Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 081 850 72 45;
www.ristorantepresident.it
;
Piazza Schettini 12; meals €40;
closed Mon & dinner Sun Nov-Mar, closed 2 weeks Jan; FS to Pompei, Circumve-
suviana to Pompei Scavi - Villa dei Misteri)
With its dripping chandeliers, Bacharach
melodies and breathtakingly gracious service, the President feels like a private dining
room in an Audrey Hepburn film. Conducting the charm is owner Paolo Gramaglia,
whose passion for local produce is only matched by the menu's creative brilliance, best
savoured with a degusation menu (€40 to €70).
Let your tastebuds swoon over wonders like aubergine
millefoglie
with Cetara an-
chovies, mozzarella
filante
(melted mozzarella) and grated tarallo biscuit presented like a
wrapped-up
caramella
(lolly). A word of warning: if you plan on catching a
treno re-
gionale
(regional train) back to Naples from nearby Pompei station (a closer, more con-
venient option than the Pompei Scavi - Villa dei Misteri station on the Circumvesuviana
train line), check train times on
www.trenitalia.com
first as the last service from Pompei
can depart as early as 9.40pm.
THE ART OF THE NEAPOLITAN PRESEPE
Christmas nativity cribs may not be exclusive to Naples, but none match the artistic brilliance of the
presepe napoletano
(Neapolitan nativity crib). What sets the local version apart is its incredible at-
tention to detail, from the life-like miniature
prosciutti
(hams) in the tavern to the lavishly costumed
pastori
(crib figurines or sculptures) adorning the newborn Christ.
While the origin of Christmas cribs stretches back to the early centuries of Christianity, Naples'
homegrown
presepi
have their roots in 1535. It was in this year that a much-loved local priest by the
name of Gaetano da Thiene ditched tradition, dressing his crib characters in Neapolitan garb instead
of traditional biblical robes.
Da Thiene's crib makeover ignited a passion that would reach its zenith with the 18th century
presepe del Settecento
(crib of the 1700s). This often-epic crib was quite a departure from its hum-
bler DIY sibling, the
presepe popolare
(common crib). While the setting of the
presepe popolare
was often dark, gloomy and subterranean, with only the nativity brightly illuminated (symbolising
the light of salvation), its baroque spin-off was set in bucolic, sunlit European landscapes, its hues
reflecting the palettes of the era's great artists.
