Discover Palermo's rich culinary heritage on a guided evening tour through the historic Castellammare neighborhood, savoring authentic Sicilian street foods, engaging with local fishermen, and enjoying a meal at a family-run trattoria.
The Old Town and the Sea: Waterfront Palermo, By Night
Summary Description
Highlights
- Wander the charming streets by moonlight
- Sample fresh seafood straight from the market
- Discover hidden gems of Palermo's nightlife
- Learn about local culinary traditions from guides
- Experience the vibrant atmosphere of the waterfront
Description
Immerse yourself in Palermo's vibrant culinary scene on this evening tour through the historic Castellammare neighborhood. Begin with a glass of aromatic Sicilian vermouth at a century-old café, then indulge in local specialties like pezzo, a savory brioche-like snack, and pannelle, crispy chickpea fritters. Engage with local fishermen in Palermo's old port, learning about traditional fishing methods. Savor a meal at a family-run trattoria, featuring dishes like caciocavallo all’argentiera and pasta with sardines. Conclude with a traditional Sicilian dessert at a historic pastry shop, leaving with a deeper appreciation for Palermo's rich culinary heritage.
The story of Palermo is one that is inextricably tied to the sea. Thanks to its location on the Mediterranean, the city has been a vital port since ancient Greek times. Palermo’s seaside perch has also meant that the Sicilian capital has long been a crossroads of cultures and civilizations – not to mention ingredients and culinary traditions. Ironically, due to the fortifications built to protect the city and later because of the damaging effects of World War II, Palermo’s waterfront over the centuries became increasingly harder to access. Thankfully that has changed in recent years, allowing the city to rediscover and again experience the history and vitality of its old port – which is exactly what we’ll do on this evening food tour.
Working our way through some of Palermo’s most charming seaside neighborhoods, we’ll explore the city’s enduring connection to the sea – as well as taste the food and meet the people that tell the old port area’s fascinating story. Our evening will start in the Castellammare neighborhood, home to La Cala – Palermo’s ancient port – which for millennia has been host to sailors, traders, and merchants, including a silversmith hand-hammering religious icons in his tiny workshop, which we’ll visit. To get started, though, we’ll duck into a century-old cafe that remains unchanged since it first opened, for a glass of aromatic Sicilian vermouth. Fortified by our aperitivo, we’ll make our way towards the waterfront and a bustling neighborhood institution for pezzo, classic to-go snacks made from a brioche dough that’s baked with a dizzying array of savory fillings and toppings. Stepping into the port itself, our next stop will bring us face-to-face with one of Palermo’s still working fishermen, who will give our group a chance to step into his colorful wooden boat and tell us about his work and how local fishing traditions are being kept alive. We’ll then continue through the backstreets to a street food specialist for a coppo – a paper cone – filled with pannelle, crispy fritters made from chickpea flour, and other fried bites.
Continuing on our way, we’ll join the locals at a family-run trattoria for a plate of caciocavallo all’argentiera, pasta with sardines and fried calamari, a beloved specialty of the neighborhood. Before the evening is over, we’ll get another taste of the sea at a neighborhood restaurant helmed by a young woman chef. Here we’ll sit down for a meal of freshly caught seafood and fish, served both fried and – more extravagantly – crudo, accompanied by some delicious Sicilian wines. But we’ll be sure to save some room for our last stop, a fifth-generation dessert maker in business since 1860, where we’ll get a taste of a true Palermo original, the Giardiniera, a three-layer gelato cake that evokes the colors of the Italian flag and created to celebrate the late 19th-century unification of Italy. It’s a fitting finish to a walk in an area where history and tradition is evoked at every stop along the way.
Included / Excluded
- Guided walking tour through Palermo's old port area
- Tasting of local specialties like pezzo, pannelle, and caciocavallo all’argentiera
- Engagement with local fishermen and visit to a traditional trattoria
- Transportation to and from the meeting point
Start / End Locations
Start Location: Piazza S. Domenico, 90133 Palermo PA, Italy
Important Information
Know Before You Book
- The tour is conducted in English; proficiency is recommended.
- The tour operates on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings
- The tour includes alcoholic beverages; participants must be of legal drinking age.
- Wear comfortable walking shoes suitable for uneven terrain.
- Bring a light jacket or sweater, as evenings can be cool.
- Ensure you have a valid ID if you plan to consume alcoholic beverages.
Cancellation
Cancellation Cutoff: 24 hours
Cancellation Notes: More than one week before the beginning of the activity: 90% Refund Less than one week before the beginning of the activity: 50% Refund Less than 72 hours before the beginning of the activity or no-show: No Refund
Options and Pricing
| RETAIL PRICE | |
|---|---|
| Adult (18 - 64 years) | N/A |
| Child (5 - 11 years) | N/A |
Terms and Conditions
Liability Waiver
By completing the reservation you acknowledge the following:
If you have food allergies, you are ultimately responsible to ensure your own health and safety. If you share information about your allergies, we can provide you with some guidance about the food purveyors on your tour, but we are not responsible for any allergic reactions that you may have. We are not responsible for any damages or losses incurred as result of acts by entities beyond our control, including but not limited to restaurants, shops, market stalls, eateries and food carts. We are not responsible for acts beyond our control, including but not limited to acts of God, act of nature, acts of war, or other unrest caused by state or non-state actors. If you are disruptive, we have the right to ask you to leave the tour without refunding you or providing you with a credit for your tour. You are aware of and responsible for all damages or losses that may arise during the course of the tour resulting from:
Risks associated with food, water or other drinks, including alcoholic beverages; physical accidents during the tour or at any of the locations visited; transportation failures; forces of nature; criminal activity; damage, loss or misplaced property; or accident or illness without means of rapid evacuation or availability of medical supplies or services. You agree that any claims that may arise will first go to arbitration and only if not resolved in that manner shall be heard in court. In both cases, grievances shall be heard in the jurisdiction of Washington, DC. You further agree to be responsible for your own welfare and property and accept any and all risks of delay, unanticipated events, inconvenience, illness, injury, emotional trauma or death. You further acknowledge that participation in Culinary Backstreets tours is based upon execution of this Liability Waiver. By completing the reservation process you release and discharge forever Culinary Backstreets, its employees, owners, affiliates, officers, directors, successors, agents, and assigns, from and against any liability arising from participating in this tour. You further agree that this release shall be legally binding upon you personally, all members of your family, all minors traveling with you, your heirs, successors, assigns, and legal representatives, to the maximum extent of the law.
I am aware that while on or traveling to or from my activity with Culinary Backstreets, I might be exposed to COVID-19 from other people, animals or objects. I assume all risk of any such contacts, including sickness, incapacity or death and agree to hold harmless Culinary Backstreets from any such developments. In addition, I recognize that the World Health Organization, U.S. Department of State as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may have warnings concerning same and am choosing to travel and assume all risk myself.
Redemption Information
Tickets will be held at the box office
About operator:
We got our start in 2009, reporting from a borderless urban zone we like to think of as the “Culinary Backstreets” because we believed that there were countless stories of a city’s foodways that needed to be told. We wanted to focus on a more traditional side of urban culinary life – the workings of simple family-run restaurants, the masters passing their craft on to an apprentice, the banter of regulars gathered around an open table, the rhythm of a life committed to meatballs and nothing else. We were enthralled by all of the tiny epics we encountered while eating our way through the city and set out to share as many of them as we could. From the start, we vowed to go slow and collect these stories one-by-one, giving equal measure to the culinary side as the human element of the story. This way, we expected a deeper understanding of the city and its daily life to emerge with every bite. For us, it’s never just about the best meatball in town; it’s always about all of the meatballs.
We tell the stories of our subjects – unsung heroes who are sometimes forgotten or taken for granted at home – through weekly restaurant reviews published on CB, culinary walking tours, books, web design and smartphone applications. When we see the need, CB also acts as a fundraiser for causes connected to protecting and promoting traditional culinary culture.
By publishing the stories of our local heroes, visiting them on culinary tours, or directly fundraising for them when they are in need, we attempt to honor their work and their essential role in maintaining the fabric of the city. Our purpose is twofold. Yes, we want to get travelers to some good places to eat. But we also want to make sure that some of these spots and the artisans making food there find a new audience and get the recognition and support they deserve. They are holding back the tide of globalized sameness, which is not easy work – even if it’s done unknowingly. But we believe that every meal counts and, with the help of our audience, they will add up. We are committed to their perseverance and hope that our modest efforts encourage them to keep at it. Our work is also guided by a belief in: Honest Tourism: The places where we eat and craftsmen that we feature on our culinary tours are all selected with this purpose in mind. We’d never accept a free lunch or consider a discount for our tour groups, because that would contradict our central goal, to support them. Nor do our guides receive any commissions from shopkeepers. Honest Journalism: The same principal is applied to the publishing of stories. There are no sponsored posts or even advertising on CB. The writers and photographers are paid fairly for their work on stories that we all believe in.
The cities we are drawn to all have a culinary tradition of untold richness as well as a certain tension, be it political instability, the tug between East and West, the clash between modern and ancient identities, migration, rapid gentrification, bankruptcy, or a post-colonial hangover. Our decision to get started in a city is always the result of a trip filled with many meals where we are given in intimate view of that tension, right there on the table. By getting lost in this warren of independent food purveyors struggling to preserve or adapt tradition in fast-paced urban life, we start to discover the deep complexity and true flavor of the city. At present, you’ll find our regular dispatches from Athens, Barcelona, Istanbul, Lisbon, Los Angeles, Marseille, Mexico City, Naples, Porto, Queens (NY), Shanghai, Tbilisi and Tokyo.
CB’s work was started in 2009 by Ansel Mullins and Yigal Schleifer as a humble food blog called Istanbul Eats. The following year we published a book of our reviews, now in its fifth edition. That year we also launched our first culinary walk in Istanbul, a route we are still using today. In 2012, we realized that what we built in Istanbul was needed in other cities we knew and loved. We started CB that year with Athens, Barcelona, Mexico City and Shanghai as pioneering members of our network. In 2013, we added Rio and also launched our iPhone application in Istanbul. In 2015, Tokyo and Tbilisi came into the fold. That year we published mini-guides to Barcelona and Athens and also launched an iPhone application in those cities. Our Eatinerary service, which provides travelers with tailor-made culinary travel itineraries, was also launched in 2015. In 2016, Lisbon – the latest city to kindle our curiosity – joined the CB network. In 2017 we added Naples and Queens, NY – two places with very compelling stories to tell – to our roster and also published full-size eating guides to Athens and Barcelona. In 2018, Porto joined the list of cities we cover.
By publishing the stories of our local heroes, visiting them on culinary tours, or directly fundraising for them when they are in need, we attempt to honor their work and their essential role in maintaining the fabric of the city. Our purpose is twofold. Yes, we want to get travelers to some good places to eat. But we also want to make sure that some of these spots and the artisans making food there find a new audience and get the recognition and support they deserve. They are holding back the tide of globalized sameness, which is not easy work – even if it’s done unknowingly. But we believe that every meal counts and, with the help of our audience, they will add up. We are committed to their perseverance and hope that our modest efforts encourage them to keep at it. Our work is also guided by a belief in: Honest Tourism: The places where we eat and craftsmen that we feature on our culinary tours are all selected with this purpose in mind. We’d never accept a free lunch or consider a discount for our tour groups, because that would contradict our central goal, to support them. Nor do our guides receive any commissions from shopkeepers. Honest Journalism: The same principal is applied to the publishing of stories. There are no sponsored posts or even advertising on CB. The writers and photographers are paid fairly for their work on stories that we all believe in.
The cities we are drawn to all have a culinary tradition of untold richness as well as a certain tension, be it political instability, the tug between East and West, the clash between modern and ancient identities, migration, rapid gentrification, bankruptcy, or a post-colonial hangover. Our decision to get started in a city is always the result of a trip filled with many meals where we are given in intimate view of that tension, right there on the table. By getting lost in this warren of independent food purveyors struggling to preserve or adapt tradition in fast-paced urban life, we start to discover the deep complexity and true flavor of the city. At present, you’ll find our regular dispatches from Athens, Barcelona, Istanbul, Lisbon, Los Angeles, Marseille, Mexico City, Naples, Porto, Queens (NY), Shanghai, Tbilisi and Tokyo.
CB’s work was started in 2009 by Ansel Mullins and Yigal Schleifer as a humble food blog called Istanbul Eats. The following year we published a book of our reviews, now in its fifth edition. That year we also launched our first culinary walk in Istanbul, a route we are still using today. In 2012, we realized that what we built in Istanbul was needed in other cities we knew and loved. We started CB that year with Athens, Barcelona, Mexico City and Shanghai as pioneering members of our network. In 2013, we added Rio and also launched our iPhone application in Istanbul. In 2015, Tokyo and Tbilisi came into the fold. That year we published mini-guides to Barcelona and Athens and also launched an iPhone application in those cities. Our Eatinerary service, which provides travelers with tailor-made culinary travel itineraries, was also launched in 2015. In 2016, Lisbon – the latest city to kindle our curiosity – joined the CB network. In 2017 we added Naples and Queens, NY – two places with very compelling stories to tell – to our roster and also published full-size eating guides to Athens and Barcelona. In 2018, Porto joined the list of cities we cover.
Basic Information
- Duration: 4 hours
- Trip difficulty: Easy
- Category: Food & Drink
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