Welcome to My Home - Lunch at Antica Osteria Nonna Rosa with Chef Peppe Guida
I've lost count as to how many times I have seen Chef Peppe Guida since we met for the first time last April. On every occasion, from dinners at Pastifcio dei Campi to visits to Marina Yacht Club, we always ended our conversations agreeing that I needed to visit him a casa sua...his home, his restaurant, Antica Osteria Nonna Rosa in Vico Equense (Na).
I chose a Saturday afternoon to visit the chef's home, which really was just that...a home. A renovated house dating back to the 17th century. Chef Guida took me on a little tour pointing out where the pizza oven used to be, for example, which now is a small corner intimate dining room/wine cellar. My eyes, however, were drawn to the family room where among antique furniture and plants hanging from the ceiling was a comfortable couch.
I sat down for a while to relax, discuss the latest news from Napoli, and talk about Guida's menu over a glass of spumante and a soft warm slice of casatiello with walnuts. Menu decided, the chef headed to the kitchen and left me in the capable hands of Maitre sommelier Luigi Casciello. Casciello led me to my table, alongside a beautiful antique Neapolitan presepe.
Welcome to my home - a benvenuto arrived right away.
Meatball in ragu sauce with a ricotta mousse...
Fried cauliflower zeppola with anchovies and butter...
Freshly baked bread was placed on the table - begging to be tasted. White, White with fennel seeds, Whole wheat with walnuts. To be tasted alone, to soak up the sauces from Guida's upcoming creations, or maybe drizzled with the family's own extra virgin olive oil in nearby Montechiaro.
Time for the primi piatti - beginning with spaghetti.
Spaghetti with anchovies, red bell pepper sauce, and pecorino cheese....
One of Campania's dishes of the year - a dish known as the Delicato Sorrentino. Chef Guida served me this one himself, wanting to ensure that my first spoonful included everything. Not just the visible mixed pasta in a delicate yellow tomato sauce with mozzarella foam.
He wanted to make sure that I swept into the dish, so to speak, to get to the sapid basil pesto and diced mozzarella underneath.
An off menu treat - risotto with cabbage, fennel and pork shoulder blade. a very tender pork shoulder blade.
Salted cod with fennel and friarelli greens. Salted cod which had been vacuum packed in extra virgin olive oil then cooked at 60 degrees Celsius for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Throughout the meal, Casciello would change my wine glass, change my wine with the goal of getting the best pairing for Guida's dishes.
Success!
Space for dessert? Always!
Lemon sorbet pre-dessert to clean the palate. Candied lemon peel and mint on top...
Chocolate in 5 consistencies...
A tray of jujubes, candied citron, and sugary potato zeppola accompanied me back to the couch.
That comfortable couch where I began my visit. And over a caffe', Guido's nucillo and apricot brandy, I wound down that afternoon almost as it had began...
With the chef discussing the latest news form Napoli. the menu, and what we could do the next time...
Welcome to my home...
Grazie, chef
Antica Osteria Nonna Rosa
Via Privata Bonea, 4 - 80069 Vico Equense (NA)
Tel/Fax: (+39) 081 8799055
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