Osteria del Marinaio, Sanremo
Tucked into a narrow lane just off the port in the Pigna's lower skirts, Osteria del Marinaio is the kind of unpretentious, fish-forward trattoria that Ligurian cooking was invented for. The menu changes daily depending on what the boats brought in, and the pasta is made by hand every morning.
What to Order
Start with the acciughe di Sanremo — the local anchovies, plumper and less aggressively salty than their Sicilian cousins, served marinated in lemon and olive oil with a glass of Pigato, the dry white wine of western Liguria. It is one of the great simple combinations of Italian coastal cooking.
For a primo, the trofie al pesto is mandatory — Ligurian trofie pasta with a pesto made from Genoese DOP basil, pine nuts, Parmigiano and local olive oil. The version here skips the potato and green bean additions that tourist restaurants add as filler, keeping it lean and intensely flavoured.
The Catch of the Day
The secondi board is written in chalk and usually lists whatever whole fish the kitchen roasted that morning — sea bream, branzino or the occasional scorpionfish in a tomato-caper brodetto. Ask the waiter what came off the boats from Sanremo's small fishing fleet that morning; they will tell you with genuine pride.
Finish with a slice of torta di pinoli — a dense, sweet pine-nut tart that is a Sanremo speciality — and a small glass of locally produced limoncello. The bill for two with wine rarely exceeds €55, which for this quality on the Riviera feels almost illicit.
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