7 Best Restaurants in Puglia, Basilicata, and Calabria, Italy

Dine on exquisite Gargano fare at this atmospheric eatery set in a natural grotto just next to the cathedral in the heart of the old center. The menu is dominated by locally caught fish, and although dishes draw on traditional recipes, you can expect the occasional innovation. The wine cellar, visible through a glass window in the restaurant floor, contains an exhaustive selection of great Pugliese producers. There's a smaller, more intimate room downstairs that serves as restaurant and piano bar. Dimora del Dragone offers five modern rooms and a lovely suite, all with fab views.

Renowned for its simply crafted dishes made with the freshest seasonal catch, Cosenza's best seafood restaurant has (appropriately enough) a minimalist, blue-and-white, nautical-theme interior. Guided by a waiter, you might start with a selection of antipasti to share, followed by a classic pasta allo scoglio (spaghetti with mixed seafood) and a main fritto misto di mare (medley of fried seafood).

International food magazines have lauded this restaurant, where the wine cellar is well stocked and renowned chef-owner Gaetano Alia incorporates local produce and imaginative twists into the Calabrese dishes on the changing menu. La Locanda also has guest rooms in its adjoining Alia Jazz Hotel, which is surrounded by a lush garden and has a swimming pool.

Set in a handsome Stile Liberty palazzo, with outdoor seating and a smart, minimalist dining room, the well-regarded "Red Cat" has been serving elegant seafood since 1952. The third-generation owner and head chef Agostino Bartoli is renowned for his innovative dishes using the freshest fish and seasonal vegetables.

There are actually two eateries here, but far superior is the well-regarded Poeta Contadino, which specializes in regional cooking with a creative twist and offers a refined dining experience amid candlelight that casts shadows on ancient stone walls. If you're on a budget, though, the more affordable Osteria del Poeta also serves bite-size traditional dishes.

In the lively heart of the old town, opposite the castle, stands one of Bari's best seafood restaurants. The interior is rather sparse, with whitewashed walls and a vaulted ceiling, and the dining room can be crowded and noisy, but during the summer you can sit on the quieter outdoor veranda. Try the house specialty, crudo di mare (a platter of mixed local seafood), accompanied by a crisp salad and a carafe of uplifting Pugliese wine. Reservations are essential in July and August. Note that the restaurant also has six contemporary bed-and-breakfast rooms.

Waves lap at the shore just inches from your table at this elegant but unpretentious trattoria, which often has a cozy fireplace ablaze in winter. You must follow a narrow twisting lane to get here, but it's worth the effort for specialties like the raw seafood antipasto, which features shellfish you might not find anywhere else. Cozze pelose (local mussels), hiding inside their spiked-hair shells, are briny and buttery, and big local oysters are all about rich texture.