro 15 QP

100% Nero di Troia. Stainless steel. Intense pink color.
Crisp nose, with notes of rosehips and currants.
Fresh, dry and pleasant on the palate.
Inviting finish.

 

Daunia Rosso A Jamele 2017 Peppe ZulloDaunia Rosso A Jamele 2022 Peppe Zullo
91 euro15 QP

40% Merlot, 30% Tuccanese, 30% Nero di Troia. Stainless steel. Ruby.
Bouquet of fruit and flowers, strawberry and small red fruits.
Soft and round palate.

 

Daunia Rosso A Jamele 2017 Peppe ZulloDaunia Rosso A Jamele 2017 Peppe Zullo
93 euro15 QP

40% Merlot, 30% Tuccanese, 30% Nero di Troia. Stainless steel. Intense and deep ruby.
Intense and complex on the nose.
Notes of red fruit under spirits, blackberries and currants, followed by balsamic and spicy notes.
Firm, warm and elegant sip. Persistent.

PHOTO GALLERY.

RESTAURANTS

What you think about this post?