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May 21, 2005
IN SEARCH OF GREAT INGREDIENTS: A TRIP TO MADRID AND SEGOVIA
I was quite angry at myself that I had chosen the wrong week to go to Spain as we had planned our trip during the Semana Santa or Easter, and most Michelin star restaurants that I had wanted to try in Madrid and Donosia turned out to be closed for the occasion. I had actually a reservation at Mugarritz near Donostia, and then I received a polite email, canceling it. Apparently they had decided to close the restaurant, but had taken my reservation request the previous November. Disappointed, we started to think about strategies to turn a difficult situation into a new culinary adventure. Unfortunately most restaurants I had liked very much in Madrid in the past were also closed. So we decided to re-route, cancel the Donostia part of the trip, and spend some days in Segovia as a base to discover the Castilian asadors. Similarly we wanted to design our eating strategy in and around Madrid to hunt for some products which cannot be found elsewhere, or, are simply the best in Spain. Our strategy turned out to be quite successful, and when I reevaluate it retrospectively I find it more informative to structure this article around single dishes than around individual restaurants. I will complement this by giving an overall judgment of the restaurant based on the totality of the meal without further details.
We had two superb ROASTED LAMB dishes in traditional asadors. The Castilian style milk fed roast lamb from the “churra” breed is one of the true culinary treasures known to mankind. Traditional places, such as TININ in the fortified hillside town of Sepulveda, which is only 45 minutes from beautiful Segovia, and the relatively newer MANNIX, which is in the nondescript town of Campaspero, 15 minutes to Penafiel on the Duero river, and about one hour to Segovia, both excel in preparing great roast lamb. Typically the lamb is about three weeks old (the Mannix version was 20 days old) and about two quarters of baby lamb are roasted/baked in a semi-circular baker’s clay oven lit by wood fire. Clearly this method comes from the cooking of the mechoui lambs in North Africa and was brought to Spain by the Moors. But the mechoui lambs I had in Algeria were dryer in general, and the fact that top asadors roast the lamb slowly in low heat for hours, dousing them with a little water when necessary, may explain the eventual tenderness. It is in fact so tender that, as was demonstrated to us in Mannix by owner Marco Antonio, a sheer touch with a fingertip suffices to separate the bone from the meat before quartering the lamb, and the meat is so tender and intensely flavorful at the same time that it has to be tasted to believe how good lamb can get. One eats the kidney, liver, whatever comes with the particular cut, and it is an equal delight to soak up the juices with the round and crusty local bread called “torta arandina”. The lamb is accompanied by a simple salad of very fresh romaine lettuce, tomatoes and sweet white onions with a simple vinaigrette.
It is not easy to rank a restaurant which serves a single ingredient. Tinin is a cozier place than Mannix, but it has no wine list and the house Ribera Duero is only adequate. Mannix has a fine wine list, although the reception is a bit cool. They assumed that we did not have a reservation, and they didn’t want to accept us. This is understandable because the cordero lcchal is cooked to order and cooking begins before one arrives to the restaurant. So it is important to be punctual. The style is slightly different in the sense that Mannix lets the juices drip to the bottom of the clay pot, but somehow the lamb remains juicy. Were I to rank the best lamb dishes I remember to date, both of these portions would rank alongside the baby 6 weeks old Lozere lamb prepared by old Jamin/Robuchon in a salt crust. Sure, they are less refined, but at least equally tasty. I still do not believe that the pre-sale from Grevin prepared by Mikael (see the post) can surpass this level, but I will suspend ultimate judgment until I have the privilege to taste it. So I will recommend both of these places very strongly to the readers and, at gun point, I will choose Mannix over Tinin for the wine list and a somehow half notch more tender lamb. I would say that the single dish merits a 19.5/20 at Mannix and 19/20 at Tinin.
The COCHINILLO ASADO or suckling pig which is about 6 to 8 pounds is another Castilian specialty. It weighs no more than 6 to 8 pounds, and I have never seen such baby pig eaten anywhere but in Spain. In my opinion it has less flavor than the lamb, but when it is prepared in the traditional stone oven and served with its crisp and crunchy skin, it is a delight to taste. We had this dish both at the JOSE MARIA in SEGOVIA and at COQUE in a suburb of Madrid (Humanes). In Jose Maria I was the only one ordering it, and it was reheated. At Coque it was served as soon as it had come out of the oven, and they told us to wait about 5 minutes for the juices to settle and for eating it at optimum temperature. We devoured the big portion very quickly.
BECADA (Woodcock) is an altogether different animal than lamb or pork. This rare “queen of the forest,” as it is called by Spanish gourmets, is getting very hard to find in restaurants. It is now prohibited in France, extremely rare in Italy, and very difficult to find in Spain. It is especially hard to have becada in March, which is the end of the hunting season, but also a good time to have woodcock as the small bird becomes more plump at this time. Thanks to my friend Pedro Espinasa, who is well connected to the great Basque eatery ARCE in Madrid, they had reserved 5 portions for us, courtesy of the chef-owner Inaki Cambe who looks like a great chef too, besides actually being one. Inaki believes in hanging the bird for a long time—maybe a week to 10 days—to bring out the intense, metallic and gamey (an understatement) taste. He also makes a toast from its offal and roasts the small bird with its own juices and a dash of Armagnac. The result is truly outstanding; it is a reminder to all of us how the less manipulated non-industrial and natural food of our forebears must have tasted. It is the very opposite of the bland meat we eat on a daily basis, and the sheer taste of Arce’s woodcock with its long faisandage (hanging period) challenges our very notions of what food should taste like, and it is a shock to the taste buds. But this is a real and positive shock, not unlike the artificially created shocks of the modern chefs who test the limits of manipulating raw materials by borrowing industrial methods from the food industry and experimenting with textures. Of all the best becada dishes I have eaten, including good ones at Coque, very good ones at GOIZEKO KABI, CASA NICOLASA and ZUBEROA and outstanding ones at CHATEAUVIEUX (near Geneva) and ETXEBARRI, Arce’s version clearly belonged to the top category. It was also rendered more interesting when I paired it with a great Oloroso sherry, (I usually think of a big spicy red, such as a Chateauneuf-du-Pape) and the resulting marriage was outstanding. I owe a second thanks to my friend Pedro for suggesting the combination. When eating this superlative dish I thought that some sweet contrast, such as a berry chutney or fresh berries or some fruit with a good level of acidity, may have provided a welcome counterpart to the deep taste of woodcock, but Inaki may not have wanted any dilution of the deep taste.
Another memorable, if less rare, dish one can have in Madrid in all its glory is CALLOS MADRILENOS which is braised tripe served in a casserole with top quality chorizo and morcilla or blood sausage. We had a very good example of this dish at the taberna CASA LUCIO which is a Madrid institution apparently catering to well dressed middle aged and older men who are accompanied by some gorgeous, young, sparkling women dressed in black (what else?). The surprising thing is that the food is good, and even a total stranger like myself is treated well in the clubby atmosphere filled with regulars. The tripe dish is one of the specialties of the house, and it is a “stick to your ribs” type hearty and soul dish, especially good for a Semana Santa night when one could watch the colorful procession on the street (Calle Baja) with people dressed in purple and cone shaped hats. The marching men were carrying floats on their shoulders, and this was around 2 AM when we had just finished the last course and were ready for dessert. Talking about dessert, Casa Lucio has a stunning version of classic “arroz con leche” which goes very well after the heavy tripe.
I had also come to Madrid to taste some special seafood at the great COMBARRO which unfortunately turned out to be closed. We caught the last day of O’PAZO before its Semana Santa closing, which is another seafood temple, and we also had two meals at LA TRAINERA, and one simple lunch at EL BARRIL, which is a remarkable seafood tapas bar. Honestly I don’t know any restaurant, in all the capitals of Europe and the metropoles of the States which can challenge these Mariscos in terms of the variety of seafood, overall richness, opulence and sheer abundance. I found O’Pazo overall more consistent in delivering across the board high quality than Trainera. For instance, a classic Galician dish, such as “Vierias a la Gallega,” or scallops baked in the shell with sweet onions and bits of bacon, was better at O’Pazo than at Trainera. The RODABALLO (turbot) a la plancha, grilled whole (about 4 pounds) with sherry vinegar, roasted garlic, guindilla peppers and olive oil, was also outstanding at O’Pazo. The same classic Basque preparation also featured in a BESUGO preparation at Casa Lucio, and I went all the way to the kitchen to understand what Besugo is, and it turned out the be the “Mercan”, a highly prized reddish skinned fish of the “pageot” family, which can be translated as “red snapper” to English, but it would be silly to think that it is the same fish. Besugo has firm and dense meat, is on the dry side, and therefore the Basque style of preparation is optimum. I like this fish very much. I like Dover Sole a little less because it has less flavor, but chef Inaki at Arce baked a whole LENGUADO for the five of us, and the seven days old sole fish (I learned that sole needs 5 to 7 days for its flesh to soften and for its skin to separate from the body, so it was optimum) and the classic preparation with a butter, white wine and lemon sauce, was delicious.. The same technical excellence in terms of optimum cooking time and method of cooking was also displayed by the chefs of the ALBORAN restaurant, which is the ambassador of Andalucian cuisine in Madrid. Their fried SALMONETITES and GAMBAS with VERDURES, or baby rouget and prawns with fried zucchini, red and green peppers and white onions, was a textbook example of what fried fish should taste like: clean and juicy and without any excess oil and almost transparent.
Other than whole fish, outstanding shellfish preparations included several orders of big red gambas or CARABINEROS in both O’Pazo and La Trainera, big (300 grams) langoustines or Cigalas (better in O’Pazo than Trainera), one 1.5 kilogram Galician lobster (BOGAVANTE) a la plancha at Trainera, and a 1.2 kilogram LANGOSTA or spiny lobster at Trainera. Of all these majestic shellhish, especially the Carabineros (photo is below with langosta) and the bogavante were noteworthy in the sense that the quality of Galician blue lobster is very high and superior to the so called American, Maine, or green lobster. The carabineros, too, can only be tried in Spain, and they come from Southern Spain. They overshadowed the less than perfectly fresh cigalas at Trainera, which I suspected may have been imported from Northern Europe. On the other hand, the Galician PERCEBES at Trainera served in 200 grams portions were as good as expected, and these unique creatures which cling to the rocks and are hard to harvest (whose photos are below) are said to be found in Brittany or Seattle (goose barnacles), but I have never seen them in those places. Their taste is not unlike a clam (eaten raw, the clams or ALMEJAS naturals were also superb in Trainera and El Barril), but more firm and dense.
Of course it will be a sacrilege to spend a week in Spain and forsake the opportunity to eat Jamon Iberico from the pata negra species of pig, fed on acorns or pellota. I adore both the Guijuelo and Jabugo versions, and it is more a matter of individual grower and aging time that accounts for differences in taste. Serious restaurants cut their prized jamon with a special knife rather than a machine, and it must take considerable time to learn how to do this. We took tremendous pleasure watching the veteran waiter at Jose Maria in Segovia cut thin slices from their exceptional 99 Grand Reserva Guijuela (near Salamanca) and even greater pleasure devouring it with good Ribera Duero red.
Rating all these restaurants is not easy without yardsticks and comparators. Given our criteria outlined in Gastroville, and if I award a well deserved 17 to COMBARRO, then O’PAZO deserves 16 and LA TRAINERA should merit a 14. ALBORAN is not nearly as luxurious in ingredients as Trainera, but they excelled in baking, grilling, and frying, and even the details, such as the quality of vegetables used as garnies, were very high. Their prices are very fair, and it is not a touristic restaurant at all as it is located in an attractive middle class suburb of Madrid which is far from the center. It does merit a 15.
Both CASA LUCIO and JOSE MARIA are traditional places with no pretence to be other than what they are. If one orders carefully, it is possible to eat exceptionally well in these places. Jose Maria is famous for cochinillo asado, but I ordered only one portion as my partner was full, and it was reheated and therefore not on par with Coque’s version. Overall I found Casa Lucio more consistent than Jose Maria, and this is a great place for homey comfort food and people watching. I would recommend both places (but make sure you order cochinillo for two at Jose Maria), and would rank Jose Maria 13/20 and Casa Lucio 14/20.
Inaki at ARCE straddles both super modern (oysters with tomato sauce, raw meat combined pickled lamprey, etc) and ultra classic realms (La Reyniere and Brillat Savarin would have approved of his sole and woodcock), and I was more convinced with his achievements in the latter sphere. His desserts are a letdown after a stupendous final in the meal, but given that the highs are really high, I have no qualms recommending him and awarding a 15/20.
Much younger Mario Sandoval, who is below 30 years of age, is at ease with the ultra modern preparations he learned in some of Spain’s (and France’s) highly touted multiple star gastro tech centers. Now that the restaurant has one Michelin star, the restaurant has changed in favor of more formality, and there are fewer and fewer tables ordering Jose Ramon’s (Mario’s brother) outstanding cochinillo. Also gone is the generous serving of the jamon platter which dotted most of the tables in the past, and, instead, one now starts the meal with creative but somehow not too convincing tidbits, such as small cubes of beef with asparagus on a skewer (not nearly as interesting and tasty as a Turkish cop kebap), green apple sorbet, various vegetable chips, fine potato-leek soup, etc. It looked like locals (of Humanes) eat nowdays in the homey and simple downstairs room, and the modern upstairs room is reserved for well dressed visitors from Madrid. The wine list under the supervision of one of the brothers, Rafael, is now composed with the help of a French assistant, and Rafael has keen eyes and agile body movements, a legacy of his time spent in the bull rings. The fourth brother, friendly and easygoing Jose Ramon, who recognized us and offered some Manzanilla at the bar (but we were later charged for it!) is now tending the downstairs room under the watchful eyes of mama.
Mario’s creations are still mixed. He is able to strike very high notes with a classic such as “Arroz meloso con bonita escabechado berberechos” which is a soupy and fulfilling rice dish enriched by saffron, confit tuna, potatoes and clams. Excellent. But then he also fumbles badly with a “fusion de viera y pichon con alburicoque caramelizado” which is a layered dish with squab breast-scallop-squash and pieces of deep fried basil. Here the combination results in a muddy dish where different flavors contend to express themselves, but to no avail. If there were an expression about “the sum being smaller than the parts”, this is it. But then textural contrasts do work in the no nonsense lamb dish which follows the pigeon, That is, “cordero lechal en diferentes texturas para el palador” features lamb feet, brain, shoulder and ribs, and the result is not only conceptually interesting (to serve gelatinous feet and brain with the most rustic shoulder), but also delicious, and clearly this is a dish that requires tremendous attention to cooking times which are not easy to synchronize. Bravo. The desserts, prepared by Jose Ramon are also very good and especially his “torrija traditional con sepume de leche,” which presents condensed milk in three different textures and is a modern take on a most traditional Semana Santa dessert, proves that modernism, when intelligently thought out, can also mean a breadth of fresh air. Let’s hope that as Coque’s gets more recognized, the kitchen will continue to evolve in the direction of striking a happy balance between tradition and modernity. It will be exciting to watch how this restaurant will evolve, and I am looking forward for a revisit in 2006. Right now I would rank it 16/20, one point higher compared to my last visit which was one and a half years earlier.
I am looking forward to a return visit to Madrid, and we will continue visiting traditional restaurants, such as Dantxari, Rafa’s, Zalacain, Horcher, De La Riva, Casa d’a Troya, etc. In 2004, I had a troubling meal at the two star LA BROCHE which was conceptually intriguing, but no more, and I am not looking forward for a return visit anytime soon. On the other hand, I hope that Combarro will be waiting for us!
VM.
Posted at 01:12 PM | Comments (2)May 20, 2005
TRIP TO VENICE
The sheer utterance of this name conjures up images of romance and beauty, but not culinary treasures. This is strange because the Venetian lagoon is a very special place to have some of the world’s best seafood. One can feast on simply prepared superb seafood in Venice that cannot be found elsewhere. At its best, the molluscs, crustaceans and fish are sublime in Venice, and even if you feast for several days only eating seafood it is still not possible to taste all that is unique to Venice. The best of seafood is now scarce and costly, but, eaten fresh, it is delicately textured and incomparably sweet. In fact, those small creatures (such as local baby squid, soft shell crabs, tiny gray shrimps, bay scallops, etc.), are so tasty because of the peculiarities of the lagoon. As R. W. Apple of the NYT remarked: “The city’s fish and shellfish are sublime…especially those from the outer lagoon’s shallow, brackish waters, which are rich in plankton, fish egg and other foods, and regularly scrubbed by salt-water tides”.
Unfortunately, given the sheer abundance of places which cater to tourists, it is not always automatic to find places which serve pristine quality, fresh and wild local seafood. But they exist, and without spending a fortune it is still possible to taste some of the unique tastes that Venetian lagoon can offer. The Michelin starred Da Fiore is still the most refined place in Venice to eat well and savor some specialties, but it would be a pity if you only have a meal there and not in other trattorias where you can sample the variety of shellfish. But keep in mind that best trattorias will never serve a great ingredient frozen or when it is not in season, so say if you want to try the incomparable CANOCE or mantis shrimp or cigale de mer, you have go there in late fall. Or if you want the baby cuttlefish or SEPPIOLINE which is unique in Venice, you have to go there in summer, unfortunately at the height of the tourist season.
But I am not complaining about missing these two delicacies during our recent March 15-18 visit as we had some of the best seafood on earth in some of the most authentic, honest and scrupulous trattorias of Venice, namely:
15 March dinner: Trattoria Antiche Carampane;
16 March lunch: Osteria Antico Giardinetto;
16 March dinner: Da Fiore;
17 March lunch: Al Mascaron;
17 March dinner: Alle Testiere.
All of these places are ingredients driven in the sense that they shop daily in the local fish market near the Rialto Bridge and serve daily specials. Only Da Fiore and Al Mascaron have serious printed menus (in addition to daily specials), but they will all give you printed menus if you want. If they like you, they may also bring you some of the most exquisite specialties they are reserving for repeat clients, and it is a good idea to watch what locals are eating and ask for the same. It is also a good idea to learn Venetian words for seafood, so you will not miss the opportunity to grab special items when the waiter recites daily specials in the beginning of the meal.
Our spirit was lifted from the very beginning as we arrived to Venice after a comfortable flight from Paris and took a water taxi (80 Euro) to our small, cozy well run Pensione Accademia-Villa Maravege. Located near Accademia museum, this is an address I recommend especially it you get one of the junior suites. We paid 170 Euro per night for an excellent room. So our good mood, which was triggered by nice weather and blue skies on the way to the hotel, did not change once we were ushered to our room by the friendly staff. We had indeed hit the early days of Spring and the weather did not change during our stay.
The important thing in this trip for me was to hunt for the best ingredients rather than particular restaurants. I wanted to have local wild fish, canestrelli or baby bay scallops, cappelunge or razor clams, seppie or cuttlefish, moeche or soft shell crabs, capparossoli or lagoon clams, granceole or spider crab, and wild local fish. Unfortunately some other specialties, such as the canoce, seppioline and schie, had to wait till next fall when they will be in season.
All of my expectations have been met and some more—with the only exception that I could never get to taste the so called ZOTOI which is apparently a baby squid like creature which is quite unique to the region and so good that fishermen themselves eat it when they catch it! Next time I will ask Signor Lolis, called Lolo, who is the owner of Giardinetto and who is a fisherman himself with a stall in the Rialto fish market.
Our first meal at ANTICHE CARAMPANE was excellent. This is a genuine trattoria frequented by locals, and it was a nice surprise for me to find out that the Agopian family (their Italian last name is Librai) who own and run the restaurant are of Armenian origin, and they had all come from Istanbul some time ago and the father still fondly remembers the great fish shacks of the Bosphorous. When we don’t discuss politics, Turkish and Armenians usually hit it off very fast and feel as if they have been good friends for long time. Actually we felt like house guests at this very cozy trattoria as various dishes cooked by the mother Piera Bortoluzzi Librai were placed in front of us by son Francesco. Everything was fresh and expertly prepared, but two things stood out: first a platter of raw scampi (langoustines) simply showered by fruity olive oil and sea salt and served with a spicy arugula salad. The local scampi is much smaller than the imported scampi from Northern Europe which are selling for half price and, not unlike the incomparable gamberi di San Remo that my friend and partner Mikael can enjoy on a daily basis, scampis are a delight to devour when they are raw and pristine fresh.
The other great dish at Carampane was the best grilled cuttlefish (seppie) we had anywhere. It was so good that we wanted a second portion, and although they had turned off the fire, they restarted it and served us a second portion. I don’t think the image below does justice to the unique taste of seppie at its freshest from the lagoon.
The rest of the meal was also very good, if not exceptional. We had a mixed grill of baby bay scallops, scallops (less good than the local bay scallop), and razor clams; a mixed antipasta plate of braised octopus, fried baby artichoke, marinated raw salmon and sardines (sarde) in saor, and gamberi with soft polenta; deep fried soft shell crabs (good but not on par with Alle Testiere); and good pasta with clams, shrimp and tomato. Desserts are homemade and good too, such as lemon sorbet and strawberry semifreddo. They also have a fine wine list for a restaurant of this size, and I fared well taking Francesco’s recommendation of 2002 Lis Neris from Friuli which was a blend of Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Sauvignon.
Given its more than fair prices, the quality of its seafood and its friendly nature, Carampane is recommended.
Gastroville ranking: 14/20 (VM)
The following day, as we had a dinner reservation at Da Fiore, Venice’s only one Michelin star restaurant, I wanted to have a light lunch at the OSTERIA ANTICA GIARDINETTO. This unassuming trattoria had a good write up in the journal of the Espresso Guide, and the owner of the oldest wine bar in Venice, the Cantina Da Mori, had recommended this place especially for raw fish. We had met the owner Loris the night before and had agreed to meet in his stall at the Rialto fish market. We were a bit late, and he had left the fish market to open his restaurant for lunch, and his Osteria is very near the fish market. He seemed genuinely pleased that we did show up, and he wanted to seat us not in the front room which is relatively fancy, but in the back room which seemed to be reserved for the locals; a good sign. As soon as we were seated he brought some complementary polenta with tuna mousse and two glasses of Prosecco and asked if we would like to try the raw fish platter. He also said that if we want grilled fish he only had small local sole (sogliola) and local wide orata, which were also quite small. He presented them in a platter and both fish looked pristine fresh with bright eyes, very firm flesh (I poked it) and bright red gills. I said, sure, we can have them simply grilled.
The raw fish plate arrived. It was served on the side with sea salt, 12 years aged balsamic vinegar and fruity olive oil. Loris had some suggestions about seasoning, and we experimented with various alternatives to see if seasoning improves or detracts from pure flavors. Here are the results:
-small scampi from the lagoon: season with nothing;
-tuna belly: definitely nothing;
-branzino or sea bass: nothing;
-pesca spada or swordfish: a little salt;
-cernia: a little salt (this is a deep sea rock fish which is meaty and reminded me of lotte);
-pescatice or rospo (lotte—monkfish): a little salt;
-mezzancole or large prawn: a little white pepper; and
-seppiolina or small cuttlefish: balsamic vinegar.
Well, these results are incontrovertible as I tried every single item with balsamico too and had to agree in the end with Lolo that only the cuttlefish married well with it. Lolo’s eyes widened when I told him that in the States people eat oysters with horseradish and ketchup. Venetians, who are the hereditaries of one of the most refined civilizations and forms of governance known to man, are experts in expressing thoughts and emotions with their eyes without uttering any pejorative expression. I think Loli would even think that Japanese sushi is over seasoned, and if you can get seafood as fresh as this, he may be right.
While we were having our “scientific” experiments with various condiments, a very bad thing happened. A local showed up, and he was served a gorgeous looking pasta and he was eating it with such a gusto that I could not help but request Loli to bring us the same. The pasta turned out to be “squid ink linguine with raw scampi, tomatoes and basil”. I am glad I did ask because it turned out to be one of the truly memorable pasta dishes of Italy. The linguine was very firm and sweet tasting due to squid ink which is very light despite its appearance to the contrary. The local scampis are of very high quality and the bigger imported versions which Loli brought me for a comparative tasting lack the sweet and pure flavor profile of the local ones. This was truly a “piece de resistance” pasta dish.
The grilled fish was served with potato fondants seasoned by poppy seeds. I especially liked the sogliola which tastes very different than a true Dover sole but on par. The orata, for some reason translated as gilt-head bream to English, although in the States I have never had one and nor do I give a damn to funny translations as they make no sense, is a spectacular fish if you can get a wild and relatively large one with enough fat. In my opinion it is best from the Aegean sea (Turkey and Greece), and the Mediterranean sea has its Daurade Royal which is a great fish. I once had a superb wild orata cooked for two in a salt crust in Positano at the hotel Sirenuse. The local one from the Adriatic is good, but I did not think it has the finesse of the Mediterranean version, but it is still good though.
Obviously Antico Giardinetto is highly recommended. My only qualm is that they have a small kitchen with two people working in it. Actually one of them was working in the same dining room where they seat locals, and he was shelling the meat from the local grancevole or spider crab. At the same time the restaurant has a large menu. So I would advise this gem of a place, with exceptionally fair prices to those who will order the raw fish platter and then ask Loris for his recommendations,
Gastroville ranking: 15/20 (VM)
DA FIORE can be a pain to reserve, and I had requested our hotel to reserve it for us, which is something I never do as I like to interact on the phone. We then asked our hotel to change our 8:30 PM reservation to 9:30 in order to have 7 hours in between our lunch and dinner in order to get hungry. It worked. When we got there I was quite astonished to see that they seated us in the inarguably best table, which is a corner table overlooking the canal and a Gothic palace, and where you can seat next to one another. I did not think our hotel to have such leverage, as Pensione Accademia is a modest place compared to Danieli, Gritti, etc. So perhaps it was either pure coincidence or eating late—as I like anyway—has its cache in Venice.
At any rate, given the good weather, great food, and some new small places that we had discovered (such as the Santa Stefano church which is decorated by Veronese frescoes), one could not have been in a bad mood. And if you are in good mood I guarantee that unless one dislikes pristine seafood prepared with creative touches and nicely plated, having a meal in Da Fiore will only enhance your good mood. In fact this is my second time in this restaurant with consistent results. All dishes range from very good to excellent and attention to detail and the overall level of refinement distinguishes this restaurant from the competition. Both of our appetizers were very good: the Orata Marco Polo and the Scampi con lardo. The former is an interesting take on the traditional saor dressing in the sense that it is served with baby leeks, instead of onions and also with pine nuts and raisins. This nod to Sicily is particularly welcome in the relatively insular Venice, and the grilled polenta served on the side can only pass as the textbook example of what polenta should taste like, and it is a benchmark against which others should be compared. My only qualm about this dish is that I would have preferred the traditional pickled onions over the leeks as the latter was overly refined in a dish which needed more punch.
In return, the “Scampi con Lardo” was beyond any reproach. The freshest scampis were wrapped in lardo di colonnato, which is one of the most interesting charcuterie products that one can only find in Italy and is very different than what French call lard (that is closer to high quality artisanal bacon), grilled for a second to melt the thin lardo and then placed on triangular toasts. Served with cherry tomatoes and deep fried rosemary branch, this was a textbook Italian appetizer in terms of deceptive simplicity, pure taste and refined details.
I still recall the superb risotto with gamberi and asparagus from my first visit to Da Fiore. This time, however, we chose two pasta dishes: “Spaghetti in Cartoccio” and “Pappardelle with Saffron and Oysters”. Portions are quite large, and they only serve some of it and then offer the second serving if you like it. Both pasta dishes were very good, and we asked for second servings as the unserved portions of the pastas were kept warm on the side, which is thoughtful on their part. The pappardelle was served with steamed fin de clairs from Brittany (local oysters are not as good) and strips of pancetta. The second pasta, whose picture is below, was baked in parchement in a glazed oval shaped earthenware casserole, and when they cut it open some enticing ocean aromas filled the room. It turned out that they had baby bay scallops (canestrelli), mussels, scampi, and also rascasse, a very firm rock fish which is a sine qua non element of true French bouillabaisse. Also served with baby artichoke hearts and cherry tomatoes, this was another outstanding pasta dish.
One can always count on very fresh fish at Da Fiore, and you can not go wrong irrespective of what you order. We had one order of BISATO (eel) which was grilled to perfection over bay leaves. Skinned, boned, butterflied and grilled, two long pieces were cut from the filet and served with fantastic radicchio di treviso, The eel from the Adriatic has a complex and interesting taste, and it should not be missed. Da Fiore’s version ties with the grilled eel of VILLA FIORDALISO at Lake Garda, which serves the eel with caramelized endives and whole roasted garlic.
The other dish we ordered, local BRANZINO (sea bass) wrapped in tender cabbage leaves, steamed and served with stewed apples and 25 years old balsamic vinegar, is a classic of Da Fiore. This is the second time I tried this refined, creative dish and memories held—except the fact that the portion was smaller, and when we shared the two fish dishes I could not savor the wild and extremely fresh sea bass (the texture was very soft and flavorful and juicy) as much as I wanted.
Desserts are good too, and very light, in accordance with the general cooking style of this restaurant. The fried cream, which is a Venetian specialty and is flavored with Cointreau and served with vanilla ice cream, was delicious and feather light at the same time. The homemade Clementine and lemon sorbets (the latter with crushed licorice) were fantastic.
The wine list is a little pricey, and we chose a 2003 Sauvignon from Sanct Valentin (Aldo Adige) which I like but is extremely intense and not to everybody’s taste. It was 58 Euro as opposed to 35 Euro in most other comparable restaurants.
Da Fiore is definitely recommended if you spend a couple of days in Venice. It is not cheap (our bill, including two glasses of Prosecco was 282 Euro), but given the quality of raw materials and quite subdued, intelligent cooking and delicious dishes, I believe prices are on par with comparable restaurants, such as the Villa Fiordaliso, that I like very much. Besides, Signor Maurizio Martin, who oversees the dining room, is a gracious host.
Gastroville ranking: 16/20 (VM)
The next day we had a 9:30 dinner reservation at one of my favorite trattorias in all of Italy, Alle Testiere, so we opted for a small lunch at a traditional trattoria, AL MASCARON. This is a very popular place with locals, and both traditional dishes we ordered, “seppie con polenta” and “spaghetti con vongole veraci”, were textbook examples of this classics. The former dish is braised in its own ink and served with grilled polenta. If I get such fresh cuttlefish in the US (almost an impossibility) I would probably have a heart attack from over excitement, but in Venice one starts to expect this level and gets used to it. The clams, however, which are called CAPPAROSSOLI are local and shipped to other places in Italy from Venetia (and impossible to find outside of Italy), and they are more subtle and tasty than the ubiquitous but still very fine Manila clams. I don’t think the pasta was home made at Mascaron, but they were very generous with clams, they use a good olive oil, and fresh parsley in the pasta, and a single pasta portion was large enough for two. The sepia, on the other hand, pictured below, was an appetizer, but the generous portion was large enough to count as a main course.
Our final meal of the trip was at ALLE TESTIERE. I had earlier praised this restaurant, awarding it a 16 on the stringent Gastroville scale. I am happy to report that not only memories held, but I got to speak more to the co-owner and sommelier Luca and learn more about the background of this extraordinary trattoria which I reported in a single standing post on Alle Testiere. Three of the four appetizers we tried, the exceptional MOECHE (we ordered 2 portions as each portion contains four soft shell crabs) and the grilled CAPELUNGE or razor clams were as exceptional as the first time. I have eaten nowhere else these ingredients of the same level as one can have in Venice. My earlier report regarding Alle Testiere described the preparation of these two appetizers, and I find the soft shell preparation one of the best examples of quintessential Italian cooking in the sense that in Italy they prepare creative, intriguing dishes with an intelligent use of spices (here cumin) without making them overcomplicated and fussy. Please see the photos from the earlier post for these two appetizers.
The last appetizer, CANESTRELLI or local bay scallops, was outstanding. They are even more sweet than the great Nantucket bay scallops I had at MANRESA in Los Gatos, California, possibly the most interesting (because the chef David Kinch is inspired and on the rise) and, one of the best restaurants in America. The nice thing about having bay scallops in Alle Testiere is that even if you are (reluctantly) sharing them with your companion, there are plenty of them with all their glory and coral attached. Chef and co-owner Bruno grills them alive on the shell and douses them lightly with a light olive oil, just the right amount of salt and a little parsley.
Pasta dishes in Alle Testiere are not as refined as in Da Fiore, but equally tasty and well conceived. We had GNOCCHI with GRANCEOLE (local spider crab) and PENNE with RANA DI PESCATRICE CHEEKS (monkfish, lotte) and RADICCIO DI TREVISO. Both were remarkable in terms of the quality of the pasta, quality of ingredients and the blend of elements where each retain their identity, but the sum is greater than the parts.
The gnocchi in fact is always high quality in Venetia, very light and fluffy. Bruno cut them like small button mushrooms and uses the roe of the spider crab, which is very tasty (unlike scallop roe which is neutral) and blends them with tomatoes. Everybody should taste the spider crab in Venice which is more subtle than spider crabs from the Atlantic. They use a good amount in pasta, and I can see that pairing them with gnocchi rather than another form of pasta was a wise decision to express the sweetness of the crab against the more neutral potato base from which the ethereal tiny dumplings are concocted.
The penne was equally good in that the meaty, highly prized monkfish cheeks stood against the incomparably pleasant earthy bitterness of the radicchio, and the monkfish stock based darker sauce of this dish glued the two main elements together and imparted a rustic, substantial quality to the dish. The female side of the British couple in the next table found this dish to be “too bitter”, referring to the braised radicchio which is prized in Italy, but which may strike many unsuspecting palates as too assertive. Italians, on the other hand, love to hunt for wild herbs and edible plants and are used to the earthy-bitter taste of vegetables, and they dislike the sanitized overly neutral taste of vegetables that English speaking people eat. Venetians are especially fond of VERDURE or vegetables in unadulterated form, and the local radicchio di treviso pairs extremely well with meaty deep sea fish and rock fish.
When I made my reservation I had requested Luca to reserve a whole fish for the two for us. I crossed my fingers and wanted it to be a BRANZINO as I could not fill my desire for this noble fish with the small portion at Da Fiore. This must have been an instance of a meeting of the minds as, upon finishing our pasta, Luca presented a whole seabass of approximately three pounds for my inspection.
There is not much to say about a perfectly grilled local wild Branzino except that if you develop a taste for fresh wild fish prepared whole you will find it hard to enjoy small portions served in two and three star Michelin restaurants when you order tasting menus. At any rate the seabass was firm, juicy and flavorful, and each bite brought back memories of childhood prior to the time farming became the norm for this popular fish. I thought that the seabass which was chosen by Bruno for us from the fish market the same morning was caught within 24 hours prior to serving. I asked Luca if this was the case. No, it was not true. Luca told us that the fish was actually caught in the wee hours of the night, but not of the same day, but the preceding night. So the fish was more like two days old, but it was kept in salted water and never put on ice. Bruno and Luca have their own fish monger in the Rialto market which is an assurance to having a high quality supply, albeit in small quantities which befit a restaurant of such a small size. The pictures below show the fish after grilling whole. It was simply served with lettuce and exceptional quality local olive oil from Bassano from a small producer called Zanta.
Both desserts were fine at Alle Testiere and I especially enjoyed the green apple panna cotta. The wine list, on the other hand, is very strong in local wines and wines from Friuli with intelligent selections and attractive prices.
Gastroville Ranking: 16/20 (VM)
The worst thing about going to Venice is that, one has to come back!
Posted at 01:11 PM | Comments (7)May 02, 2005
Da Vittorio - revisited (Rating: 18/20)
I have previously written a glowing review of Da Vittorio, awarding it 18/20 and calling it one of the very best, possibly one of the two best restaurants in Italy. I very much wanted to go back. Hence when opportunity came up last March, when we spent three days in Venice, we made sure that our return flight to Paris was late enough to give us a chance to rent a car in the Venice airport and drive to Bergamo. We needed to be at the airport around 7 PM, and we figured that we had time to have a long and leisurely lunch from 1 to 5 PM. Normally I like to spend more time in a restaurant at this exalted level (about 5 hours is my average), but the promise of a second meal at Da Vittorio warranted the sacrifice.
The other reason I was so keen on going out of my way was to try a special of the restaurant, so called TRIONFO DI CROSTACEI E MOLLUSCHI. It has to be ordered for two and costs 280 Euro. Last time our outstanding waiter Nicola had told us that we have to try it.
Upon entering the restaurant we were greeted, as usual, very warmly by smiling and genuinely hospitable members of the Cerea clan. For a weekday lunch the restaurant was doing quite well indeed although they were not full to the brim like during dinner. We were quickly offered two glasses of blanc de blanc champagne and I began to peruse the menu. I detected a woodcock dish with salsiccia and thought that maybe we should begin with some appetizers, move on to the shellfish dish for two, continue with some risotto Milanese, and finish with woodcock.
No. No. No. This would have been too much they told us. Our waiter, Peppe, actually was horrified with the sheer thought of eating so much food, but he needed some extra props and he fetched both Signor Cerea, the elder, who is the big boss, and his charming daughter. We did communicate mostly with hand and facial gestures and what I understood was that, although it was no problem for them to bring us whatever we desired and more, it would have been wise for us to suspend ordering other dishes until we finished the seafood platter. Reluctantly I agreed, requesting that they bring some Culatello di Zibello for us, to begin. I also told them that I was curious about their version of the Milanese risotto.
Following some appetizing amuses of the world’s best croque monsieur in triangle shaped slices of homemade pain de mie and some wonderful tartlettes with anchovies, our culatello order came. I still want to hold a competition between a culatello from the village of zibello and perhaps a jamon iberico pellota from Salamanca from the farm of Joselito (grand cru) to determine world’s best pork product. But until the day comes when I can try them side by side, I would say that they are both the products of distinct cultural heritages and centuries’ old artisanal practices which culminate in the production of a masterpiece which should rank among national treasures like a Rafael or a Velasquez painting. Da Vittorio had chosen one of the very best of the culatello I have tried. It was aged for two years, and it was neither dry nor young and, both intense and melting in the mouth. It was served with four big bowls containing anchovy puree, tuna confit, marinated artichoke hearts, and marinated button mushrooms. I don’t think any of this was necessary, but I knew from my first visit that Signor Cerea has a big heart and his culinary temple is a reflection of his generous nature. One should never complain about generosity.
Then something surreal happened. The seafood platter arrived. Now, I am a fan of seafood platters and order them in Paris and Brittany, etc. I am familiar with full portion seafood platters for two. But the Da Vittorio version which was placed on our table was unlike anything I had ever seen or I am likely to see again. Here is what it looks like.
As far as I can tell the gigantic plate contained:
-8 large Gamberi di San Remo (as good as these world’s sweetest and most precious prawns get with no iodized taste);
-8 to 10 barely cooked Scallops with roe attached; the roe was pink (the roe does not have a distinct taste on its own but shows that scallops were very fresh and de-shelled when alive);
-20 or so Gamberetti or mid-sized prawns from Veneto;
-10 Belon oysters from Brittany (Excellent);
-40 or so mussels from Brittany; they are among the best mussels that I know;
-80 or more special small clams called Vongole Veraci from the Adriatic, and, in my opinion, they are the most subtle tasting and refined clams; I can never have enough of them in pasta in Veneto;
-80 or more baby calamars or calamaretti;
-8 mid to large size Scampi or Langoustines from Liguri (good but not as pristine as the gamberi); and
-2 small Aragosta or Langouste from Sargegna of about one pound (500 grams), not cottony, very flavorful, dense and juicy.
This dish is served with three sauces: an olive oil based vinaigrette, a pesto, and a mayonnaise, but one does not really need them. The broth which is simply the juices from steaming is so tasty that we could not help but drink most of it like a soup. You can of course soak it up in the exceptional homemade brioche too. Actually the bread tray is remarkable in Da Vittorio, and this is a rare case in Italy. What makes this possible is that Da Vittorio also owns a bakery in old town Bergamo, and some of the petit fours and breads are baked daily in the bakery for the restaurant. The grissinis are outstanding; the brioche is a perfect foil with any broth; the focaccio is so good that one can have a meal of it alone; the French rolls they serve are appropriately crusty and dense; and they also serve some very addictive thin and transparent sheets with poppy seeds that they call sfollatino, and I would have called an Italian version of Indian deep fried papadam.
In my previous review of Da Vittorio I had praised our waiter Nicola who was the embodiment of grace and generosity for which this restaurant stands. This time we were seated in the opposite corner and our waiter was different, Signor Peppe. I was kind of disappointed that Nicola was not our server. I was wrong. Peppe proved to be equally adept in making you feel like a house guest. Besides his kindness, he was also very efficient without being intrusive. When he brought the gigantic seafood platter, he also placed a plate in between my wife and I to put the shells. This plate was filling fast. I counted and Peppe changed this plate seventeen (17) times without ever interrupting our conversation or making us feel he was watching us too closely.
I am still astonished that Da Vittorio can provide such a good seafood platter by bringing ingredients from different parts of Italy and France and be so picky about the quality. They must sell this course for two (or more!) quite frequently because seafood is very perishable and at this exalted level very expensive. Every single item we had was very good or exceptional quality, except the merely good Scampi. Maybe we were especially lucky to have ordered this dish on a Friday, and I would be interested in learning if they can offer this quality on a steady basis. But the fact that the restaurant is half full even at lunch and they have a loyal local clientele and many gourmet Milanese do not mind driving to Da Vittorio for superior cuisine are all encouraging signs for the future.
When we finished the last pieces of baby calamari and our plate was clean, we realized that their advice of not to order any more dishes was absolutely correct. But, despite marital objection, I wanted to bite the bullet and try the risotto. Risotto Milanese is clearly one of the masterpiece culinary statements, and I am sick and tired of ordering risotto outside of Italy and get served a mushy mess more like a rice pudding. In Northern Italy I have never eaten a bad risotto and despite the fact that I enjoy creative takes on risotto like Le Calandre’s version with licorice, I miss a classic Milanese one with saffron.
The da Vittorio version of Risotto alla Milanese con midollo gratinata was as good as I one can hope for and very rich. Prepared from carnaroli rice (Massimiliano of Le Calandre uses artisanal violano nano), each grain of rice was able to stand its own and make a statement, while they were bound together with aromatic saffron and veal jus based bouillon and saffron threads that embellished the textbook risotto, The bone marrow in the middle was stuffed with long braised tender veal cheeks, which is a specialty of this place and is the epitome of comfort food. I still do not know why it is so difficult to make a risotto which is firm and fluffy without being chewy. Outside of Italy, to the best of my knowledge, only Cerruti at Louis XV prepares a risotto of this level with reggiano and baby artichokes, and perhaps there is something genetic about making a risotto in that one should at least have an Italian heritage!
It was well past 4 PM after we finished the risotto, and then they started wheeling the two trays filled with goodies which come from their pastry shop. I don’t know of any restaurant which offers such a sumptuous accompaniment to your after the meal coffee. Maybe this was the case in the aristocratic quarters of the 19th century Bergamo Alte or in the kingdom of the two Sicily! At any rate we only ordered their exceptional sorbets (with lemon and strawberry) and then had our espresso with little chocolate bonbons filled with anis, sambuca, rhum, etc.
The wine list is also fairly priced at Da Vittorio. In our first visit we had spent about 80 Euro each for a very special Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo and a 97 Dal Forno Valpolicella. This time we had a very interesting 99 Lis Neris Collio Sauvignon from Dom Picol (vineyard) for 60 Euro and a half bottle Barbera d’Asti with the risotto. The sauvignon was unfiltered and barrel fermented, and its opulent texture and overall mouthfeel reminded me of the Dagueneau style, although the underlying minerality is very different than say a Pur Sang or Silex from Dagueneau.
After another great meal there it was a privilege to end the meal with a 1899 Cognac Lheraud Grand Champagne. Da Vittorio has an excellent selection of after dinner drinks across all price ranges.
We were very happy to see that our original impressions were on target and Da Vittorio continues to be an embodiment of Italian hospitality and Lombardian culinary traditions. It is therefore recommended without any reservations to those who put a premium on abundance and high quality ingredients.
I also knew that I was having my last meal there in the Bergamo city (basse) location as the restaurant is about to move, and they will reopen as a Relais et Chateaux. In France, I have seen some multi-star Relais et Chateaux places where the hotel side of the equation is neglected. Conversely, there is the danger that different requirements of running a hotel may take a toll on the restaurant business. Let’s hope that this unique institution continues to excel in their new location.
Gastroville ranking: 18/20
/VM
May 01, 2005
Aquarello - Munich (Rating: 17.5/20)
I usually conduct painstaking research, perusing travel books, journals, websites, blogs and canvassing friends’ opinions etc., before I decide on the restaurant schedule in a place I visit the first time. Even then, outright disappointments can not be avoided. Conversely, I rarely remember hitting the jackpot without any recommendation or prior knowledge, well, with one exception: restaurant Aquarello in Munich.
Why on earth would one try an Italian restaurant outside of Italy as Italian cooking is perhaps the most region specific of the world’s great cuisines. I can not think of a good reason. So, in the case of Aquarello it was a combination of sheer luck and curiosity about Michelin awarding one star to an Italian restaurant that prompted us to give it a try. None of the Germans we asked about this place in Munich (mostly academics who teach at the university there) knew anything about the place, and, when we called on Friday evening for a dinner reservation for the same night we were surprised to hear that getting a table was not a problem.
The restaurant is located in a suburb of Munich, and the initial impression was that it was a non-distinct room and terrace which certainly did not carry any sign of distinction. The greeting, however, was friendly and soon thereafter an unassuming easy going person identified himself as Mario, and he is the chef owner. He was polite and well groomed and was willing to describe dishes and answer questions without making one feel we were asking too much. I asked Mario if he had worked in other places and he told us that he was originally from Bergamo, home to the great Da Vittorio, and that he had worked for the three Michelin star chef Heinz Winkler and the famous Gualtiero Marchesi with whose cuisine I am not familiar. Incidentally we had dined at Winkler the night before and had concluded that he was delivering more like the mid-echelon two star chefs of France. So I expected to have a fine but not exceptional meal, perhaps more French than Italian.
I was wrong. What was in order for us was not just a fine and solid meal. It was much more than that. That is, it was a virtuoso performance, underlined by a singular vision rooted deeply in Northern Italian traditions, with superb ingredients and a technical mastery which made complicated dishes look simple and taste delicious. Indeed Aquarello delivered at a higher level than all of the 7 two star Italian restaurants in Italy that we had tried, and on par with Da Vittorio, which is also a two star restaurant. Could we have been especially lucky and was this a fortuity which would not repeat itself? Well, the following day, which was our last day in Munich (September 4, 2004) we had a reservation elsewhere and cancelled it to see if Aquarello would repeat the same performance with other dishes. It did. So I am pretty confident about the rating.
Very high standards are set early in the meal here. On one day the amuse featured an exceptional ravioli filled with artichoke puree and topped by raw as well as deep fried crunchy baby artichokes which was exceptional in purity and textural contrasts. Another day, Mario sent out the most creamy vitello tonnato which compared favorably with the good versions of this antipasti one can find at the highest level in Piemonte, together with thinly sliced, very fresh raw baby octopus with herbs. The use of herbs, not overpowering but just right and the care given to integrate them in a simple dish, proved that Mario took his mission of being the ambassador of Italian cuisine in Munich very seriously indeed.
Then came the five antipasti Gualtiero Marchesi that Mario had recommended and are pictured below. I would later learn that these dishes are inspired by techniques learned at the master, who purportedly is a great teacher, and they are not an exact copy. Clearly, in an era when some chefs plagiarize dishes and then deny the influence with a straight face, Mario is setting high standards. I also learned that these five antipasti are prepared daily and may be quite different from one day to the next depending on the available ingredients. On our visit they featured the following:
-gleaming tuna tartare with traditional pesto (using mortar and pestle);
-a baby cauliflower timbale with puree and shredded raw pieces with fine quality sevruga caviar, a perfect classic combination, luxurious and soothing;
-carpaccio of scallops on top of passion fruit puree with chives, which included exceptional raw scallops and restraint in passion fruit which works well by emphasizing the sweetness of truffles and adding a dash of acidity to contrast;
-cold black fettucine salad, served with gamberi and cherry tomatoes, red peppers and sugar snap peas, together with prosecco foam which adds some depth; and
-a deep fried rice ball, which is perhaps the best version of this classic dish served with fresh vanilla infused red pepper mousse, very light and delicious.
Usually all good Italian restaurants have good pastas, and this is a category which is very difficult to excel given the limits. Aquarello does excel in this category too for two reasons. First, the combinations are well thought out, and this is the case for classics,such as ravioli of burrata and ravioli with pear and gorgonzola, and also for more creative dashing preparations, such as tortelli of figs and foie gras and gnocci with baby leeks and caviar. Second, pasta preparations are ethereal in the sense that pastas are very delicate so that they never interfere with the basic theme they express. That is to say that pastas are a tool to bring out the best in their stuffing. One can add that Mario also likes preparing light and foamy sauces which seem to be a lasting legacy of Spanish chef Ferran Adria’s earlier invention. When used intelligently and without excess, the foamy infusions which disappear into the dish, do add a new and often complimentary dimension to the dish. For instance take the ravioli of burrata. Burrata is a fiore de latte cheese which originated in Puglia and it resembles a very creamy mozzarella with cream and curds in the middle. It is an exceptional cheese in its category. The three star Italian restaurant Dal Pescatore prepares a three cheese ravioli with a good dose of buratta, and this dish is justifiably famous. Mario’s version was on par and as soon as you bite into the ravioli, this milky, rich decadence oozed out. It then combined with a sweet red pepper or peperoni foam which melted quickly in the dish and added a welcome zap to this very delicate and delicious pasta. Similarly the gorgonzola dolce foam in the pear-gorgonzola ravioli and the prosecco foam which is served with the caviar and young leek gnocchi did elevate these dishes to a superior plane without overly complicating them.
As good as the three pastas I mention above, the one I chose to picture was the star. That is, the so called tortelli, which is the cut typical of Bergamo. It is filled with sweet figs when in season, and Mario uses goose foie gras rather then duck which is clearly stronger in flavor. Hence it stands on its own against the figs. A lighter foie gras foam and an almost caramelized cassis coulis painted on the plate interact with the ingredients, and each bite explodes in the mouth and alerts the taste buds. Obviously a dish which makes such a strong statement can also be tiring if you eat too much, but portions are just right, especially if you share the pastas This dish actually reminded me of the foie gras and fig jam preparation I fondly remember from the now defunct Faugeron which was one of my favorite classic restaurants in Paris. The difference is that the addition of cassis coulis has added the welcome acidity to lighten the dish and basically played the role of old balsamic vinegar which would also have worked.
Usually secondi or main courses are a letdown in Italian restaurants of high caliber compared to their French counterparts. This is not the case at Aquarello . Actually I am going out on a limb and say that one main course of the three we have tried (and we ordered the second time too) was extraordinary, one of the best main courses I have had in 2004 and should rate 19.5/20 on our scale. The other two were also very good, about 17-18/20 level.
The two very good main courses were the oxtail braised in Barolo wine and a saddle of Pauillac lamb with herbs. The first classic Piemontese dish which is quintessential Italian comfort food was elevated to a higher plane by the inclusion of feather light celery root puree and deep fried but greaseless crunchy celery root slices. The braised meat was soft enough to eat with a spoon if you want and the Barolo wine based sauce surrounding the plate was as rich as sauce bourgouignon. The rare Pauillac lamb, on the other hand, was gamey and flavorful and was accompanied by a flavorful gateau of eggplant and tomatoes which are at their ripest in early September. The skin of the lamb was rubbed with breadcrumbs and thyme which added to the crunchy texture of the skin. The light infusion of cooking juices and fresh herbs transported one to the realm of Provence.
As good as these dishes are, almost a year after having them, I am still salivating imagining Mario’s squab with red wine, walnut and parsley sauce. We order baby pigeon or squab dishes often in Europe, and I consider the slightly gamey tender squab meat to be a special treat as it blends well with rich ingredients, such as foie gras and also carries well sweet additions, such as various fruits. A simply roasted baby pigeon (squab) is often good in itself, but it is also a meat which can be off putting since older pigeons develop a nasty livery taste. Well, Mario was able to get a squab which is essentially the same level of one that is served in France’s greatest restaurants, such as Louis XV, ADPA, etc. But the treatment was equally ingenious too, with an unmistakable Italian touch. The touch came from the parsley puree and ricotta soufflé (sformato) which was ingeniously used to coat the pink and tender breast of squab. The breast of the squab was breaded and deep fried and served on the same plate for a wonderful contrast. Two complementary sauces accompanied the squab: a parsley puree and a red wine infusion enriched with several sweet spices, such as nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, etc. In addition the dish was paired with a whole fresh walnut cooked a long time in an infusion of red wine and walnut liquor. Fresh walnuts are a rare treat in Mediterranean countries where they are available, but they can only be found in late summer. It is quite a pain to peel them though. Their inclusion in this dish added both a textural contrast and a wonderful nutty/sweet dimension which blended so well with the gamey taste that I wondered why nobody had tried it before. If Ducasse is the master of creating squab dishes which are decadently rich and unmistakeably in the haute cuisine tradition, I think Aquarello ’s version is equally labor intensive and complex and harmonious, but much lighter. It definitely lifts one’s spirit and invokes pleasant memories that very few dishes are capable of invoking, even in the three star restaurants.
After so many delicacies, we were also dumbfounded to see that Aquarello also excelled in the sweet department. The four desserts we tried, the lemon ricotta tart, chocolate soufflé with coffee sabayon, chocolate cbrepe with grand marnier mousse, and the ricotta soufflé with pear coulis, may not win awards as the most original desserts of 2004, but they were all technically perfect renditions of some classics without any dose of heaviness or cloying sweetness. The feather light ricotta soufflé which should be ordered in the beginning of the meal was my favorite although by a very small margin.
The all Italian wine list at Aquarello is the only weak point of the restaurant. Prices are fair but choices are limited and there is little depth in vintages. But with Mario’s help it is possible to find some lesser known but quite interesting wines. He recommended for instance a 2000 Dezi “Solo” which is a Sangiovese based wine from a small producer in Marche. We also had a ‘99 Amarone from Begali which was a very good match with the braised oxtail. But I wish some older Amarones were available.
Aquarello also provides excellent value. It is very highly recommended.
Gastroville ranking: 17.5/20 (VM)
Posted at 11:02 PM | Comments (2)
