Menu
for Lunch
Classic Piemontese recipe was selected for lunch, in harmony with the programme
1861 Italy Food Point Association. It started with Vitello tonnato alla
maniera antica - young calf meat cooked and cut in small thin rounds
topped with fresh tuna paste. The combo was a perfect match with the well
rounded, slightly tannic Nebbiolo.
Next to arrive was Agnolotti tradizionali del Cambio
al sugo dárresto, a popular classic ravioli – one inch
squares filled with chopped young calf meat blended with Italian herbs.
Al dente, it melted in the mouth after a couple of mild bites with flavours
diffusing in the palate. Again, it was a perfect companion with Nebbiolo.
Sottofiletto de Fassone Piemontese al gratin de erbe
con salsa all'ítaliana is a typical Piemontese medium cooked
filet of beef serving of Secondo Piatto, whose taste had been accentuated
with pesto like thick sauce on top.
What was not served was bollito misto, fragrant boiled
meats sliced on a rolling silver cart, which is a delicacy of Piemontese
cuisine and is still the house specialty.
The enogastronomy to be propagated throughout the world
as the earlier message by Giuseppe Monforte, President
of Federexport was the key message at the lunch where the beauty of the
menu selected was that a single wine, the 2003 Nebbiolo handled all 3
entrees with aplomb. I wonder if the group of 40 guests of the 1861 Italy
Food point Association would have praised the meal as much as they did,
without the wine match.
Dessert Galore
The final frontier conquered was the dessert, Picola
meringata con salsa al ciocolato fondente, a typical Piemontese dessert
made with cream, chocolate sauce, stuffed with ice cream. One felt guilty
of consuming oodles of calories but this seems to be the day of sinning.
Penance could wait a few days.
Chef Riccardo Ferrero
The restaurant excels in traditional Piemontese food. And what better choice
for a Chef than the son of the soil Riccardo Ferrero, a Torino-born Chef
who has been working at the restaurant for 2 years now? After finishing
3-year course in gastronomy, Riccardo worked under Gualtiero Marchesi, the
first Italian chef with 3 Michelin stars. He has also worked in Erbusco,
Brescia under him as well as restaurants in Liguria, St. Moritz Cannes and
Cote d'Ázur.
In a 'blind tasting' the restaurant would have certainly
bagged a Michelin Star or two.
Historic Wine Cellar
A visit to the restaurant is incomplete till you visit
the two-story-down cellar in the dungeon-like basement stocked with over
900 wine labels including some which date back over a hundred years. The
dirt and unfinished floor keeps the humidity levels up, explained the
sommelier to us. It boasts of not only wines from all the regions of Italy
but also from most parts of the world, India excluded at the present time.
Subhash Arora
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