da Gemma Capri

Almost 60 years ago, Gemma and her husband, known to many as quite simply "the chef", opened a small restaurant in the center of Capri. The restaurant was comprised of a few tables on an open terrace overlooking the town, a menu featuring a limited number of traditional dishes, and an ample supply of determination to succeed.

These were hard times in post war Italy, with the country struggling to recover from years of depression, but Gemma's strong belief in the appeal of Capri and her innate entrepreneurial spirit, led her to see beyond the immediate future, almost enabling her to predict the boom years of the 1960's. Armed with her passion and guided by her natural business sense, Gemma managed to establish a restaurant which was soon to feature in the most widely read literature dedicated to the island of Capri. In true southern Italian style, she seized the opportunity and captured her moment in culinary history.

This superb eatery rapidly established itself as the preferred lunch or dinner venue for people from all walks of life. Today those first customers children and grandchildren continue to return to the restaurant which has become a favourite among celebrities of every nationality.

Clients of the distant past return, in the form of photos in a fascinating photo gallery lining the restaurant walls, in which a smiling Gemma appears in her legendary red apron. Thus, today those dining at Da Gemma are not only guaranteed a fabulous meal, they are also treated to some authentic glimpses of the golden era of Capri, when the restaurant was filled with the lively chatter and laughter of the guests of yesteryear, when Gemma herself served the elegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen seated at her so very carefully laid tables.