Jazz music, dim lighting and upcycled decor: welcome to the home of Me Cumpari Turiddu, filled with the authentic Sicilian flavours of days gone by. A journey into Sicily’s distant past, where you can relive and savour artisanal and Slow Food products. This is what the Me Cumpari Turiddu ‘restaurant/bistro/coffee shop/delicatessen store’, wants its guests to experience.

“The door is always open and the table is always laden with fragrant, genuine food”

Just like a traditional Sicilian home, everything at Me Cumpari Turiddu revolves around the kitchen. It’s a place where the door is always open and the table is always laden with fragrant, genuine food – just like grandma used to make – that can be savoured at every hour of the day. And there’s always something special to try from the pantry; something with its own unique story and flavour. Me Cumpari Turiddu can be found in Catania, in the central Piazza Turi Ferro plaza, once known as Piazza Spirito Santo.

Coffee shop and Food Corner

At the home of Turiddu, the morning begins with the fragrant aroma of coffee and freshly-baked tarts and pastries that fill the counter at the entrance, all served with freshly squeezed juices, smoothies and Girgentana goat’s milk yoghurt.

The day continues with piping-hot sour dough bread, straight from Me Cumpari Turiddu’s oven, made from a special blend of typical Sicilian flours which makes it really crispy and easy to digest. Then, at lunch time, we fill it with Slow Food salami and cheeses, like the Mafaldina panini, for example, made with Ragusano donkey Mortadella luncheon meat and traditional ‘Capuliato’ sun-dried tomato pesto.

There’s also the Me Cumpari Turiddu’s ‘Putia’ (bottega) food corner that is always open for people looking to purchase the Slow Food ingredients we use in our kitchen.

“Bistro”

If you’re looking for a quick, tasty bite then our Bistro is the perfect port of call. A place entirely dedicated to Sicilian Street Food, where you can savour typical Palermo croquettes, Panelle fritters, focaccia, Pidoni Messinisi and Scaccie Sciclitane pasties, perfect for lunch or an appetising snack after a visit to the theatre.

With its vintage decor and homely atmosphere, at Me Cumpari Turiddu you can rediscover unusual dishes, like mouth-watering fritters made with organic Sicilian eggs, fragrant artisanal Mafaldine pasta and bread rolls made with ancient Sicilian grains filled with Slow Food salami, or chargrilled ‘braciolettine alla Messinese’ meat chops. Not to mention our creamed vegetables of the day, made with seasonal, zero-mile produce and fresh salads with Girgentana goat’s milk yoghurt.

“Restaurant”

“Sicilian-style tea room”

Me Cumpari Turiddu’s living room is also open in the afternoon, where you can try a selection of Sicilian-grown teas, herbal teas, cakes and desserts, made using recipes that have been passed down by local families for generations.

Citrus-fruit tarts, doughnuts, apple pie, yoghurt pudding on a bed of biscuit and Noto almonds and Bronte DOP Pistachio nuts, are just some of the “duci duci” proposals that Me Cumpari Turiddu has in store for you.

There’s also a moreish selection of traditional Sicilian biscuits, like foglie da tè, Cuddriredda di Delia and ciambelline della nonna (grandma’s doughnuts).
A pleasurable stop-off point for those in search of a tea room that offers typical regional products of every kind.