More than 6 dishes made with Pastificio dei Campi pasta.

As you probably know if you read this blog, on the 24^th of January a special event took place in Massimo Restaurant and Oyster bar , in the stunning Corinthia Hotel: a pasta night to die for! 

Massimo Riccioli decided to hold a night just dedicated to this  versatile and simple ingredient and he used of course  our Pastificio dei Campi Pasta from Food in the city, to realize 6 great recipes.

It was a real tour from the easiest Italian pasta dishes to the most elaborated ones, until the last minute sweet creation: Trofie with Mascarpone , ricotta, lemon zest, some orange juice and  a sprinkle of chocolate in powder.

But do you want to know what was served before? Have a look at these pictures (you will find all of them on my Facebook profile):

Calle dei Campi with Extra virgin Olive Oil and Parmesan : the simplicity made dream!

Spaghetti with two tomatoes sauce: reach and tasty as only the fresh tomato and a good quality of pasta can do.

Gnocchi sardi with spring onions, prawns, colatura di alici  (anchovy droplets) and bread crumbs…: stunning!

Kingdom of the two Sicilies: Linguine with fish ragu, aubergines and salted ricotta!

And from a roman chef I could not ask more than an original Amatriciana with Mezzi Paccheri (pecorino cheese, chilli, pork cheeks and tomatoes)

And the best element that brought life to all this dishes and to the night, was Massimo’s passion in cooking and the fact he wanted to make  everyone part of his secrets and experience…

Are you sorry you couldn’t make it? Don’t worries there will be soon another event!

Stay tuned!

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Pin pin pin all the things you like!

Pinterest is a new social tool available online. I know we have plenty of them now but this one is literally taking the web by storm in these days: more and more people are signing in and  have started to... Pin!

A kind of new version of the famous DIGG, i would say, much more 2.0, easy to use, to share, to love. It's really addictive. With this you can simply like and fix on your profile forever all the things you find online and that you would like to have always with you.

You will just need to get an invitation, then sign in (also with your Facebook account) and download the PIN button in your browser tool bar. After this you will be ready to pin whatever you find online and place it in different categories, with your own description.

In the search area you can insert any interest you have and of course i couldn't resist to type food and recipes and you can't imagine what came out ... a paradise of pictures and ideas.

And waiting for my invitation, look what i found!

Look especially the first recipe on the left side.... :)

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For a luxurious 2012

New year and a new place to try. Finally, after a long time I was listening people speaking about it, I went to “pay my visit” to the famous Bob Bob Ricard  a restaurant near Carnaby Street.

The place is stunning and it is worth to go even only to admire the design and the details of the restaurant. The designer David Collins, took inspiration by the “train travel in Edwardian times: emerald green leather banquettes topped by little curtains of brass mesh, marble tables, constructivist chandeliers” as said by  the Evening Standard,  and the logo everywhere, from the pavement to the box of chips, without speaking about the bell on the wall to ask for more Champagne. Everything is extremely curated and luxurious. Incredible!

Head Chef James Walker has created a menu of great English and Russian classics with ingredients “sourced from small, traditionally run farms, dairies, fisheries and family-owned producers mainly in the British Isles” as written on the website. BBR is also famous for its selection of rare Vintage Vodkas and Caviar, so i decided to start exactly form here: Iranian Cure Caviar with Blinis and sour cream.

Then I tried another signature dish, for how much weird it can seems: the lobster burger and the Cornish crab cake. If I didn’t like so much this last one, that was a bit too heavy and greasy, the Lobster burger was fantastic. This was serves with French fries and for dessert I tried this stunning Grand Marnier soufflé you can see below. It was incredible…but of course the prize of the place it’s a bit too high.

If you want to live a 360 new dinner experience, the place it’s the right one, but be careful with your choices.

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Two cool places in one

Are you looking for a special place to go with your partner in these holidays? Or are you organizing a special Christmas lunch or dinner with friends?

I have a special place to tell you about: HIX and the Mark’s bar.

Some weeks ago in fact I had the pleasure to be invited at the restaurant from a friend of mine that is always speaking about it… now I understand why.

The restaurant opened by the chef Mark Hix in 2009 serves pure english cuisine, one of the best I have ever tried. He is frequently lauded as one of London’s most eminent restaurateurs with an unrivalled knowledge of ingredients with provenance. Mark has a monthly column in Esquire, a weekly column in The Independent, and is the author of a number of cookbooks on British cuisine.

The restaurant is on the top while the amazing cocktail bar, in a New York vibe, is downstairs. Here you really have plenty of drinks to try, one better than the other. They are designed by mixologist extraordinaire Nick Strangeway. I suggest to everyone who is thinking to go there to have at least one cocktail downstairs and then go for dinner upstairs or even remain down and try the great dishes offered at the bar. Everything is  perfect and the food is really good.

We spoke with the waitress and she was a real food passionate, knowing all the places where they were sourcing the products. From the cherries to the meat, from the cheeses to the oysters… and of course I asked if they were also serving some pasta dish, but unfortunately they just serves English cuisine. I could really see Pastificio dei Campi in one of Mark’s restaurant. The love for the good food and high quality products is the same that we have.

Get inspired by the amazing cocktails and food we have tried there: Martini Sbagliato, Champaign cocktail, Brookfield farm veal dumpling with creamed Savoy cabbage while my friend took an Hanger steak with baked bone marrow, selection of ice cream with hot chocolate sauce!

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It's out now with lots of tips.

 
Written by Rose Prince columnist for the Telegraph and expert of food, markets and gastronomy, the Good Produce Guide 2012 it's really a little treasure... especially for someone like me, coming from abroad and with almost no knowledge about english traditional producers. I can tell you one or two things about italian food and typical regional products but it's not the same for the english ones.
 
So I really enjoyed reading through the various categories of this book from markets to deli, from butcher(always hard to find here) and bakery or artisanal producers.

I mean I have already my faithful italian delis ( Melograno and Foodinthecity ), but is always good to know where else you can buy good food if you are in the other side of the city!  And I have particularly appreciated for this reason the map that comes at the end of the book ( that I would just divide in color to make it easier to read) and that can guide you in the different areas of London and UK.
 
And what to say about the list of seasonal english products and the festival calendar? Great! And if in the future i will visit some other english place I'll easily bring this with me or i will check before to go to discover all the best food from the nation.

So yesterday i put the guide under test and I had a look at all the places around Covent Garden, where I was and I found not 1 but 3 great places for a really good cup in the afternoon: these were Drury coffee near Leicester square, the Tea palace in Covent Garden Market and finally Monmouth Caffe that I listened lots of time but that I actually never tried yet! So I went there and it was great: fresh coffe beans and great pastries… irresistible!

Do you want to pick the best of what UK can offer, or you just want to have good food that you can trust in... Let this guide inspire you! And if you are looking for a 100% italian and artisanal PGI pasta, don't forget us ;)

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The World Pasta Day conference in Rome and some thoughts

As you probably already know yesterday was the Word Pasta Day and it was celebrated all around the world. This year in particular the World Pasta Day returned to Rome, where IPO (International Pasta Organisation) and AIDEPI (Association of the Italian Pasta and Confectionery Industries) have hosted a special conference: "Pasta, global challenge. New markets and new consumers for food that is conquering the tables of the world" .

Have been invited to the occasion the most important pasta producers (us included), economists, opinion leaders and media around the world and everyone  was there to celebrate this ancient food, rich in history, present on families' tables (and eating habits) in 5 continents and candidate to be the food of the future.

In a time of big pressure and bad news about our future alimentation, pasta seems to be one of the few ingredients that will probably be able to survive on our table. If the fish will disappear and the meat will be maybe not enough for all the planet, if not in danger as we have seen in the past, with viruses or weird genetic mutation, it seems we will be able to count at least on vegetable, fruit, rice and pasta.

Finally in time of poverty and war, this is what kept part of the world alive.

So if yesterday in Rome they tried to "understand how this food will help bring answers to one day dominated by uncertainty and food shortages.", I can also give you a little resume  of what came out from a nice event  organized last week in London by Latitudinal Cuisine “a geo-specific dining group, exploring the world a degree a day, meeting new people and cultures as we eat new cuisine”.

Last thursday in fact I went to their event about “Future of Food: dinner & conversation @ The Hub Westminster”. In this beautiful place in the New Zealand House in London, around 30 food lovers and people worried about environmental and social issues cooked what they think will be the food of the future and came together to enjoy it and exchange their ideas.

There were people that brought traditional food from their country, dishes made with sustainable fish, organic food, cake and tarts made by fruits and vegetable cultivated in their own gardens or even in the guerrilla gardens in London… and there was even someone who brought an amazing salad with fried ... locusts with big surprise of all the group. I brought pasta of course, because I believe in it for our future… and to shake and inspire a bit the audience I tried a sweet pasta recipe, with sugar, maple syrup, grated almonds and organic chocolate.

I used the pasta from Pastificio dei Campi not only because it's PGI and 100% Italian but also because is produced following the oldest artisanal traditions and only  with high quality Italian grain.

I bet pasta will be with us in the future! What do you think?

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Because Locatelli is always Locatelli!

Last week I told you about the London Restaurants Festival. This time I will tell you where I decided to have dinner, taking advantage of the promotional menus offered by some of the most famous restaurants in town during that week.

Between all of them I choose Refettorio, the second Locatelli’s  Restaurant after Locanda Locatelli! I discover it after my first “Taste of London” Festival where I had the chance to try an amazing piadina prepared for me by the same Giorgio Locatelli and where he was speaking about the place.

So I decided last week that was time to go and check their menu. I didn't know it was in an hotel so of course I have to admit the ambient is not too cozy as I could have expected, but the dinner was stunning and absolutely worth the deal.

After a Campari and some canapé, made with simple pasta brise, cherry tomatoes and oregano, I ordered for starter a pasta dish: Conchiglie (seashell shaped pasta) with asparagus tips, Burrata cheese and chives! It was delicious, the fresh ingredients, the combination between them and  the pasta cooked al dente and a quite good portion too.

To drink I had a fantastic Tormaresca Rosso 2008 (Negroamaro Cabernet Sauvignon) from Puglia and as a main course we ordered Stuffed aubergines with parmesan crust, roasted cherry tomatoes, thyme and rocket pesto. Really tasty! But the big main was a pan fried pork medallions, grilled courgettes, Girolles mushrooms and pork sauce. That was just so tender … it was stunning.

Finally I couldn't resist to try the ic ecream: three scoops of ice cream, vanilla, cocoa and Stracciatella, topped with morello cherries and served in a tuile basket. Really good!

Finally for who loves the Sicilian cuisine, be aware that Locatelli has just publish a new recipe book about it “Made In Italy: Food & Stories” and he paired it with a new set menu dedicated to the South of Italy and that you will find in Refettorio.

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