By virtue of bright, often harsh sunlight, the cities of Sicily, like Trapani, enjoy a natural bleaching that gives them a soft, light-reflecting freshness no matter how old they are. When the moon is full the buildings glow. Before World War II, much was in decrepit shape, and the city was heavily bombed. So say what you want about the onslaught of tourism, but without it much of Europe would lack the resources to restore their cities to a luster they had not had for centuries.
      Trapani, on Sicily’s west coast, is now a beautiful small city of 70,000 that retains its fishing heritage as a significant Mediterranean port as well as offering a blend of Greek, Moorish and Spanish baroque architecture that makes wandering its streets a passage back and forth in history. Trapani was originally named Drepana, Greek for “sickle,” because of its harbor’s shape, and rich in Greek myth. The city played a major, contentious role in the ancient world, fought over by Carthage and Rome, which came to rule it after the 241 BC Battle of the Aegates in the First Punic War. The Roman god Saturn still stands in the city center’s piazza. Later it came under the control of the Kingdom of Naples. 
      Tuna fishing and the vast nearby salt flats helped the economy rebound after World War II, and today it is a very popular destination for Europeans who can also easily hop a ferry from its docks to the nearby Egadi Islands. Along the quay in the morning or at twilight, in view of Mount Erice, you walk beneath pastel skies striped with shifting clouds.  This is the south, so it is hot in summer, but rarely does it get above 85 degrees, and in the fall it is delightfully in the mid-70’s.
      This is also Italy, so Trapani has the usual oversupply of churches, each with its own style, dating from the 14th century Sant’Agostino to the Basilica of Maria Santissima Annunziata, rebuilt in the 18th century. Trapani entertained few of Europe’s greatest artists, though the well-regarded regional museum has paintings by Titian, Ribera and Giacomo Balla. The Cathedral of San Lorenzo (above), with its fine dome,  built in1421 and restored in the 18th century, has an “Annunciation” painting attributed to Anthony van Dyck, though how it got there no one knows. There is a modern Optical Illusions Museum (above) that is a good deal of fun, particularly among young visitors.
      The Palazzo Cavaretta (now the Senate) was built in the 17th century with a stunning baroque façade by Simone Pisano and Andrea Palma. In the following century two large clocks were added, providing Trapani with the pride of modernity.
       Good hotels are available at modest prices (you can easily find charming rooms for $100 or less), and outside of town, surrounded by the Firriato vineyards, the luxurious Baglio Sorìa Resort & Wine Hotel (where rooms start around $150 and average about $250) is modern, environmentally friendly, with swimming pool, solarium, a first-rate restaurant and wine tastings.
       I stayed in Trapani’s old town at the Albergo San Michele (Via San Michele 16) with 21 well-furnished rooms within an ancient building (below) on a very quiet narrow street (rooms begin at $90, with breakfast). Its interior of carved-out staircases and use of glass is stunning, the air-conditioned rooms very comfortable, and you are within a few minutes’ walk to the harbor.
      Seafood, obviously, dominates the restaurants of Trapani, and the loveliest is Serisso 47 (Via Serisso 47), whose chef-owner Gaetano Basiricò serves a classico-moderno menu of unstinting freshness. The name of the restaurant—“smile”— derives, ironically, from a sad story of an old fisherman whose wife ran off with an Moorish Arab.
      The interior (right) is gaily lit and airy, with arched ceilings crisscrossed by vines hung with flowers and pepper-green lights. The menu, which is not entirely seafood, is inventive, with a focus on the prime ingredients. We began with a robust melding of the flavors of tuna bottarga roe and celery puree, then a creamy torta of ricotta. Pasta, curiously, was with a meat sauce, and roast lamb with crisp potatoes was the main course, ending with traditional, not-too-sweet cassata. In addition there is simply prepared fish of the day, Sicilian cùscus, and spaghetti alla norma with eggplant and tomato. Appetizers run about $17, pastas $15-$25, main courses $17-$20. The wine list is one of the best in town.
     Family-owned trattorias abound in Trapani and Taverna Caupona (Via San Francesco D’Assisi) is one of the most charming, small and rustic, and proudly old-fashioned. There we had an array of splendid, full-flavored local dishes made with gusto by Chef Rosa, with her husband Rino in the dining room, including crisply fried calamari, shrimp and sardines; little balls of seafood fried like arancini; busiate pasta with fried tuna with the true taste of the sea in every bite; spaghetti with clams, another with bottarga; sarago (bream) with a salmoriglio of oil, lemon and pepper, preo (dentice) simply grilled and their version of cùscus (left). And entire meal will cost about $35-$45.
      Trapani, if not opulent, is testimony to how Sicily has evolved from its images of depressing poverty and crime. Those still exist, but it is still one of the most beautiful places in the world that gets better and better every year.

     While the name of Yuco refers to the Yucatán, the highly creative cuisine of chef Christian Ortiz (himself from the Dominican Republic) might be better termed Meso-America, since so many influences are incorporated into the food. You don’t find much Berkshire pork belly or wagyu beef in Mexico, and lobster is of the California spiny species not that of the North Atlantic. So you can cast away any sense that Yuco is a traditional Mexican restaurant and just enjoy all the wonderful ideas Ortiz has come up with at this handsome, two-room restaurant with a bar up front for 32 guests and a dining room for 30.
      Yuco, opened a month ago in the West Village, is, then, a serious departure from outmoded notions of Mexican food, not unlike the casual Amigo Tacos by Nai, reviewed here last week. Yuco, however, is further upscale than any restaurant of its kind in New York and a far more sophisticated place than brutally noisy Cosme. The gleaming bar up front leads to a beautifully set room with pale gray brick walls set with folkloric photos that include one of stacks of Panama hats, and the lighting falls softly on good, thick linens and very comfortable banquettes, with an open kitchen to the rear. The stemware (in several shapes) is exquisitely thin, and the water glasses contain little cactus figures. The attractive waitstaff is dressed in black suits. Clearly, this is not a place to stop in for take-out tamales.
      Service is attentive and cordial but all dishes are explained at wearying length. By the way, there is no bread on the table (and most assuredly no tortilla chips).
      Yuco is co-owned by Trent Walker, who has apparently made a few bucks in the tech industry, and Ortiz (above), and they are obviously not aiming for volume, content instead to serve a discerning number of guests each night who may go with the tasting menus (once fully implemented) or dine à la carte. Walker is a serious wine collector and offers some from his own cellar from wines bought at auction. (More on the list later).
      The food is very pretty, with a few molecular cuisine notes, but not enough to harm it. You are told from the start that portions are quite small, even though appetizers run $21 to $29, and a second course of what is listed as a single “pan-seared diver scallop” is $38. Still, a wagyu ribeye is only $48. If you order a day in advance for parties of six to eight, you can try the 18-hour smoked pork pibil ($275).
      Elegance is part of every aspect at Yuco, the dishes visually enticing. Tiny amuses of a shrimp taco and a refined version of rice and beans began the meal, then we followed with crispy, tender octopus with a chipotle cream and colorful nasturtium ($28); velvety ceviche of kampachi came with more octopus, tender cucumber, sweet apricot and a squeeze of citrus ($25); as lovely as it was delicious, squash blossoms delicately fried in a tempura batter with sweet plantains and prickly pear was laced with a walnut cream sauce ($27). And the succulent pork belly al pastor (“shepherd style”) came with smoked sunflower sprouts and summery butterfly sorrel ($29). One of the best dishes of all was elote soup, which in Mexico is a street dish of grilled corn with cotija white cheese, lime and corn ash, here turned into a beautiful, complex soup ($27).    
       Of the main courses, the scallop (singular) actually contained two on the dish, with cassava croquette, tangy pickle tomatillo and a lovely sweet coconut emulsion ($28).  A chicken tamale with a honey nut squash purée and chili velouté ($32) was fine, if nothing extraordinary, and lobster and smoked rajas chile poblano strips and sweet corn ($42) was very good but I craved more lobster than was provided. Mexican cooks pride themselves on their rich mole sauces and Yuco’s braised oxtail has a sauce to match the best in haute cuisine.
     Desserts are every bit as imaginative as what precedes them:
Chocolate champurrado  with masa, cajeta and horchata ice cream; “Corn Textures” of an aguachile sorbet, corn custard, corn crumble, carbon powder; pineapple frozen mousse with yerba buena, sunflower crumble and sunflower powder; and pompona vanilla custard with lime and chiles.
     Yuco’s wine list is something of a conundrum in that its breadth and depth are highly impressive and, overall, its pricing is below many competitors’, sometimes by half.  But $150 for a glass of Vega Sicilia 2015 is a shocker, when you can buy the whole bottle for the same price at a wine shop. More important, the list has but a handful of bottles under $100, while wines costing $200 and up fill page after page. Fortunately, sommelier Derrick Engles is well aware of the imbalance and said he is working on adding more modestly priced wines. The bar stocks 100 agave-based spirits.
      Yuco has made a very impressive debut, and with some tweaking of portion size and wine list prices, it is certainly among New York’s most enticing new fine dining experiences.

Open for dinner Tues.-Sun.