In the ancient island of Ortigia, among white stones and alleys scented with the sea, crossing the threshold of La Foglia doesn’t simply mean entering a restaurant, but being welcomed into the magic of an artist’s residence from another era, guardian of a centuries-old history.

La Foglia was born in 1982 from an encounter reminiscent of great cinematic love stories. Giuseppe “Beppe” Pravato, a Venetian sculptor and tireless traveler, arrived in Sicily after a long stint in India. He fell in love with Ortigia, when it was still a nearly abandoned yet beautiful neighborhood, and there he met Nicoletta, the woman who would become his lifelong companion and visionary.

Together, they decided to open a place that didn’t exist before: one of the first vegetarian and Mediterranean cuisine on the island, inspired by their philosophy of life, simplicity, nature, and the beauty of authentic things.
La Foglia was born this way: as an act of love, as an artistic gesture.

We are chefs who tell an idea of ​​eating that aims to preserve our historical memory.

A story of love, art, and true cuisine

Over time, this vision has been enriched with new magic: that of Nicoletta and Beppe’s daughter, Luciana, who grew up at La Foglia, and her husband, Gianfranco Damico, a Feltrinelli writer. With his ability to welcome guests into long, fine and passionate conversations, he transformed La Foglia into a place with a narrative soul, a cultural experience in itself.

Today, that same attention, that same care, lives on through his wife Luciana, who, with her children, continues to make La Foglia what it has always been: a Sicilian home nurtured by different hands but united by the same idea of ​​beauty and hospitality.

A cultured artist residence

Furnished with the warmth and spontaneity of a lived-in home, the venue is an extraordinary bohemian theater decorated with antique furniture and objects rich in history. Obviously, the protagonists are Beppe’s sculptures, made of iron, stone, marble and wood, some also for sale.

There are many memories that are part of the family history: paintings by Sicilian painters, old photos, such as the one portraying the great-grandfather in the uniform of a Carabinieri marshal, the grandmother’s sideboards, the embroidered curtains from Burano and the doilies of the wedding trousseau.

The menu features the purest flavors and Sicilian tradition

La Foglia’s cuisine offers historic recipes from the Syracuse area, reinterpreting them in their original spirit.

Timeless classics: they include caponata and parmigiana, sardines a beccafico and tuna alla matalotta, as well as pasta with anchovies, meatballs in tomato sauce, and the classic rabbit alla stimpirata.
Island herbs and aromas: the rural soul lives on in wild fennel, calamint, borage and mallow flowers, in traditional frittatas, and in seasonal vegetables.

Local raw materials and wines: only sea fish (never farmed), a careful selection of local cheeses and a few wines, strictly Sicilian.

La Foglia is an institution, one of those magical places guided by the simplicity that nourishes, by nature that guides, and by the purity of true things, as only great loves can create.

The Secret

The name is a tribute to nature, to lightness, to life that grows. La Foglia was born from the deep attention that Beppe and Nicoletta have always had for the land. Beppe, a vegetarian and linked to an essential and clean vision of food, brought with him a sensitivity developed during his travels. Nicoletta, with her sincere and intuitive cuisine, gave space to legumes, cereals and vegetables when in Ortigia, in those years, the focus was almost exclusively on meat.

Useful Info

La Foglia
Via Giuseppe Maria Capodieci 21
96100 Ortigia, Siracusa
Tel. +39 0931 66233

Appetizers: from €8
First courses: from €16
Second courses: from €20