Melfi is a small town with limited restaurant options, but what is there tends to be genuinely local and unpretentious. Basilicata cooking features strong flavours — peperoni cruschi (crispy dried peppers), lucanica sausage, and slow-cooked lamb — and the best meals here are in family-run trattorie where the menu changes with what's available. The Aglianico del Vulture wines are excellent with most of the local cooking.