Braceria Bifulco, Ottaviano (Na)

Franco Bifulco, Salvatore La Ragione, Ciro Catapano, Luciano Bifulco 

Back to Ottaviano - back to an afternoon with the Bifulco family.    You may remember my post a few weeks ago about Bifulco Exclusive (here). This time I decided visit the mothership, or better yet - to the ristorante that sparked their one two three punch in the small town not far from Naples.  Braceria Bifulco.  An idea that by the Bifulcos to expand their popular butcher shop and upscale grocery store into a restaurant serving their top quality meats since March 2013.  Since then, the family has strived to bring excellence to their corner of the city by presenting a menu prepared by some of Campania's top chefs including Salvatore La Ragione (of the Michelin starred Mama in Capri) and Ciro Catapano.



I chose a Saturday afternoon lunch to check out what had been going on since my last visit nearly a yar ago.  A cold and very windy drive, which included a few snowflakes.  About forty five minutes later I  parked my car and met Luciano (Bifulco) in the store.  He walked me to the Braceria next door where I was eager to sit down and let the degustazione begin.

Starting with the starters -

A beef tartare with broccoli greens...

beef carpaccio with puntarlle, a melanrca apple dressing, lemongrass, and fennel crumble.

Then a parade of appetizers such as ..
tuna caponata with tomato conserve, endive, and green sauce...

a deli tray with Bifulco's own salamis...

suckling black pig from Caserta slowly cooked with a Jerusalem artichoke sauce, spinach, and lemon confit...

lamb served three ways...

The braceria's appetizers gave the cooks a chance to display their talents with the arrays of sauces.  I fell in love with the lemon confit.

Chef Catapano and I decided on three assaggi of first course dishes.
The first was a creamy risotto with ash roasted spring onions, melted pecorino cheese and spicy nduja.

For the second assaggio, I went to  the kitchen for a quick chat as he prepared and plated up fresh pasta filled with creamy artichokes and buffalo milk ricotta.  The pasta is topped with a burnt artichoke sauce.

Room for one more!  Their classic ziti alla genovese with melanurca apples and pecorino cheese.

Luciano Bifulco would not let me leave without a taste of their steak - dry aged 120 days.  Cooked perfectly ( little pink inside - that is the only way!).

Fantastic!

And dessert?

I limited myself to two.  A twist on the classic tiramisu...

and pistachio and chocolate praline.

Lunch over - the staff asked me if I wanted to stay for dinner.  I looked at my watch, had 4 hours really gone by??!!!

Maybe next time!