It was a steep and sweaty climb from hectic Capri harbour to La Pergola restaurant. But it was worth it. We sat outside in the sunny garden – a vine-shaded terrace where rosemary and basil grew untidily beneath an old lemon tree. Far below us, past the tumble of rosy-roofed houses, olive and lemon groves and vines, the sea was smooth and blue, crossed with the white trails of boats arriving silently from the mainland. We could easily see the port of Naples on the horizon and Vesuvius beyond. Even in the shade the air was hot and still. I imagined that the Romans who first colonised this island must have enjoyed days like this.
The tables were laid with crisp linen. Glasses sparkled in the sun. We were, at first, the only diners and, apart from the occasional chink of cutlery on plates from the restaurant as tables were laid for lunch, and the drone of bees relieving the rosemary flowers, we sat in hot and drowsy silence.
A waiter brought us menus and bread, and we ordered. Water arrived, and wine, and the heady aroma of frying garlic wafted through the heavy air. And then the pasta: bowls of fine spaghetti, slicked with golden olive oil and pungent garlic, flecked with specks of dried chilli. And dancing with flavour.
Funny, isn't it, how such simple ingredients can create such powerful memories?
La Pergola, Via Traversa Lo Palazzo, 2, 80073 Capri (Napoli)
Tel 081 8377414
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