In the heart of Modica, in an ancient noble palace, chef Accursio Craparo welcomes guests to his “home”: an osteria gourmand where you can savour centuries of Sicilian culture on the palate, on the sight and above all straight to the heart.

If leaving home for chef Accursio was a primordial instinct, returning was a social act, dreamed, thought and realized in the smallest details. Born in 1976 in Sciacca, in the province of Agrigento, the desire to learn this profession accompanied him around the world, to the kitchens of mentors and friends Pietro Leemann, Massimiliano Alajmo and Corrado Assenza.

To re-establish his roots, he chose the wonderful baroque heart of Modica and an ancient noble palace overlooking the vicolo dei Grimaldi and at the foot of the steps of the Cathedral of San Pietro, where in 2019 he opened Radici L’Osteria di Accursio with his wife Oriana Aprile.

This house is like a landing along a river of history. In the heart of Modica I opened my little kitchen where I invite you to stop and enjoy centuries of culture.

(Accursio Craparo, chef)

The place appears to us as a welcoming Modica home, which reflects the personality of the chef, his childhood memories suspended between sea and countryside, lunches under the trees, the olive harvest, the scent of the sea.

The floor, made of splendid original cement tiles, is illuminated by colorful recycled furniture and traditional Caltagirone ceramic Moor’s Heads.

The light, warm, is that of an art gallery, and the walls host temporary exhibitions of works of art by Sicilian artists that chef Accursio has met and who embrace his philosophy.

The name of the Osteria, Radici, encapsulates the essence of the chef’s idea: a return to the origins of Sicilian gastronomic memory in which food is above all an artisanal interpretation of what nature offers, without waste, as it is itself the highest form of art.

Examples of the chef’s most famous creations are the “La Spremuta di Sicilia”, durum wheat linguine with anchovy, tuna bottarga and fennel, born from an emotional walk by chef Craparo with maestro Corrado Assenza between sea breeze and aromatic herbs, and the splendid “Dipinto di blu”, an interpretation of the flow of the sea with its colors based on spirulina algae, sautéed clams and squid stuffed with fish eggs and caviar.

Every meal at the Osteria open with “Benvenuti in Sicilia”, aka “acqua frisca e aromi”, essential for fighting the island heat and replenishing mineral salts, and then move on to the “Il rito delle origini”, a delicious focaccia bread with selected Sicilian flours of soft and hard wheat. And, to accompany it, the precious Accursio oil that comes from a careful selection of cultivars that express the territory.

The menu is mainly made up of heartfelt and local dishes, from macco di fave to the inevitable parmigiana di melanzane, from spaghetti with clams to swordfish rolls, from arancini di riso to meatballs, without excluding the great classics of the Sicilian Sunday table, from baked chicken with potatoes fish pizzaiola.

The scents of Sicily are truly all here.

The Secret

The restoration of the spaces took a long time because chef Accursio and his wife traveled around half of Sicily to knock on the doors of old second-hand dealers and find the right pieces for every corner of the premises, that are always evolving like its cuisine.

Useful Info

Accursio Radici
Via Grimaldi 55
97015 Modica, Ragusa
Tel. +39 331 2369404

Starters: 16 – 18 euro
First courses: 16 euro
Second courses: 20 euro