There's an island, a few miles from Sicily, where Italian is spoken on the streets almost like at home, where restaurant menus often feel like a small mirror of Italy—and where, for some time now, a growing expat community has turned its nostalgia into cuisine. It's Malta, and last night it was the protagonist of the new episode of Little Big Italy, Francesco Panella's program broadcast on Nove at 21:30 pm.
The format is the one we've become so familiar with: three Italians living abroad bring Panella to their favorite Italian restaurant in town, and after ratings, "off-menu cravings," and votes for Italianness, the best Italian restaurant in town is declared. A formula that for several seasons has told, better than any documentary, the great story of Italians around the world through a plate of pasta.
Three stories of Italians in Malta
Leading Panella on his Maltese adventure were three expats with very different stories:
Caterina, a Calabrian journalist who arrived on the island “somewhat by chance”, for a work commitment. "I came to a crossroads and had to choose whether to stay or not. In the end, I decided to stay, and I'm very happy, because it's the perfect place to live. For work, I talk about Malta to Italians.", he said on the show. His favorite restaurant: Roman Trattoria Zero Sei.
Claudio, an entrepreneur from Bari with a thousand lives—a former paratrooper and diver—who has lived on the island for years, where he has built a life of sport, work, and the sea.
Valerio, an art dealer from Emilia, brought Panella to the restaurant that best embodies his connection with Italian tradition.
The three Italian restaurants in the competition
Competing for the title of best Italian restaurant in Malta are three establishments with well-defined identities:
- Roman Trattoria Zero Sei —The name itself reveals its soul: Rome. The cuisine of the capital with its sacred rules—carbonara, cacio e pepe, amatriciana, oxtail stew—and that traditional rigor that, at the table, when faced with a Roman like Panella, allows no concessions.
- La Vela —a more Mediterranean concept, tied to the sea and the island's identity. An Italian cuisine that allows itself to be "contaminated" by the Maltese context without losing its identity.
- The Majolica — the third excellent restaurant in the running, with an Italian trattoria atmosphere and a gastronomic offering capable of representing yet another nuance of Italian cuisine.
Malta and Italy, an ancient bond
The episode, in addition to the competition, was an opportunity to showcase the deep ties between Malta and Italy: their shared Mediterranean culture, shared historical influences, a language—Italian—still widely spoken and understood on the island, and the great gastronomic tradition that has always united the two shores of that narrow stretch of sea. Malta has become an international hub for Italian tourism, culture, and entrepreneurship.
And then there is the food, which remains, as always in the episodes of Little Big Italy, the true protagonist. Because when an Italian emigrates, they may change language, habits, or time zone. But they rarely change the way they eat. And to their favorite restaurant, they don't just bring friends: they bring a piece of home that has never truly left.
To find out who won the challenge, the episode is available to stream on demand on Discovery+.
Featured photo of ZeroSei Trattoria Romana
