Starlit Dinners

It is not only a return to the stage of great tennis in Palermo, but the 30th Ladies Open will be , above all , a grande event with the presence of award winning chefs . After a prologue on Monday 21st July, with the host and chef Filippo La Mantia, who is in charge of a prestigious restaurant in Piazza Risorgimento ,from Tuesday 22nd it will be the turn of the star studded chefs ,or rather female star studded chefs. In a VIP lounge , elegantly furnished around the pool, dishes will be created by Patrizia Di Benedetto from Bye Bye Blues restaurant in Palermo, Martina Caruso from Signum in Salina and Caterina Ceraudo from Dattilo di Strongoli in Calabria. They all have a passion for cooking in common as well as possessing one Michelin Star each . On 22nd July Martina Casruso will cook , 23rd Catherina Ceraudo and Thursday 24th Patrizia Di Benedetto.

The dinners, with a set menu and wine, will have a cost of 70 euros per evening for tournament subscribers and 100 euros for non subscribers ( including ,in the last case ,as well as a starlit dinner , a place in the front row of centre court on a pre-established date ). To book, simply send an email to countrytime@tin.it , including name and telephone number . You will be contacted to finalise the booking and to point out any food intolerances where necessary.

Martina Caruso. A Salina thoroughbred ,as she likes to be known ,grew up in the Hotel Signum where ,at the age of just 23 , she substituted her father at the head of the kitchen . Her dishes are born from traditional Sicilian dishes and then “lightened and cleansed” , but are above all a concentration of flavour. She won her first Michelin Star in 2015, and was the Female Michelin Chef of the Year in 2019 , awarded to her at The Yard Hotel in Milan at the fourth edition of the Atelier des Granes Dames. It is the acknowlagement of her “structured,but at the same time fresh and delicate with original ideas that highlight flavours and aromas of locally sourced produce” cooking.

Caterina Ceraudo. 31 years old, a degree in Vitculture and Oenology in Pisa, she runs Dattilo, in Strongoli in Calabria, the acclaimed restaurant is within the family agritourism, noted by the New York Times, that added Calabria, including Dattilo, as the 52 most not to be missed destinations of 2017. In 2012, before becoming a chef in the family restaurant, she attended the School at Niko Romito (3 Michelin stars) in Castel di Sangro in Abruzzo. The majority of ingredients used at Dattilo – wine,oil, vegetables and citrus fruit – come from the surrounding family land. Caterina was awarded the Female Michelin Chef of the Year in 2017.