I went to Alloro and I loved it!

On monday night was released the list of the 50 best restaurants in the world and if nothing happened to the first three nominees always for Noma in Denmark, El celler and Mugaritz in Spain, lots happened in the rest of the classification.

The best restaurant in UK is now the new entry Dinner by Heaston Blumenthal, while his previous restaurant, The Fat Duck , high in the list last year, is this time at the 13th position, with The Ledbury at the 14th, up of 20 positions.

Unfortunatelly even Massimo Bottura lost a position being this year at the 5th place with his Osteria Francescana, while the other two italians, Le calandre and Il canto are at the 32nd and 46th position.

At this point waiting for the chance to book a table in one of these great restaurants, I will share with you my last experience to one good italian restaurant in London: Alloro.

I really enjoyed a lot the dinner there with my other two italian friend @federilli and @gi_nav. Respect to previous dinners in other italian restaurants, we spent slightly more but every dish was superb and really tasty.

Here some pictures from Alloro, where you can find our Pastificio dei Campi pasta too.

Agnolotti del plin al sugo d’arrosto

Traditional pasta parcel filled with roast pork & veal

Linguine di Gragnano agli scampi

Pastificio dei Campi linguine with fresh scampi

Tartar di salmone con insalata di panzanella

Salmon tartar with “panzanella” salad

Zuppa di pesce con pane bruschettato

Traditional fish soup with toasted bread

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Giorgio, his great menu and ... our pasta!

Last Tuesday was one of these day when nothing goes according to plan… but sometimes this also means that an unexpected phone call can change your night… and just in a better way.

This call in fact brought me to Locanda Locatelli, for me THE Italian restaurant in London and the one that I have never been to yet. The day was finally saved thank to Giorgio and my brilliant host!

The place is simple but elegant, the light is soft and relaxing and I felt really spoiled by the service and of course by the nice meal.

Homemade Parmesan breadstick and bread are brought to your table just to intrigue you.

I had Pan fried scallops, celeriac purée and saffron vinaigrette as a starter, a Locatelli special invention absolutely stunning for the combination of taste and texture.

The main needed to be Linguine with lobster, tomato, garlic and chilli. This Linguine ( like the Orecchiette) in fact are Pastificio dei Campi Linguine and they were just top in my opinion. I tried also the Cod parcels with chickpea purée and rosemary oil but there I understood I’m not a big fan of the fresh pasta filled with fish.

Then we ordered more fish and also if the Char grilled mackerel in herb crust it was good The Pan fried fillet of plaice in basil crust, potato, olives and tomato sauce was much more tasty and smooth and ... there was a perfect balance and combination of ingredients.

To close this amazing dinner we ordered some sorbets, and a Chocolate and pistachio fondant, with milk ice cream and toffee sauce, but they also gently brought a plate full of sweets from trulles to amaretti and mashmellow.

This was my PARADISE and in a day like hell, a dinner like this one can really save your soul. 

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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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To start the year in the best way

Just a few word to thanks who in Christmas gave me a little amazing book that I of course suggest to anyone who have not read it yet: "The Small Pleasures Of Life' by Philippe Delerm.

This treasure is a real small pleasure by itself: it describes the most common and simple happy moments in life but with certain details and realism that you can  almost live again the sensations in your memory.

It's just a compilation of quick pictures of moments of everyone's daily life, but so well described that you finally have the chance to stop and appreciate them even more: the first sip of beer, the dark red of a glass of Porto, the smell of the apple in the cellar etc.

I don't think i can find anything more adequate than this book of precious sensations to wish you a fantastic 2012, full of memories like these.

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A new kind of Deli just opened in Rome

For Christmas I came back to Italy as usual and I went to discover the latest places opened in the city. One of this is the “Libreria Settembrini”, a tiny special place in Rome, born to answer to different needs.

Settembrini is already a famous café and restaurant in Rome and this year they opened this new space, absolutely innovative in its genre, but cosy and really beautiful. A place to put together the love for books and good food.

At first look is a simple bookshop, little but really nice and with a peculiar selection of book. In the middle it hosts a big wooden table and on a side a mini kitchen that creates simple salads and dishes, ready to hot up and serve in the room. All the ingredients are top quality, like in the same restaurant on the other side of the street, but the meals are quicker and perfect for a brunch or a glass of wine with friends.

We loved the place, the menu, the books and the hampers they were preparing for Christmas…and with my big surprises I even discovered they were selling Pastificio dei Campi pasta, with the tiny duetto box, 250gr of pasta, created for the couples. In the hamper with the pasta there is wine, biscuits, other gourmet ingredients and a nice Christmas book for children.

If you pass by Rome, have a stop in this nice place. I’m sure you will like it!

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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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A new recipes book by Manuela Darling- Gansser

Today is Thanksgiving and being mainly an American celebration, every year I find myself a bit puzzled : I never know what to bring to parties and worst, what to cook in case they ask me to bring some food …exactly like this year.

On Monday I received an invitation for tonight. The email was saying that everyone was requested to bring something, but I can’t cook anything else than Italian food !!!

Luckily I have just received a new Stunning Recipe Book, that of course is about Italian food, but that gave me also a very nice idea for tonight.

The book is called Four Season: a year of italian food and has been written by Manuela Darling – Gansser,  a traveler and a linguist who, born in Lugano, has always been passionate about cooking and Italian food.

She put together this book after passing some times in different parts of Italy. Each season is described trough a region:  spring is Sicily with its amazing seafood, fruits, sweets and amazing smells and gastronomic tradition. Her childhood spent in Sardinia represents the summer with its cheeses, vegetables and great dishes from her memory.  In autumn Manuela reaches Piemonte in the north of Italy where there are very reach recipes,  a strong peasant food tradition and some unique ingredients like chestnuts and truffles. Finally in the Alps  in winter she passes to the reach and hot north Italian recipes, from stews to polenta, from Lamb pie and roast venison to some amazing chocolate cake.

So yesterday I started browsing through the beautiful recipes (the pictures are amazing and the book in itself it’s a beauty) with the sensation that the majority of them could be quite easy to follow. And there I found one thing that I never had the chance to try before: Bagna Cauda.

This is a very famous dish in the North of Italy and it’s a classic in autumn after the harvest, because the peasants used to eat it all together to remove the sweet smell of the grapes.

Considering that tonight the main dish will be the  turkey with all the trimmings, I wasn’t really keen to bring any other big main  but I thought this could be a really nice dish to have on the table and to eat all together. If you want to follow my idea, here is the recipe from the book in Manuela’s mum version:

BAGNA CAUDA DELLA MAMMA
(Mamma’s Raw Vegetables with Anchovy Cream)

This is the way my mother used to make Bagna Caoda. Boil the 500ml cream with the peeled garlic cloves (4-6) for 15 - 20 minutes so that the cream reduces and thickens. In a fondue dish, melt the butter. Cut the anchovies (8-10) very finely and add them to the 50 gr butter.

Cook them on very gentle heat, until they have melted. Now add the reduced cream. Crush the softened garlic cloves with a fork and stir well, taste and add a little ground pepper. Prepare the vegetables (cucumber, carrots, celery, peppers). Wash them well, slice, dry them, then put them on a large plate.

Put the sauce in a fondue dish over a flame in the centre of the table. Each person puts some vegetables on their plate, and then dips the vegetable sticks into the sauce. It’s also delicious to serve some grissini on the side, to dip in the sauce.

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