Restaurants in the province of L'Aquila

The province of L'Aquila is upland Abruzzo: high plains, pasture and villages above a thousand metres. The food is mountain food — lamb, sheep's cheese, pulses — and one spice that here is worth more than gold.

What you eat here

• Zafferano dell'Aquila DOP — saffron picked by hand on the Navelli plateau, flower by flower, at dawn. It goes into risotto, soups and a few sweets, and a pinch is enough.
• Arrosticini — skewers of diced mutton grilled over a long, narrow brazier. Not a starter: they are counted in dozens and eaten with your hands.
• Santo Stefano di Sessanio lentils, tiny and dark, and Navelli chickpeas: both go into soups with short home-made pasta.
• Confetti di Sulmona — sugared almonds, almond and sugar and nothing else, for centuries.
• Mountain pecorino and high-pasture ricotta, which climb with the flocks in summer.

The wine

This is Montepulciano d'Abruzzo country, but altitude changes things: the higher zones make leaner reds and Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo, a serious rosé that works with arrosticini better than any red.

Opening hours change. The ones on the listings come from public sources and may be out of date. Where a restaurant confirms tables with us, the availability you see is the real one.