FOOD AND JOY AT HOME WITH IL CONSIGLIO DI SICILIA
The happiness-driven restaurant sends the warmth of Sicily to your home
Il Consiglio di Sicilia, Sicily’s acclaimed seafood restaurant in Donnalucata (RG), launches two new special deliveries: Let’s Cook Together and Chilled (Out). Available for the first time outside the island, it will be now possible to enjoy at home a taste of the elegant culinary creations that have made Il Consiglio di Sicilia a favourite with visitors and locals alike and share a little of the joy and happiness sent from owners Chef Antonio Cicero and Restaurant Manager Roberta Corradin
Following the success of their lockdown specials last year - Delivery with Serenade organised in support of musicians and dedicated to the local audience, and the food box Support Our Artisans, initially thought for Italy and Europe and well appreciated also in Japan, United States and the Emirates - and the demand from other regions in the country and abroad, Antonio and Roberta have extended their offering nationwide to friends and valued guests still unable to return to their beautiful island.
Il Consiglio di Sicilia, Sicily’s acclaimed seafood restaurant in Donnalucata (RG), launches two new special deliveries: Let’s Cook Together and Chilled (Out). Available for the first time outside the island, it will be now possible to enjoy at home a taste of the elegant culinary creations that have made Il Consiglio di Sicilia a favourite with visitors and locals alike and share a little of the joy and happiness sent from owners Chef Antonio Cicero and Restaurant Manager Roberta Corradin
Following the success of their lockdown specials last year - Delivery with Serenade organised in support of musicians and dedicated to the local audience, and the food box Support Our Artisans, initially thought for Italy and Europe and well appreciated also in Japan, United States and the Emirates - and the demand from other regions in the country and abroad, Antonio and Roberta have extended their offering nationwide to friends and valued guests still unable to return to their beautiful island.
“Non Abbattetevi” box
For those who love refined cuisine but with not much time to spare, Antonio has created Chilled (Out) - a selection of completed dishes he has prepared then blast chilled, ready to be reheated, arranged on a plate and served immediately. Fish dishes such as his rich Sea Lasagna or fresh stuffed Spatola, as well as a vegetarian Courgette Flan arrive oven ready. He has even made an anti-shock packaging for the restaurant’s own award-winning Cannolo Siciliano, as a final flourish and a perfect dessert to fill at the moment with the ricotta.
Let’s Cook Together (available from mid-February), dedicated to those who love to try their hand at cooking, will see the delivery of the finest Sicilian ingredients, carefully packaged to recreate some of Il Consiglio di Sicilia’s most iconic dishes, such as the original Bruciatini Carrots and Bottarga and the aromatic Tangerine Frost. The special addition though, is that recipients will not be left to their own devices. In order to also share some of the detailed care and attention that has made Il Consiglio di Sicilia in Donnalucata so popular, each dispatch will be sent out in limited numbers and followed up by a “virtual” welcome by the restaurant’s owners. The small number of recipients will then experience an intimate, interactive talk with Antonio and Roberta, as they explain the ingredients, how to cook and get the best from their texture and flavour. However, this won’t be a masterclass where technical skills will be tested or time constraints put in place, but rather a more relaxed, lighthearted, fun conversation talking about how best to cook with love and sharing precious time. So much so that after cooking and for those willing, cameras will stay on so everyone can enjoy dinner together. The aim is to share some of the atmosphere that has helped put Il Consiglio di Sicilia on the culinary map and for people to enjoy good food in the relaxed company of their friendly hosts.
Roberta explains: “This is a time of instability and isolation for so many and we are really missing our guests, at least as much as they are missing us. What this pandemic has shown us is that the care and love we feel for each of them, has actually come to define us. Like with the Delivery with Serenade, we want to send more than food to the table of our guests and friends: we want to send us too and share all the joy in our hearts.” Antonio adds: “We are part of a community that relies on us and on which, in turn, we rely on too. It’s a passionate, cheerful and supportive community. The purpose of these boxes is not just about us, but also to be able to give a voice to them, the best representatives of our unique Hyblaean ingredients, as we all work through this dim winter.”
Celebrating just over a decade of elegant simplicity, since its opening Il Consiglio di Sicilia has provided the perfect platform to showcase Antonio's interpretation of traditional Sicilian recipes. His approach to cooking, coupled with a strong focus on the abundant seafood provided by its island location, ensured the restaurant quickly became - and remains - a local favourite. The open gazebo has been recently equipped with outdoor heating, to welcome al fresco dining and artistic performances during the winter season. Service is thoughtful and attentive, helping create the kind, happy and relaxed ambiance that has come to define each visit to this treasured building.
Both boxes contain ingredients for two people. The box Chilled (Out) is now available at the special price of €98 Euros, with free delivery throughout Italy for the first two months and with a shipping cost of €30 Euros for delivery to Europe’s capital cities.
The box Let’s Cook Together will be available from mid-February at the price of € 98 Euro, with free delivery throughout Italy for the first two months and with a shipping cost of €18 Euros for delivery throughout Europe.
To book their deliveries, please contact +39 340 944 8923 or via email info@ilconsigliodisicilia.com
For IMAGES and further information, please contact - office@lotusinternational.net
Il Consiglio di Sicilia Via Casmene 79, Donnalucata, Scicli (RG) T +39 340 944 8923 E info@ilconsigliodisicilia.com
www.ilconsigliodisicilia.com Instagram: @ilconsigliodisicilia Facebook: IlConsiglioDiSicilia
Notes to the editors
Antonio Cicero Chef Antonio Cicero's journey into the world of cooking was far from typical. Born and brought up on the ancient island of Sicily in a large matriarchal family, cooking was not his initial curiosity. Instead, the young Antonio was in part obsessed with motorbikes. Still, more significantly, he was a deep-thinking kid, more focused on the world outside the family home and how elements and people connect. Unsurprisingly, he left school to study Philosophy at the University of Catania. It was here that he first started to cook for himself. He began working in a local agriturismo on weekends. Casual employment soon became vocational, and Antonio decided to train as a chef. Before graduation, he left university and joined forces with some student friends and opened a small restaurant in the beachside village of Scoglitti before moving onto a second in the hill town of Ragusa. However, his desire to own his restaurant became a reality, when the opportunity arose to convert the building that was once his grandmother's house in Donnalucata. He opened Il Consiglio di Sicilia in 2008, specialising in seafood and local dishes. In 2010, international food journalist Roberta Corradin entered his life, when she came to review Il Consiglio di Sicilia. A year later, the couple were married. Now a decade after that, Roberta directs front of house working alongside Antonio creating between them a destination restaurant, placing Donnalucata firmly on the culinary map.
Roberta Corradin International journalist and author Roberta Corradin was born in Susa in Piedmont at the foot of the Cottian Alps. In 1989 she began her career working with some of Italy's most famous comics: Lupo Alberto, Cattivik, Sturmtruppen, Blue and the famous Linus - based on a character from Charles M. Schulz's 'Peanuts'. From 1992, a productive five years followed writing on pseudo-psychology for various women's newspapers and had her first book "Ho fatto un pan pepato...ricette di cucina emotiva" (I made a gingerbread...emotional cooking recipes) published in 1995. This work was to draw the attention of the food editors of mainstream broadsheets and guides. In the coming 13 years three books followed, as well as translations from French and English of fiction and non-fiction and prolific writing commissions for L'Espresso, Gambero Rosso and La Repubblica delle Donne. She was spending time between New York, Paris and Rome writing on food, restaurants, chefs, hotels and lifestyle when, in 2010, she found herself in southern Sicily near Donnalucata for the summer to work on a significant book on Italian regional cooking. While there, she was commissioned to review Il Consiglio di Sicilia. That first evening she met Chef Antonio Cicero and finding him a little disagreeable (a fact she would later discover was mutual), decided he would not spoil her opinion or pleasure of his food. After a full day of writing, she would have dinner there every evening for the rest of the summer. One night, Antonio invited her for a ride on his latest motorbike. She accepted and a year later, the couple were married. Just a week after the wedding, a member of staff moved on and Antonio asked Roberta to help cover in the dining room. Almost immediately she was in her element: she found it invigorating with thousands of dynamics in relationships and connections at play, not just between the team but also the guests.