La Bottega, Modica Bassa - A Fond Farewell

No review this weekend but rather a sad goodbye after hearing that one of my favourite places has closed for good.

I tried to make one of my (quite regular) visits to La Bottega in Modica Bassa about a month ago but found it to be closed. It is not unusual that at this time of year, some places close for a holiday but the third week of the continued closed shutters I did start to comment on what a long

holiday they were having and after a month it became something of a joke to think how long they would be on their break for. Due to La Bottega's constant popularity, it never crossed my mind that perhaps they had gone out of business but just a few days ago, I was told that they had indeed put the shutters down for good.

La Bottega was a little place that sold the most delightful sandwiches and salads, they served arguably the world's best chips and their local red wine in winter was always a welcome warming delight, while in summer I would often sit outside with a chilled, pleasant glass of white. the food was simple but always a delight.

All of this, along with the lovely staff and the reasonable prices, made La Bottega an extremely regular hang-out, especially for me and fellow ex-pats living in Modica. Many of us would finish work in the evening and so when we arrived back in Modica Bassa rarely would we want to go home to cook, so this would be the place where we would sit down to eat and to unwind after a hard day teaching, or working as an au pair and so on. It was a home from home, we could use the WIFI, sit long into the evening outdoors in the warmer months or enjoy the warmth from the open kitchen in the wintertime. It was always somewhere that felt welcome, somewhere we felt comfortable.

So I write this fond farewell not just from me but also from the two Lauras, from Aminah, Katy, Nadine, Lucy, Natasha, Mike and many others who benefitted from this lovely little place.

La Bottega - you shall be sadly missed!