I’ve always wondered how it must've been for locals of the Amalfi Coast to have had it all to themselves before the tourists. Even Positano residents wouldn’t have had to deal with Amalfi crowds! I also wondered how sad it must’ve been for people, whose roots go back many hundreds of years there, to become frustrated to live among the chaos and even be forced to sell homes due to rising costs.
I once thought tourism was manageable, but in the past 20 years it has made life unbearable for those living on the coast as well as for the tourists. The approximate 30% reduction in 2025 eased some of the burden but also hurt businesses. While towns like Positano truly are the most beautiful places on earth and deserve the attention, more relaxed, though not as glamorous, places exist. I often go to the smaller towns, where only locals and nearby residents go.
Discovering Lesser-Known Towns
The lesser-known towns along the coast, and even more so inland and up in the mountains, allow you to live the Amalfi Coast. And that’s totally another experience.
We started off our day at the beach in Erchie, a town of less than 100 residents, and a hamlet of Maiori, but closer to Cetara (not to be confused with Erchie in Puglia). It’s a small beach, closed off by a Saracen tower on one side and another one nestled in an Italsider quarry and next to an old tuna fishery. The tranquility got us ready to go up in the mountains to Tramonti, specifically Campinola, to visit Antonio Erra at his Agriturismo Da Regina.
Meeting Antonio Erra
With the face of an ancient Roman gladiator, Antonio is not covered in blood but flour. What is in his blood, since childhood, is “L’Arte Bianca” - White Art - which Italians use to refer to the art of dough and baking. As a teenager, he went north to Alessandria to work as a pizzaiolo for 20 years, even working events with the prestigious Slow Food in nearby Bra.
In his 30s, he opened La Tomatica in Alessandria but always felt a calling home. At Da Regina, he triumphantly mixes his Northern professionalism with the Southern rusticity and runs an agriturismo, whose restaurant is open to the public and conducts cooking classes.
A Pizza Master at Work
Da Regina has a full menu, but the pizzas steal the show. While Antonio has either won or placed in the top 10 in various international pizza championships. He even took over from Vincenzo Savino as head of the Associazione Pizza Tramontana, and it’s that very Pizza Tramontana - featured last year in Appetito - that he highlights. His menu is vast, and every one of the seemingly endless pizzas come made with either the regular pizza dough or the darker, more-coarse Tramonti mix, which is only available on certain days.
Under the Lemon Grove
As we ate under his lemon grove, I realized I can unequivocally say that Antonio Erra’s pizzas are among the very best I’ve ever had. They don’t “sit on top of the stomach,” as Italians always worry about, as the pizzas digest easily and feel light in every bite.
His Geta, with Tramonti Fior di Latte, Tramonti Provola, grilled artichokes, Speck, and Pecorino was fantastic, as was his Rustica, a beautiful mix of the same Fior di Latte, Peperone Crusco, local (and unique tasting) sausages, Burrata, and crushed Taralli. The menu is certainly not all pizzas, as I thoroughly enjoyed his braised veal cheek, a clear homage to his time in Piemonte.
A Return to Roots
Antonio left the chaos of the North to return to his roots in the South. He created his own retreat on the Amalfi Coast, and for those of us who seek the same peace, it can be found on the other side of the Amalfi Coast in towns like Erchie and Tramonti. And with people like Antonio Erra.
