Nothing behind the scenes
A single dining room and Antonella at the stove. No hidden kitchen brigade, no shortcuts: the kitchen is right here, in front of you.
The taste of Puglia as it once was, in the magnificent village of Locorotondo.
Antonella's tavern
Our story
A village tavern, in the heart of the Itria Valley.
Beyond the archway of Via Papatodero, in the historic centre of Locorotondo, there is a single dining room and an open kitchen: those who sit down to eat can see where their food comes from.
Slow cooking over the fire Fresh ingredients every day Homemade pasta and bread
The menu changes with the seasons but the way we work in the kitchen is always the same: slow cooking, fresh ingredients of the day, recipes from the Itria Valley. No kitchen brigade, no endless wine lists: there's Antonella at the stove, a few friends front of house, and a handful of tables for those who want to eat the food you'd eat at home, but done well.
Why choose us
What you'll find here
Recipes that take their time
The slow-cooked stew on the stove since morning, hand-rolled orecchiette, fresh bread of the day. Nothing is rushed, because nothing needs to be.
A kitchen that does good
The proceeds from the first two customers of the day go to Congo. From an orphanage to a hospital built from scratch. Antonella goes there in person, every year.
Our menu
House specialties
The story on the plate
The tales of our kitchen
The Sunday dish
In Puglia, orecchiette are made by hand with the thumb — a technique passed down from mother to daughter for at least five centuries. The shape, they say in the Itria Valley, echoes the rooftops of the trulli. Serving them with braciole ragù (meat rolls stuffed with parsley, garlic and pecorino, slow-cooked for hours in tomato sauce) is the Sunday ritual of Apulian families.
Antonella still rolls each orecchietta by hand, one by one. The ragù turns on a low flame from morning, until the meat turns tender and the tomato thick. When it reaches the plate, it has had the time it needed — the kind of time that, at home on an ordinary Sunday, you can no longer find.
Reviews
What they say about us
Claudia Sardellitti
Google Reviews
In the heart of Locorotondo's historic centre, a warm and welcoming place. Fast service, traditional open kitchen, a short menu but everything well cooked. Four strong, hardworking women run the tavern. You are special!
Gallery
Glimpses of the place
One cook, since 1997
Antonella, the heart of the kitchen
Always with her hands in the dough
Antonella Scatigna opened the tavern in 1997, self-taught. Since that day the kitchen has always been hers: no one else at the stove, no culinary school, just family recipes and the curiosity of someone who tastes everything.
Every morning, the shopping
She chooses her ingredients herself every morning: seasonal vegetables, pulses from the Murgia, meat from trusted butchers. No stockroom, no single supplier: only what she has chosen herself goes into the kitchen.
The guides know her
Over the years her orecchiette have appeared in Italian and international food guides, and the tavern has become a point of reference for those passing through Locorotondo. In the kitchen, though, little has changed: same pot, same slow fire, same hands.
A heart in Africa
Every day the proceeds from the first two customers are donated to the Mani unite per il Congo project. It all started with an orphanage. Today Antonella and her friends have finished building a hospital. Charity dinners remain a regular fixture, organised with friends and colleagues from the village. She really goes to Africa, every year.
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Book your table
Contact
Where we are
Address
Via Papatodero 3, 70010 Locorotondo (BA)
Opening hours
Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat lunch and dinner · Sun lunch only · Closed on Thursdays · Open every day in August
Call us
+39 080 4313007
Write to us
tavernadelduca@libero.it