Provincetown Magazine
Venture into Ciro & Sal’s and you find yourself absorbing the sights, sounds, and aromas of Northern Italy.
Venture into Ciro & Sal’s and you find yourself absorbing the sights, sounds, and aromas of Northern Italy. The dining room has the charming ambiance of a wine cellar, complete with low ceilings and liberal decorations of wicker Chianti bottles Underneath your feet is a stone floor, and around the room are brick fireplaces that have an air of the Old World about them. It is the perfect setting for the fine Italian meal into which you are about to delve.
Ciro & Sal’s enjoys a long tradition of great food and excellent service. It has been and intuition in Provincetown for over fifty years with a stellar reputation for providing an evening of dining that is not soon forgotten. This is probably attributed to the family atmosphere that is part literal and part figurative. Larry Luster purchased the restaurant last year and after he provided over twenty years of service to the previous owner. The purchase is true Horatio Alger success story. Larry began his career as a dishwasher, and through advancement, hard work, and thrift purchased the restaurant. The executive chef is his brother James, who has been at the restaurant eighteen years. Another brother, Charles, is the pasta chef and prep cook and has been at Ciro & Sal’s almost as long as Larry. The second generation is just as involved in the restaurant. Larry’s children, including, Larry Jr. and Joyell, work as waiters, and another son Zach is a busboy. Charles’ daughter Jennifer is hostess confectioner and dessert chef.
A dinner at Ciro & Sal’s might include an antipasto of piatto misto, which is an assortment of mussels, shrimp, scallops, and calamari tossed in balsamic vinaigrette followed by a ‘paste e Salse’ Forianna tossed with sautéed fresh garlic, anchovies, pine nuts, walnuts, raisins, and olive oil. Or you may wish to try the pesce limone of fresh fish broiled in a lemon and caper wine sauce and served with a seasonal sautéed vegetable.
How about nocce de vitello Bolognese with slices of veal sautéed with chicken livers and prosciutto and served in a wine sauce with Esrom cheese and herbs? One of the nightly specials includes pan seared tune made with herbs, cooked to perfection, and served with garlic mashed potatoes and caramelized scallops topped with cilantro vinaigrette.
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Pesce alla Procidana
8 tbsp. olive oil | 2 cloves finely chopped garlic |
1/8 cup red wine vinegar | 1 tsp. basil |
1/2 cup white wine | 1 tsp. oregano |
4 8-ounce portions of fish |
Combine all ingredients and pour over fish. Boil for about 10 minutes until the fish is done. Garnish with grill tomotoes, lemons or mint.