(Visited January 2012 - and many times before)
If you pass through Trento, we recommend you take an energetic stroll on the Altopiano di Pine' (1000m above sea level) and then head straight for Franca Merz's cuisine at her warm joint
Man in particular goes crazy for her Rufioi, a traditional cabbage-stuffed ravioli original of the Valle dei Mocheni, livened up with sweet spices and doused with excellent butter and hard cheese (the local Trentingrana).
But for those more inclined to meat than vegetables, also the polenta gnocchi with Lucanica sausage (there are variations all over the North East called with similar names, 'luganega', 'luganeca' etc.) and porcini mushrooms, again with butter and cheese, are just that kind of harmonious comfort food that makes you hhmm with pleasure and call for more.
We also tried a novelty, the 'farinoi', a recipe strongly based on terroir. Made with polenta flour, filled with cabbage, potato and local cheese, and topped with smoked ricotta and cumin. Quite a flavour feast in such a simple looking dish!
So far a triumph of primi. Just to demonstrate how enticing the mains were, after recovering from the shock of the beloved stuffed rabbit not being on the menu, we just plunged into our plates forgetting to take any pictures...Anyway, they were a venison, mildly flavoured, cooked to great tenderness, and aromatised with a juniper sauce and berries; and a totally delicious pork in mustard crust.
We had to drown our sorrow for the forgotten photographs by taking a deep sip of this very well crafted Lagrein from Alto Adige (Franca will well advise you on wines)
But certainly we are not forgoing desserts, a hard hike awaits us the day after. A gelato alla crema di latte (oh, don't ask us for an awkward translation) with chestnut twirls has an intensity of the primary flavours that many a dish in fine-dining venues fail to achieve - just imagine concentrated chestnut on cream:
And to conclude, the eternal chocolate torte
the soft core always a winner in our hearts.
This is true home cooking, local cuisine with a highly personal style and, crucially, based on ingredients sourced with great care. No great culinary innovations or fancy presentations here: just damn good, rich, clear flavours.
This fare fueled us to this peak the day after, a steep walk with 1000 metre ascent which Man is sure he would never have made without the Rufioi and all the rest: thanks Franca!
Home
(Visited January 2012)
This place is billed as offering spectacular views. On the fourth floor in Canary Wharf, we thought this was a little unlikely.
We were right. For views, go to Galvin at Windows instead (or, even better, to one of the many restaurants located at serious heights in business districts all around the world).
But who cares. The real question is: how spectacular is the food? Well, with a menu du jour at £25 for three and £22 for two courses, we had some doubts.
Yet the ooh and mmh from Woman suggests that a Jerusalem artichoke veloute' with parsley oil is on the right track. In fact it surprises immediately for the intense presence of unadvertised scallops. And it's a lovely veloute', justly creamy, just a touch salty.
In the meanwhile, we also enjoy two slices of well-made bread.
As another starter, here's a Tarte fine of violet artichokes, confit lemon zest, sliced black truffle:
Man truly appreciates this well formed set piece, which has some complexity in its simplicity and shines for lightness and good seasoning. Woman is slightly less bowled over but still appreciative.
Main courses go down just a a notch, especially with a Roast Yorkshire Moore pheasant, Puy lentils and Toulouse sausage
which somehow manages to be less succulent than the sound of is ingredients, the pheasant itself a little dry by overcooking and not well trimmed, the creamy sauce nice but heavy, the Toulouse sausage lamer than expected. On the positive side in this disappointing dish the lentils are well-cooked.
A pot roast hake, spinach, caper and parsley butter with lemon
has excellent cooking going for it, but the slob of cream on the side is heavy indeed and while the crevettes are in principle a nice addition they turn out to be less than memorable in this nevertheless very eatable main.
Petit fours are brought with coffee and tea (good)
and the jellies certainly give more pleasure than the Madeleines.
Service is not charming but efficient and matter of fact.
It's very hard for a £22 lunch to impress unless it is mainly composed of 'cheap' and full-flavoured cuts and produce (the Arbutus formula) - with nobler ingredients, one can only go so far, and this lunch only went so far. But despite some downs, there were hints that the full priced a la carte menu has the potential to offer an interesting meal. There are serious professionals behind these stoves and at its price this lunch was perfectly respectable. If we were local workers we'd probably ascend to the fourth floor more than once, and not for the views.
Home
(Visited 20/01/2012)
After the amazing Viajante, let's check if there is another little gem, in a different category, tucked away in the East End of London. We head to (near) Tredegar Square, the heart of the conservation area north of Mile End.
We are glad we haven't booked in the pub section as it is (for us) unbearably noisy. The restaurant section is quieter, cosy, simply but pleasantly furnished. But when people start coming in we note with angst that we dramatically increase the average age in the room.
The only problems with a mackerel pate' are that it doesn't taste of mackerel (faint undistinguished fish flavour), and that it is not a pate' (too soft). Ah, and the lemon overwhelms everything else.
The only problem with a cod and leek fishcake is that it tastes neither of cod nor of leek. Given that cod has a strong flavour, this is a remarkable feat, achieved we assume by being mean with the fish. Apart from total blandness, however, not bad and reasonably moist.
A grilled rib-eye of Scottish beef is better, though it reminds us that one thing is for a steak to be good and tender, another to be deep flavoured (like the one recently had at at Drovers Inn). This one was good but lacked depth. It had also been raped (flavour-wise) by a mega-portion of a heavy cheesy sauce thrown, unrequested, upon it (and removed by us).
And finally, a dish of seabass with chorizo was intensely greasy, the fish clearly farmed and not wild, but cooked well and fresh.
We decide to skip desserts because we are unable to anticipate anything positive.
The service was the best aspect of the evening, with really sweet guys in charge, professional and polite, in a venue which is part of a large group of unbranded pubs, and which clearly aims at achieving mediocre but just good enough standards to be identified as a gastropub instead than an ordinary pub. But for us, gastro it ain't. Again, the recent comparison with Drovers Inn in Angus puts this experience, while not unpleasant, in a poor light. We spent around £80 for two courses with a £20 bottle of quite drinkable Barbera and tap water and a tip, and we think this is the last money they will see from us. But in our student days we might have thought otherwise; we might have thought that this place had something going for it, and our mostly young fellow diners seem to think so, too. Maybe we are missing something just by virtue of our being boring old farts. So if you are young, go and check. All the others, we suggest you go elsewhere.
Home
