A Taste for Murder writer MATT BAKER reveals the tale of two islands that inspired his hit TV series
It's a dirty little secret,” says Matt Baker, writer of A Taste for Murder, the drama that reached its nail-gnawing climax on ITV1 last week. He’s not talking about the plot of the show (although he could be; there are plenty of clandestine goings-on in this dark-deeds-in-sunny-places thriller). Instead he’s admitting to his own chicanery concerning the series’ setting, on the glamorous Italian island of Capri. “The joint that inspired Da Vinale’s [the restaurant that’s a focal point for the show] is on Sicily,” he confesses. “I went there on holiday and it was one of those brilliant places that the Italians do better than anyone else: a family-run restaurant where granddad cooks, his daughter runs the front-of-house, her kids wait the tables – a simple seaside place where the food is phenomenal.
“But Capri has all this history and natural beauty, and it’s a really small island where everyone knows everyone else’s business – so we transported the story from Sicily to Capri.” He’s picked a fine time to come clean: I’m talking to Baker from the terrace of my room at Punta Tragara, a terracotta -tinted five-star in Capri’s south-east corner (manfredihotels.com/puntatragara). From my balcony, I watch boats buzzing around the Faraglioni rocks, Capri’s picturesque, postcard-hogging outcrops, and quickly forgive Baker for the goose chase he’s sent me on. There may be no Da Vinale’s on Capri, but in Tragara’s Michelin-starred Le Monzù restaurant, I had a bottoni pasta filled with smoked cream, crustacean essence and red prawn that was worth the 50-minute ferry ride from Naples 50 times over. There are plenty of places fans will recognise from the show (and from the novel on which it’s based, also written by Baker).
There are two towns on Capri – called, confusingly, Capri and Anacapri – and the former is where most of the action occurs, both in A Taste for Murder and in your weekend break. The Piazza Umberto I (more commonly called the “Piazzetta”) is the epicentre of Caprese society, with three classily competing cafés beneath its beautiful belltower, and arched alleyways leading out in every direction, each one lined with elegant boutiques and enticing restaurants. Stroll further and you’re on undulating paths that carry you out between envy-inducing villas to the lush greenery and wonderful sea views that are everywhere on this tiny isle.
The finest are at the ruins of Villa Jovis, from where Emperor Tiberius ruled the Roman Empire from AD 27-37 (and engaged in the sort of violent and sexual depravities even other emperors would blanch at); at its near neighbour Villa Lysis (more depravities, this time a 20th-century cocktail of drugs and sex and suicide); at the Gardens of Augustus (overlooking the bobbing boats in the harbour of Marina Piccola); and at Monte Solaro, the island’s highest point, reachable by a quaint old chairlift. From every single one you can watch the sun glinting off the Tyrrhenian Sea, its shallows an exquisite aquamarine, with Vesuvius and the Amalfi Coast posing prettily in the background. But all my favourite views, I must admit, came with food and/or drink in the foreground. At the new Capri outpost of Casa Tua (casatualife.com/Capri.html), I eat octopus so good I forget to look out for any of its A-list devotees (sorry Leo DiCaprio).
At JK Place, meanwhile (jkplaces. com/jkcapri), it was the other way round: the views from its sun-flooded terrace – not to mention its delectable pool and airily chic bedrooms – were so good I could hardly concentrate on the delicate but delicious simplicity of my fresh tagliolini with butter, lemon juice and zest. Given that, I thought it prudent to stay a couple of nights so I could have a second (and indeed third) go at eating there. Watching fine-looking Italians disport themselves on the little sliver of beach just below, and the leisurely bustle of the island’s main port, Marina Grande, just beyond, it was hard to leave this gorgeous hotel – but I couldn’t resist a bit of that maritime action myself. Renting a speedboat from that harbour for a couple of hours – and putting together a sensational panini and prosecco picnic from the loved-by-locals deli at the harbour – I was able to circumnavigate the whole island in just two hours, even with a couple of stops to dive off for a swim in those neon-blue waters.
I didn’t see Da Vinale’s of course (“although a lot of the exterior scenes are shot in Capri,” concedes Baker, “the actual restaurant we filmed in is in Croatia”). But I did get to see – and taste – one of Europe’s most gorgeous little islands, a tiny green-gold speck surrounded by blue-green water that sparkles like the wine itself. ED GRENBY
It's a dirty little secret,” says Matt Baker, writer of A Taste for Murder, the drama that reached its nail-gnawing climax on ITV1 last week. He’s not talking about the plot of the show (although he could be; there are plenty of clandestine goings-on in this dark-deeds-in-sunny-places thriller). Instead he’s admitting to his own chicanery concerning the series’ setting, on the glamorous Italian island of Capri. “The joint that inspired Da Vinale’s [the restaurant that’s a focal point for the show] is on Sicily,” he confesses. “I went there on holiday and it was one of those brilliant places that the Italians do better than anyone else: a family-run restaurant where granddad cooks, his daughter runs the front-of-house, her kids wait the tables – a simple seaside place where the food is phenomenal.
“But Capri has all this history and natural beauty, and it’s a really small island where everyone knows everyone else’s business – so we transported the story from Sicily to Capri.” He’s picked a fine time to come clean: I’m talking to Baker from the terrace of my room at Punta Tragara, a terracotta -tinted five-star in Capri’s south-east corner (manfredihotels.com/puntatragara). From my balcony, I watch boats buzzing around the Faraglioni rocks, Capri’s picturesque, postcard-hogging outcrops, and quickly forgive Baker for the goose chase he’s sent me on. There may be no Da Vinale’s on Capri, but in Tragara’s Michelin-starred Le Monzù restaurant, I had a bottoni pasta filled with smoked cream, crustacean essence and red prawn that was worth the 50-minute ferry ride from Naples 50 times over. There are plenty of places fans will recognise from the show (and from the novel on which it’s based, also written by Baker).
There are two towns on Capri – called, confusingly, Capri and Anacapri – and the former is where most of the action occurs, both in A Taste for Murder and in your weekend break. The Piazza Umberto I (more commonly called the “Piazzetta”) is the epicentre of Caprese society, with three classily competing cafés beneath its beautiful belltower, and arched alleyways leading out in every direction, each one lined with elegant boutiques and enticing restaurants. Stroll further and you’re on undulating paths that carry you out between envy-inducing villas to the lush greenery and wonderful sea views that are everywhere on this tiny isle.
HOLIDAYS TO ITALY
The finest are at the ruins of Villa Jovis, from where Emperor Tiberius ruled the Roman Empire from AD 27-37 (and engaged in the sort of violent and sexual depravities even other emperors would blanch at); at its near neighbour Villa Lysis (more depravities, this time a 20th-century cocktail of drugs and sex and suicide); at the Gardens of Augustus (overlooking the bobbing boats in the harbour of Marina Piccola); and at Monte Solaro, the island’s highest point, reachable by a quaint old chairlift. From every single one you can watch the sun glinting off the Tyrrhenian Sea, its shallows an exquisite aquamarine, with Vesuvius and the Amalfi Coast posing prettily in the background. But all my favourite views, I must admit, came with food and/or drink in the foreground. At the new Capri outpost of Casa Tua (casatualife.com/Capri.html), I eat octopus so good I forget to look out for any of its A-list devotees (sorry Leo DiCaprio).
At JK Place, meanwhile (jkplaces. com/jkcapri), it was the other way round: the views from its sun-flooded terrace – not to mention its delectable pool and airily chic bedrooms – were so good I could hardly concentrate on the delicate but delicious simplicity of my fresh tagliolini with butter, lemon juice and zest. Given that, I thought it prudent to stay a couple of nights so I could have a second (and indeed third) go at eating there. Watching fine-looking Italians disport themselves on the little sliver of beach just below, and the leisurely bustle of the island’s main port, Marina Grande, just beyond, it was hard to leave this gorgeous hotel – but I couldn’t resist a bit of that maritime action myself. Renting a speedboat from that harbour for a couple of hours – and putting together a sensational panini and prosecco picnic from the loved-by-locals deli at the harbour – I was able to circumnavigate the whole island in just two hours, even with a couple of stops to dive off for a swim in those neon-blue waters.
I didn’t see Da Vinale’s of course (“although a lot of the exterior scenes are shot in Capri,” concedes Baker, “the actual restaurant we filmed in is in Croatia”). But I did get to see – and taste – one of Europe’s most gorgeous little islands, a tiny green-gold speck surrounded by blue-green water that sparkles like the wine itself. ED GRENBY
A Taste for Murder is available now on ITVX
HOLIDAYS TO ITALY