The trio that 'challenged nightlife' in Riccione by opening one of the most sustainable restaurants in Romagna: Indaco and its menu

Freedom and zero-waste: Indaco in Riccione breaks away from traditions and presents its cuisine made of simple ingredients, enhanced by cheffe Cinzia Barratta's personal interpretation.

Romagna is the land of abundance: lots of food, lots of fun, lots of friendliness. Everything here is plenty, yet never too much, and it is simplicity that makes the difference, which sounds rhetorical and cliché, even though you should start thinking of it as an asset. Any beach bar will serve you a decent piadina, any restaurant will serve you the best squids au gratin, any cocktail bar will make you enjoy a good drink.

What about hospitality? That is top-level everywhere, from the stall selling junk to the gourmet restaurant. Therefore, it is difficult to compete with such high standards. It has tried (spoiler: succeeding), Indaco: the restaurant and cocktail bar a stone's throw from the iconic Viale Ceccarini.

Although it is in such a "central" location, Indaco is a peaceful place that steps back from what is the assiduous Riccione nightlife which, in the long run, can get tiring for a certain type of audience. It is located in the space that used to house the laundry room of Riccione's historic Grand Hotel until a few years ago, and already from the spaces one can sense the propensity toward recycling. But let's proceed step by step.

Indaco in Riccione: the location

It's 2019 when cheffe Cinzia Battarra, who boasts notable experiences, one among them with Igles Corelli at Locanda della Tamerice, together with her partner Luca Gallucci, now restaurant manager, decided to open her own place. The perfect number is three (so they say) and the duo needs a top performer in the world of the mixologist. Thus, the professional couple is joined by Francesco Ricci, a bar manager oriented toward experimentation and contemporaneity.

Thus was born Indaco, an industrial chic location that mixes elements found in flea markets with contemporary crafts made from unusual materials, such as concrete and old car parts. "Instagrammable", but also very cozy and versatile: ideal for a drink or dinner for two, but also perfect with friends.

Prevailing, both in the well-kept garden with several rather sought-after succulent species, is the color indigo of course. Indaco, one of the seven of the rainbow and symbolically attributed, in New Age culture, to children with special talents. The view of the large kitchen, where the cheffe gives its guests a glimpse of what they are going to taste, is beautiful. In addition to the dehor and the veranda restaurant space, there are also a couple of private rooms ideal for intimate, reserved events.

What to eat at Indaco and how is it

It must be said that Indaco's is a very creative and personal cuisine. The cheffe tells her story through her dishes, that do not lack unusual colors and combinations. If you are expecting spaghetti with clams, piadina, ragu and the famous Romagna fish gratin, you are off the mark. Battarra celebrates her terroir, but she does so only through the ingredients; everything else is rewritten with combinations that, thanks not least to the presence of lots of fruit, reveal the cheffe's Brazilian experience.

Contaminations are various, but not forced, and if we consider that 70 percent of the vegetables come from the property's own garden, which is a handful of kilometers from the restaurant, the result is interesting. The cheffe focuses on a taste for each dish and builds the right fertile soil around it in order to enhance it. Battarra's is a cuisine that does not want to please at all costs: it wants to lead the diner to understand her point of view, that aims to treat every raw material, especially those coming from the earth, with respect and creativity.

"The garden potato stuffed with paprika-flavored octopus, accompanied by salsa verde and taggiasche pesto" is interesting, among other proposals. A personal interpretation, that of cheffe, of the octopus salad that most like to order when on vacation on our shores.

A special mention must be made of the expertly cut and cooked tuna, which is served according to availability with peaches or pineapple. A novelty? Certainly not, but this is the time to create what will be tomorrow's tradition, so we might as well do it right.

One of the iconic dishes, the ones you can't take off the menu according to regulars, is "the duck marinated in spring onion, smoked in cherry wood and served with apple, saba reduction and fried leek". The fresh pasta is handled impeccably by the cheffe. Thin, textured and rough, it is suitable for stuffing or made into "tagliolini al nero", accompanied by raw shrimp and peppers.

The bread offering, that is made on site, is very rich and includes a selection of flatbreads, purslane bread, pumpkin raisin and onion bread, and cereal bread.

There is no shortage of crackers and breadsticks, featuring that lightness of someone who knows what he or she is doing while baking. From the desserts you can sense the cheffe's experience in pastry. She loves mascarpone and it shows in her "crispy cream puffs served with ice cream". The petit fours is good and particularly beautiful.

Indaco is also a cocktail bar

Indaco's mixology, run by Francesco Ricci, is the result of a daily work of experimentation. Extractions, fermentations and combinations of ingredients give way to a rich selection of respectable spirits. And, if the trend in recent years was to present minimal drinks, today large scenic presentations are making a comeback. In this, Ricci is a true master. The cocktails can be enjoyed at the aperitif, but also at after dinner.

If you wish, you can request pairing with your dinner, which is quite wise, especially in the summer season. It might be better to have half-servings of drinks during the meal, but this is just a personal reflection.