Al Becco della Civetta

The people behind it

Al Becco della Civetta is the restaurant of Antonietta Santoro, a native of Castelmezzano, the village in the Lucanian Dolomites. The biography published on the official website tells of an unexpected path: Santoro had started out studying law, and her debut in the kitchen came almost by chance, when she decided to open a beer hall in the village.

In 1989 she founded Al Becco della Civetta on family ruins that once housed a Templar commandery; she later opened the Locanda di Castromediano hotel and, afterwards, an osteria in the Sassi of Matera. The same biography describes her relationship with food as intimate, familial and harmonious, driven by the wish to share her bond with nature and with the resources of the land. Scatti di Gusto presents her as the chef who prepares traditional dishes enriched by interesting touches.

Sources: Al Becco della Civetta — La chef Antonietta Santoro, biografia (sito ufficiale) · Scatti di Gusto — I 15 migliori indirizzi della Basilicata

What they make

Scatti di Gusto, in its selection of addresses in Basilicata, calls Al Becco della Civetta a solid reference point for traditional dishes enriched by interesting touches, without flights of fancy, in an undeniably charming setting facing the skyline of the Lucanian Dolomites.

The same source mentions hand-made fresh pasta, such as cavatelli with pezzente sausage and strascinati with peperone crusco and fresh cheese, and meat dishes including pork neck with local greens and potato cream. The official website describes rooms in a classic, elegant style with small rural touches and large windows onto the mountains of the Gallipoli Cognato Park. The offer is family Lucanian cooking that works the produce of the mountains and brings it to the table without distorting it.

Sources: Scatti di Gusto — I 15 migliori indirizzi della Basilicata · Al Becco della Civetta — Castelmezzano (sito ufficiale)

Ingredients and territory

Among the ingredients the sources associate with this cooking is the peperone crusco, the star of the strascinati mentioned by Scatti di Gusto together with fresh cheese: it is the dried pepper of the Lucanian tradition, to which Apulica devotes its guide to peperoni cruschi and the Senise pepper PGI, covering history, production area and kitchen uses.

Alongside the crusco, the same source names the pezzente sausage used to dress the cavatelli, and the local greens and potato cream served with pork neck. The official website stresses the bond between the chef, nature and the resources of the Lucanian Dolomites. The sources consulted do not name individual suppliers or state the origin of the pepper used in the kitchen, so this page does not link a specific producer.

Sources: Scatti di Gusto — I 15 migliori indirizzi della Basilicata · Al Becco della Civetta — La chef Antonietta Santoro, biografia (sito ufficiale)

Recognition

Slow Food Editore's Osterie d'Italia guide awards the Snail to osterie it considers a reference for the cooking of their area. Basilicata has four Snails, and Al Becco della Civetta in Castelmezzano is among them in both the 2025 and the 2026 editions, according to the region-by-region lists published by Dissapore when the guide came out.

The official website also mentions recognition from Slow Food, Michelin and the Touring Club, and Eataly's choice of the restaurant in 2015 to represent Lucanian cooking at Expo Milano. The Slow Food guide has no free public page for each osteria, and the Michelin Guide pages could not be consulted during this research: for this reason the dated recognitions on this page rest on the Snail lists published by the press.

Sources: Dissapore — Le migliori Osterie d'Italia del 2025, regione per regione · Dissapore — Le migliori Osterie d'Italia 2026 secondo Slow Food, regione per regione (20 ottobre 2025) · Al Becco della Civetta — Castelmezzano (sito ufficiale)

Going there

Al Becco della Civetta is at Vico I Maglietta 7, in the heart of Castelmezzano, one of the two villages of the Lucanian Dolomites together with Pietrapertosa, inside the Gallipoli Cognato Park. The number given by the official website and by Scatti di Gusto is 0971 986249, and the website also offers online booking.

Next to the restaurant is the Locanda di Castromediano, the family's hotel, with rooms facing the mountains: an option for those who want to sleep in the village and approach the sandstone peaks at leisure. Visitors passing through Matera can also find Antonietta Santoro's cooking at the osteria she opened in the Sassi on 4 December 2019. Apulica's page on Castelmezzano covers what to see in the village and around it; opening days and hours should be checked on the official website before setting out.

Sources: Scatti di Gusto — I 15 migliori indirizzi della Basilicata · Al Becco della Civetta — sito ufficiale · Al Becco della Civetta — Castelmezzano (sito ufficiale)

Products and flavours

Senise crusco peppers

The PGI pepper of the Sinni valley: origins, growing, drying in strings, the powder called zafaran, fried crusco, European protection and the August festival in Senise.

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Photo: Generale Lee / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Resized and converted to WebP.

The place

Castelmezzano

Castelmezzano: a town among the rocks. Sandstone roofs beneath the spires of the Piccole Dolomiti Lucane and the path to Pietrapertosa.

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Photo: Jon Shave / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY 2.0 · Resized and converted to WebP.

The region

Basilicata