History

Telling the story of ‘alta Marea’ is a bit like retracing the historical memory of Puolo and the people who characterised it.

The marina of Puolo bears witness to a millennial history, overlooking the Gulf of Naples and stretching along an inlet of the Neapolitan coast between the Capo di Massa and the Capo di Sorrento. It owes its name to the Roman Pollio Felice, an illustrious member of a noble family of Pozzuoli and owner of a villa whose ruins can still be seen nearby, in the locality of Calcarella.

In the last century, it experienced its rebirth, which from the post-war period onwards saw it become a characteristic fishing village and a renowned seaside resort.

And it was in the early years of the last century that the story of ‘alta Marea’ began.

Grandmother Rosina inherited a cellar from her aunt Assunta, in which the old puolesi used to gather to drink a good glass of wine and eat a piece of stockfish from time to time; the miners working in the quarry adjacent to the beach found refreshment in it.

In 1926 my father, Simioli Raffaele took it over. My mother dedicated herself to this activity with great diligence.

In those years, wine, fish, mussels and the stones extracted from the quarry were the products that made Marina di Puolo famous, before the last world war.

Then came the war, and with it hardship, but that cellar is still there, and it later turned into a trattoria, welcoming holidaymakers from Naples and the surrounding area during the summer.

Raffaele, ‘Rafele’ as everyone called him, was the brains and Mamma Giuseppina and us children the arms.

It was the beginning of prosperity and the trattoria was demolished in 1969, to make way for a reinforced concrete building, the ground floor of which was however occupied by an elegant trattoria: ‘da Rafele’, which opened its doors in the summer of 1970.

Mum is always at the cooker, but now that we children are grown up, we are taking over the management with her.

The sixties and seventies saw Marina di Puolo turn into a place of holidaymakers, cars and restaurants.

Dad, a person full of ideas and initiatives, had always strived to complement the restaurant business with accommodation, but his had remained a dream. I, aided by my daughters and my wife, realised it in 2006, adding accommodation to the trattoria, which had become a restaurant, and thus gave birth to ‘Alta Marea’.

‘Alta Marea’ is a small but very cosy establishment, and I do my utmost to put guests at ease and make them feel at home. The atmosphere one breathes is the one dreamt of by my father, who maintained that the customer ‘should be pampered’, especially if he comes from different countries and cultures.

‘Alta Marea’ continues the story with its flavours, its aromas, with the scent of the sea washing the rocks of the beach, with the sun filtering through the curtains of the rooms overlooking the sea, with new and old, loyal and occasional customers who make my establishment, which is also theirs, more and more renowned day by day….

Antonino Simioli