In the restaurant of my dear and admired friend Aimo, now run by his daughter Stefania, has taken the reins and clearly defined the future. After being one of the great delights of product cuisine within the realm of traditional popular Italian restaurants, always created with cultural depth and refinement, they have decided to pair this identity, for which they have attained so much glory, with an evolution towards more contemporary concept. They are doing it carefully, intelligently, in a reflective way, maintaining their identity (which all seems phenomenal to us) while impregnating it with a different spirit, and for that we congratulate them. In other words, the most recent creations are showing a higher influence of haute cuisine, a superior level of articulation, with integral structures in many cases such as the well thought out introduction on various occasions of more modern flavours within the purity and idiosyncrasy that has so distinguished the house. The result is that if you always dined magnificently here, now it’s even better, with more culinary merit, and it is winning over the gastronomic clientele quickly.
A first and sublime testimony is the small spring salad with peeled broad beans – cooked in an instant –, Noto roman almonds and a generous julienne of raw squid, ratified by a clairvoyant, beautiful lemon marmalade… immaculate in flavour and texture: natural, light, complex and colourful, it is a fiercely contemporary and virtuosic creation. We began with two legendary, delightful hors d’oeuvres. The first inspired by bruschetta: a mountain of peeled, chopped tomato mixed with capers and breadcrumbs, adorned with basil leaves and a ribbon of olive oil – sublime in its simplicity. Then on to a few slices of fresh Cinta Senese sausage. The next course was another culinary summit which we were as fascinated by as the aforementioned version of bruschetta: an essential and consummate, really perfect pigeon and duck liver pâté with white truffle cream lain onto a spongy and hot brioche: magnanimous. Depth, distinction, harmony, academism, personality, magic… These are the characteristics of the Saluzzo chicken consommé, served very clear, completely degreased, perfumed with verbena, and garnished with bottonis (kind of raviolis) filled with Squacquerone cheese, smoked ham and balsamic vinegar. Other impressive dish: the bitter vegetables (“Verdure (da) amare”), whose flavours expressed themselves in all their splendor: late red radish, Puntarelle chicory, Grape hyacinth bulb, red turnip, celery, … lain on a substantial and melting Taleggio cheese and raw radish milk. The chapters on rice and pastas were superb, and seem to be experiencing a similar push towards different accompaniments. Like the vegetal and very spirited Carnaroli risotto with Cervera leek, Niza Monferrato thistle, Piedmont hazelnuts and Pantelleria capers; almost nothing… Or the handmade fusilli with white truffle cream, Liguria anchovies and crunchy emmer bread aromatized with herbs. Among the main dishes, the pigeon takes the prize, regardless of the accompaniment: for example, with lightly smoked Venezuelan cacao beans, black truffle and chestnut puree. And we mustn’t forget the lamb – what quality! what superb doneness! – perfumed with caraway, fresh ginger, radicchio trevisano and blanched spring onions… and the crispy Cinta Senese suckling pig with rosemary honey as well as other attractive counterpoints that vary with the seasons: fruit and legume mustard, potato toast, fennel and ham.
