Caino

The cuisine of Valeria Piccini is like her: beautiful, wonderfully beautiful. It is bursting with uncontainable passion from the heart—natural, authentic and, above all, immensely enjoyable. A fountain of pleasure. It is above and beyond times, criteria, tastes… Nobility rules here—nobility in the most excellent of ingredients, nobility in execution, nobility in perfectionism, nobility in the meeting of yesterday and tomorrow; nobility in so many aspects, and above all in refinement. A wealth of taste and flavor. Sybaritic succulence. A cuisine that makes you fall in love and feel truth—the truth of goodness and pleasure.
Even the smallest elements are heavenly. The house pesto that accompanies the ricotta possesses delicacy and sensibility. The escargots, exceptional in their nature and juiciness, are presented in a brochette with a green sauce, onion confit with bacon and mashed potatoes; all of the components are impeccable. The tripe—trippe and lampredotto—in bread crust with spicy vegetables is the quintessential demonstration of a rusticity that brings even the most finicky of palates to its knees. The tortelli are also stellar (what creaminess!). What flavor! …of Cinta Senese with chicken and chestnut stock, confirming the inclination towards preserving the historic reference. The potato gnocchi are immeasurably delightful, served with squab-ginger ragù. Giorgio Grigliatti and Bob Notto both claim the cod to be the best in Italy; these illustrious gourmets cite its intrinsic quality and its doneness, and we will not be the ones to argue. Recently it is served with extra virgin olive oil and chickpea puree with rosemary oil. The squab has only one name: delicacy. Offered here with an impeccable cooking point that exalts the tenderness and juiciness of the meat, served with an onion crust and port wine sauce. Another superb animal, to erase any doubt of the search for exceptional ingredients here, is the lamb, the lamb, which is offered with different dressings such as dry bean cream, radicchio and anchovy mayonnaise.
And Andrea Menichetti has inherited the virtues of his mother and father, Maurizio, another character—but with the freshness of youth. His oil ravioli with tomato coulis, winner of the First International Prize for Cuisine with Olive Oil: “Jaen, paraíso interior”, places him in the creative, universal Italy.
Mamma mia! Mamma mia! Mamma mia! Valeria, how we would all love to be your children!