Dolce Stil Novo

This Versaille-styled restaurant located in one of the most sumptuous and beautiful palaces in Italy is now a museum: La Venaria Reale, 12 kilometers outside of Turin.
Alfredo Russo is developing one of the best-structured cuisines in Italy. What distinguishes it is a fairly elemental style in the composition of dishes, with few components; it is very modern, conceptually as well as aesthetically, though the flavors do hint at historical references, with velvety and harmonious sensations. Thus, though the sauces and complements reveal the latest avant-garde techniques, all he makes nevertheless reaches the depths of the palate. In addition to intelligence, reflection, consistency, savoir-faire… time and again we are aware of very natural, pure, authentic flavors and very vibrant colors, always in a balanced array. Another one of this young chef’s virtues is how methodical he seems to be—the regularity in his work, no stray items on the menu—with fully dependable results at the table.
The onion “frittata” with artichokes, ham and breadcrumbs, with the common thread of an egg yolk cream is a simple yet effective dish. The grilled octopus with raw polenta and Sicilian capers reproduces easy, sentimental flavors. Creaminess and utter flavor: the quenelle of potato puree with cream cheese and white truffle. The Piedmont Fassona beef tongue with green bread-parsley sauce and beautiful vertically-arranged baby valerian leaf salad is a demonstration of the technical characteristics and practice that distinguish this cuisine: the use of phenomenal ingredients, flawless and expert doneness that enhance the identity of the meat—in this case, it melts in your mouth—familiar sauces emulsified in innovative ways, and refreshing and graceful complements. The pasta in bianco with oil and Parmesan is brilliant and flawless: a mille-feuilles of the thinnest translucent layers with small, creamy cheese slices forms a rectangle, then enveloped in a rich oil foam embedded with crunchy pieces of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Another pasta, mandatory and exceptional: the renovated yet historic ricotta ravioli with spinach and spinach cream. One of the finest risottos in Italy, accompanied by seaweed and cardoon, immaculate and bursting with flavor. On a similar conceptual line, the wheat with yellow pumpkin, smoked pancetta and raw olive oil. More delicate it could not be, the crispy, melt-in-your-mouth suckling pig dressed sweet and sour style with honey and vinegar, exalted by exultant nuances: ginger, cucumber, etc.
In a few words, a new era with a new progressive approach that just might culminate in prestigious conquests of the highest order.