If I had a Yacht...Assaggini di Summer with Chef Peppe Guida at Yacht Club Marina di Stabia, (Na)

We met a few months ago ish.  An April evening  where he was the guest star in a small kitchen at a winery in Quarto that evening.  Chef Giuseppe (Peppe) Guida  called me into that kitchen to try an appetizer while we waited for the the rest of the dinner guests to arrive.  A fried cauliflower zeppola with butter and anchovies.  I'll never forget it, I wrote about that evening here.
Since then, I've bumped into Guida on a couple of other tasty events like here and here.  So ami I  Guida-ddicted?  Maybe.  I needed another fix, so to speak.  A meal prepared by the chef in his own kitchen...on a normal day, not during a grande event.  A lunch where the chef could prepare his specialties con calma.
That opportunity came last week when I went to visit the chef at his summer home; Yacht Club Marina di Stabia, where the Michelin star chef spends his summer giving his restaurant Antica Osteria Nonna Rosa a well deseved break.
From the terrace,  there is a beautiful view of the sea, and on a clear day, the entire Sorrento Peninsula from Castellammaredi Stabia all the way to Punta Campanella. Even the isle of Capri.  A windy summer lunch at Yacht Club Marina di Stabia, one of the biggest marinas  in Europe.  Where yachts, mega and mini, from all over the world dock while they spend a part of their dolce vita vacation in a part of Italia that I have called home for years.
I don't have a yacht, but I was   ready for a special summer lunch.
I began with a wine that the chef  produces himself.  A small quantity which can only be found at his restaurants.  A blend of Piedirosso and Sciascinoso grapes from a vineyard in nearby Vico Equense, where he calls home.

Then it was full speed ahead to try some of the  specialties that were featured on the a la carte menu that afternoon.  An afternoon full of assaggini di summer beginning with a colorful benevenuto.  A fried anchovy stuffed with mozzarella cheese. and a yellow bell pepper sauce.

Then appetizers which included a caponata di baccala':  lightly sauteed cod with olives, moistened day old bread, tomatoes and marinated eggplants.

Crudo di pesce; once again that day old bread this time soaked in tomato water.  In this plate there was just about everything, from tuna to mussels. Clams to anchovies, squid and amberjack fish.

Fish played a starring role n the next delicate but powerful plate...pasta mischiata with lightly sauteed amberjack as well as thinly sliced raw fish of the same name.

The next pasta dish which is a summer classic.  Guida's version of spaghetti with zucchini.

This was followed by an assaggini of a dish that is a take on the famous caprese salad with mozzarella cheese and tomatoes.  Guida added a tender piece of fish to complete the dish.

I couldn't go away without tasting his famous desserts which included profiteroles filled with lemon cream and topped with a strawberry sauce,  his sugar coated potato zeppole and coffee ice cream.

If I only had a yacht...



Marina Yacht Club
Via Alcide De Gasperi, 313,
 80053 Castellammare Di Stabia, Italy.
 081 8722118.