Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/1218237
172 BAL HARBOUR The Adriatic Coast beckons. Get the downlow on la dolce vita in the enchanting southern region favored by locals and jet-setters alike. BY MOSHA LUNDSTRÖM HALBERT The Insider's Guide to Puglia PUGLIA SEEMED TO BE following me. It kept popping up on my Instagram feed, via the likes of Athena Calderone (page 138), Tanya Taylor (page 98) and blurry paparazzi snaps of ultimate holiday muse, Kate Moss. Even my decor mood boards were pinned with the Puglia holiday haven of interior design duo Ludovica and Roberto Palomba. And my most trusted friends kept tempting me with talks of chalky villas out of a Merchant Ivory film and citrusy olive oil on tap—remarkably, Puglia is responsible for over half of Italy's total production. And so, after a previous summer sojourn spent in the gloriously excessive Dolce & Gabbana advertisement that is Capri, the stripped-back, rustic ease of Puglia beckoned. After a quick cursory search, I haphazardly threw a proverbial Google dart and booked the Masseria Torre Coccaro, a family-run estate located in the province of Brindisi, on a whim. Upon pulling up to the dusty path of the property, ensconced in a working olive orchard and golf course, we were warmly welcomed as if we were visiting relatives. is is exactly what we had come to the Adriatic Coast for— the kind of unstudied, informal hospitality that immediately puts one at ease. Our White Cave suite, with its own private gardens and pool, was at once grand and yet wabi sabi. For the nightly feast, we dined family-style at the estate's palazzo. Sitting on long benches or perched on canvas-wrapped bales of hay, we enjoyed handmade orecchiette pasta, salt-baked branzino and fresh burrata galore. After a day spent swimming and sunning at the owner's accompanying beach club, the buzzy Le Palme, utter bliss had certainly set in. Added bonus: the hotel and beach club both have outposts of TulsiShop, a destination boutique of the chicest order. Proprietress Deborah Nolan, a vagabond Englishwoman and former Hollywood stylist, carries an assortment of airy Italian cotton holiday dresses and printed caftans that are good enough for Ms. Moss herself, a recent client. For our last night, we aperitivo-hopped through the ancient walled city of Ostuni. With its ethereal candlelit glow and eight Michelin star restaurants—a most impressive ratio to its population of just over 30,000—it wooed us, Puglian style. How do you say "paradise found" in Italian again? Paradiso trovato, indeed.