Amazing Appetizer , Chef Domenico Candela, George Restaurant, Naples (Na)

La Venere di Botticelli

I decided to treat myself to a night out.  Get dressed up and go out to an elegant restaurant in Naples.  You know, enjoy the city by night.  I chose George Restaurant , who less than a week earlier received a prestigious Michelin Star.  Quite an accomplishment for a restaurant that has been open for less than 2 years.  This was my fourth visit to George, and I was familiar with several of Chef Domenico Candela's signature dishes - but not none that were on his Spasso Sensoriale tasting menu rich with new specialties for the fall/winter season.   Spasso Sensoriale which could be translated as a sensory/ sensual stroll.  Dishes pleasing to the eye and palate like this appetizer that Candela entitled La Venere di Boticelli - after the painting The Birth of Venus painted during the Italian Rennaissance by artist  Sandro Botticelli. 

The theme comes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a very important oeuvre of the Latin literature. Venus is portrayed naked on a shell on the seashore; on her left the winds blow gently caressing her hair with a shower of roses, on her right a handmaid (Ora) waits for the goddess to go closer to dress her shy body. The meadow is sprinkled with violets, symbol of modesty but often used for love potions.   ( visituffizzi.org)

Candela's Venus is a scallop carpaccio caressed by a cauliflower puree, bergamot, lychee sauce and Siberian caviar.  

Botticelli's Birth of Venus can be found in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.  Candela's?  Much much closer - in the splendida sala of George Restaurant.

Fantastic First, Chef Domenico Candela, George Restaurant, Naples (Na)

It's a part of my past that I can't deny.  As a child, I, along with millions of American kids, enjoyed SpaghettiOs® for lunch at least once a week. And if not that it was spaghetti with the famous jar of RAGÚ® sauce.  Yes, a part of my past - a young American girl growing up in the suburbs.  My Italian connection came in a jar or a metal can. 

It is because of that past - that #spaghettimadness that I, many many years later have grown to appreciate a great plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce - spaghetti al pomodoro.  

Like the one that I had awhile back prepared by Chef Domenico Candela of George Restaurant in Naples, Italy.  Candela uses a wid variety of tomatoes for his sauce - Piennolo, Corbarino, Pendolino, Lampadina, San Marzano, Pachino giallo  and Pizzutello.  

Candela's spaghetti has plenty of sauce that can be soaked up with basil sponges prepared by the chef himself.  And cheese?  Of course - Candela prepared fake tomatoes and filled them with a cream prepared using Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.  Basil?  A grande variety here also.

Of course I was at the pass while Candela plated up my dish.  Here's a look.

Fantastic!