Sicily Guide

It is rare that the British praises us for something lately. However, Benji Lanyado visits Mercati Generali in Sicily, one of Gilles Peterson’s favourite clubs, and has only good words for it!

It’s two o’clock in the morning, and I’ve got a stupid beer advert in my head. Three default blokes are in a club full of beautiful people. As one of them approaches the bar, the DJ stops playing so he can place his order sans voice strain. A smouldering blonde whisks him on to the dancefloor where a neon sign flashes “no small talk”. As they leave, cuddly bouncers shelter them from the rain with umbrellas and a line of taxis appears from the dark, ready to whisk them home. “Carlsberg don’t do nightclubs, but if they did … ” and so on and so forth.

They missed by a mile. How about this instead: In the volcanic flatlands south of Mount Etna in Sicily, a stone-clad 19th-century wine-pressing warehouse sits in the middle of acres of blood orange groves. Couples relax on couches raised above the staggered antique barrel vaults stretching towards the ceiling. Outside, a stage enshrouded with vines faces a stone dance floor and a mixing desk squatting under an olive tree. Hundreds of people are dancing to one of the world’s most famous DJs.

Screw the imaginary one in the advert … Mercati Generali is probably the best nightclub in the world.

Read more at The Guardian