La Barcaccina Vada, a restaurant with its feet in the sea

An establishment where the clients feel they are at a friend’s home who offers then wonderful fish and a complete and interesting wine list.

If a great red wine is made in the vineyard, from large and perfect grapes, then a great fish platter is made in the sea, with great and perfect prime ingredients. While this may be true, there is no doubt that the skill of the enologist in the winery plays a part and can either exalt or humiliate a wine, just as a chef’s skill or lack of experience can do the same to excellent fish.

Vada has a white beach between Castiglioncello and Cecina and is some 15 minutes by car from the famous winemaking district of Bolgheri. It is here that Algeria-born Hamid Meridja has set down his solid and fruitful roots. In London, he met Rosignano native Maila Musto and it was love at first sight exalted by the sun and sea of Tuscany. Hamid is a perfect host and it would be an understatement to call him a maître because his delicate and elegant manners can make anyone comfortable. The client feels as if they were at a friend’s home who offers them wonderful fish and a wine list that is so complete that it would be impossible not to satisfy any personal taste.

The restaurant is roomy and airy with the main room suited for winters dinners. In summer, you can eat by the sea, on the beach by the umbrellas, or on the panoramic and elegant terrace that looks out over the small port of Vada.

In the kitchen, Maila is in harmony with the sea and she treats the fish with love, a delicate hand and perfect confidence. Each fish finds its perfect interpretation, cooked in a way that is with absolutely spot-on. Each dish has the right dose of modernity, delicacy and respect for the base flavor.

The menu ranges from crudité of fish and fresh-catch tartare to squid stuffed with shellfish, while among the first courses there is homemade maltagliata pasta with a sauce of red mullet (we are in the province of Livorno after all), linguini with tiny squid and sage and spaghetti aglio, olio, pepperoncino (garlic, oil. chili pepper) and scampi.

For second course try the ample and assorted catch-of-the-day selection that includes beam, bass, sea robins, scampi, red shrimp and, often, lobster. Equally enticing are the mixed fried fish platter and Catalan-style stew of boiled shellfish, fish and mollusks served with homemade mayonnaise.

The desserts challenge any diet starting with the Bronte pistachio semifreddo or the pineapple and white chocolate sponge cake with almonds and strawberry sauce.

For those following a particular diet, there are vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and other dishes for intolerances. There are also meat dishes for those who cannot go without a great Bolgheri Superiore from the well-stocked wine list.

The five-course menu costs 50 euros which is more or less the same as a full and complete dinner.

Related Products