I decided to accept Chef Giulio Coppola's invitation to attend a cena a quattro mani that he would be hosting at his restaurant in Gragnano. Ok, chef, I'll accept, but under one condition. I asked the chef if it would be possible for me to sit in the corner of the kitchen instead of at a table in the dining room, I mean, the kitchen would be the best place to be to see and feel the excitement of the evening. I really wanted to witness the sparks and chemistry between Chef Coppola and his guest for the evening, top pastry Chef Antonino Maresca.
And so there I sat, and stood, and watched, and tasted, and quietly asked questions, and tasted again as the evening went from the aperitif to the final dessert.
Here's what went down....
Aperitif:
Potato croquettes, fried puffed packages of ricotta and cigoli, rice sartu' with pumpkin squash, and cream of tompimabur and gorgonzola with dark chocolate shavings. Chef Coppola
Amouse- bouche:
Potatoes, anchovies, and white truffles. Chef Coppola
An amazing spread of breads: whole-wheat sourdough focaccia with tomatoes, thyme and spring onions; a 'rustic' baba' with salami and provolone del monaco cheese; a puffed pastry pizzetta with potatoes and onions, a savory cornetto with olives and anchovies, classic ciabatta bread, and chestnut honey bread sticks with olive salt. Chef Maresca
Appetizer:
Rosso di Sicilia red shrimp with escarole, zolfino beans and cotechino sausage. Chef Coppola
First course:
Ravioli with turnips, cuttlefish, caviar, and fennel consomme.
Pasta al Pomo Chef Coppola
Main course:
Steamed cod with celery, annurca apples, and walnuts. Chef Coppola
Pre-dessert:
If it's bubbly I'll take otherwise I'll desist...
a tarallo made with yellow tomatoes Chef Coppola
Granita made with lighlty fermented strawberry grapes and muscat. Chef Maresca
Dessert:
If you forget me...sfogliatella.
Cannoli sfogliatella style, ricotta, citrusjelly, puffedsemolina, cinnamonice cream, cherriesandcandied fruit. Zeppole di San Giuseppe Chef Maresca
Chef Maresca also prepared a delizia di limone, which I was unable to get a shot of, but I did get a shot of his amazing goodie bag of his caprese cake and pastieria.
The kitchen? I chose well. The place to be, with other amici such as chefs Giacomo De Simone, Dominico Stile, and Vincenzo Piacento.
Chefs Giacomo De Simone, Domenico Stile, and Vincenzo Stile
The place to be to hang out, see what it takes to put together a serata diversa like this one.
The place to be to absorb all the action...and maybe, just maybe...snag another piece of focaccia....
A beautiful spring weekend called for a drive to Marina del Cantone, a spot that has become a favorite of mine since I first visited in 2013. Marina del Cantone, a small fishing village in the Sorrento Peninsula which hosts the Michelin star Restaurant Taverna del Capitano. I stopped in the kitchen to say hello to Chef Alfonso Caputo and try to get a sneak peek on what would be in store for lunch. Yes, I was curious what was on the new spring menu, but also interested in what Caputo had in mind for my benvenuto. The Benvenuto is an off menu item that is served at the beginning of the meal. A bite, morsel, mini appetizer if you will, that changes daily. A fusion of fresh seasonal products and the chef's creativity. A glance around the kitchen with stainless steel countertops, I noticed a tray of brightly colored freshly washed zucchini flowers. My mind went immediately to memories Spaghetti with Zucchini alla Nerano, but Caputo told me that with these were the first zucchini of the season - for that dish it was better to wait. He had other plans for those zucchini. Those zucchini and their bright colorful flowers would be part of that day's benevenuto filled with a slice of mozzarella a drizzle of olive oil and gently steamed cooked.
Those zucchini would be placed on a platter alongside a meatball made with bluefish as well as a squid presented in the form soft, morbidissimo wafer and a little squid ink drizzled around the sides of the plate...cosi'.
Those zucchini were the beginning of a colorful, flavorful springtime lunch. Benvenuto. Welcome. Buon Appetito.
Napoli, Naples, is a large city devoted to their traditional cuisine and recipes. Diners here want their favorites, dishes that they grew up with, their customs. Because of this, it sure isn't easy, to find an ethnic restaurant in the heart of the city. Spanish cuisine, however is another story.
That's why going back to Milagros Gastrobar a little more than a year ish after their grand opening was such a treat. Milagros Gastrobar is a small Spanish restaurant tucked in a vico a whisper away from the hustle and bustle of Mergellina's lungomare. I visited back in the fall of 2013 when Chef Carlos Peña and Marina Delle Monache had just opened up. I decided to go back a couple of weeks ago for a chat, a glass or two of Spanish vinos, and a fresh look and taste of their revamped tapas and paella menu.
Chef Carlos Peña
¡Buen provecho! We began with Xato', a crunchy escarole salad which the chef prepared for me at my table as he explained the ingredients. Ingredients which included black olives and a romesco sauce, popularCatalonia, Northern Spain made with nuts and red peppers.
Xato'
Next up, it was time for baccala', or salted cod. Another ingredient that pops up in Spanish cuisine quite often.
This version is fried in a batter that is crunchy on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside. Known as buñuelos di baccala - ole'!
Since we all love little fried balls of goodness, it was only natural that I'd try a jamon croquette.
Excited to see a wine list with affordable Spanish wines, like this fresh crisp white which paired well with my dishes.
Next up, this dish-Huevos “Cidón”-scrambled eggs with potatoes, morcilla di León, and a granny smith green apple sauce. Chef Carlos Peña's tribute to his maestro, Carlos Cidón (Castilla e León's first michelin star chef) who passed away a few years ago.
The chef decided I should try another wine to go with my next dish. I did not complain - excited to visit Spain in a glass. This rich red reminded me of many of my favorite Aglianicos from Campania.
And what better wine to go with carrilleras with Spanish sauce. Slow cooked braised veal with a red wine reduction sauce. Red peppers on the side.
Before dessert, I decided to stop by the kitchen and see what else was going on. The chef was busy! The table next to me had ordered this dish -Pimiento del Piquillo stuffed with baccalà...
And arròs negre with clams...
The table next to me. A Neapolitan family with 20 somethings and their parents. Parents who one may assume would be stuck in their traditions, not interested in trying something new. Old school Neapolitans who were just as curious as I, enjoying their meal, asking Marina questions, who with a smile overflowed with information on recipes, cheeses, wines, culture and customs. She brought me over my dessert. How did she know I liked chocolate? Tartufo di di carajillo - with chocoalate, coffee and oruju - a popular brandy from Northern Spain.
A sweet ending to a revisit to Milagros Gastrobar. A restaurant with a year ish under its belt has become a comfortable part of the Neapolitan neighborhood. A bit of Spagna in Napoli. Milagros Gastrobar Via S.Maria in Portico, 15 Napoli-80122 Tel: 081 032 0143
When is the best time to visit a restaurant for the first time? At the beginning of the season to try the new items on the menu? In the heart and heat of the summer? At the end of the season to get an up close and personal taste of the classics?
My first visit to Taverna Estia- located in the small town of Brusciano on the outskirts of Napoli - falls into the none of the above category.
My first visit to Taverna Estia - located in the small town of Brusciano on the outskirts of Napoli was several months after I introduced myself to Maitre Sommelier Mario Sposito poolside during an event last summer.
My first visit to Taverna Estia - located in the small town of Brusciano on the outskirts of Napoli was a couple of months after I met Mario's brother, Chef Francesco Sposito at event last December.
My first visit to Taverna Estia - located in the small town of Brusciano on the outskirts of Napoli was a few months after this small taverna/ristorante was awarded their 2nd Michelin star.
I arrived at 1 pm ish on a Saturday afternoon - just in time for lunch. And I was in luck. Chef Sposito(Europe's youngest bistellato- 32 years old in August) had been working on a new dishes for the spring and asked me if I'd be willing to try it out before he finalizes the menu. He didn't have to ask twice! I immediately found my place at a small table next to the window. A table come piace a me...my type of table, with a view of the terrace and a perfect view of the kitchen whose curtains were about to open.
Let the show begin.
Chef Francesco Sposito
It began subito when Maitre Mario Sposito alongside his wife Violetta Bobrova brought out the wine list, a plate of homemade pane and grissini, and what became my new guilty pleasure. A small vase of algae chips.
Taverna Estia's algae chips. A salty savoury snack. Ingredients are sea algae, rice, patience, and amore.
I wanted to concentrate on the meal, so I entrusted the wine choices to Sposito. No problem for this highly recognized sommelier who placed down a feather light crystal wine calice and filled it with a glass of NV Domaine de l'Ocre Rouge La Perle Noire, a French sparkling wine made with pinot noir.
It wasn't long after that the appetizers began to arrive, all under the watchful eye of Chef Sposito and his lively brigade.
A colorful tray jam packed with numerous flavors and textures. Like this soft green pea sponge with a sliver of pork cheek carefully laid on top.
Bread, butter and smoked anchovy.
A codfish bonbon.
A cannelino with caprino goat cheese and Bronte pistachio nuts.
It was time to change my glass of wine. To my delight, a Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio bianco 2011 by Sorrentino Vini.
A Campania white which paired well with the next few dishes:
A beef emulsion with a foi gras granita, lemon and tarragon.
With each plate, I was handed a little bit of background, of history, of preparation notes...of flavor. I particularly rember being handed this plate. Not sure where to begin. A lot going on. A squid ink bigne' filled with burrata cheese covered with a thin layer of squid.. Then, shrimp, mandarin orange slices, and a tarragon sauce.
Mario suggested that I swipe a little of the tarragon sauce as I eat the shrimp. To get that perfect balance of flavor.
Next:
Spinach in two versions: fresh and spongy. To accompany a lightly sauteed red mullet and a red turnip sauce.
New course, new wine...We went to Northern Italy for a 2011 vintage of pinot grigio..
Two pasta dishes. Two pasta assaggini: Beginning with a dish that whose aroma's brought back memories of my early days in Italia. Mortadella. Everyone's favorite sandwich meat. Here, the staff made a pasta flavored with pistachio nuts from Bronte. On the side a smooth creamy mortedella mousse, powdered burnt leek, fresh pistachios and pistachio oil.
Sticking with pasta, Chef Sposito sent a dish out that the my camera loved as much as I did.
Fettucce pasta cacio e ova - a cacio cheese and eggs sauce with slices of black truffles. And the cheese did not stand alone...A seabass tartar held its own on the side of the plate.
Spring had something to say in Sposito's second courses as well. Beginning with sea bass with asparagus and a thin layer of pork cheek on a mussel sauce and an onion confit on the side.
Then, maybe the dish of the day... a scallop and fennel salad on a bed of creamy fennel al pastis.
Dessert? I usually pass, but. Ok. Maybe a small tray of piccoli pastries. And as usual, my eye and hand went straight for the chocolate. Like this chocolte rosemary truffle (which earned its own post! ) and a chocolatey macaroon.
Meal over. What is really 5:30 pm? I guess so. I enjoyed a long and pleasurable conversation with Mario, his mother, and wife Violetta, We talked about the upcoming season, lunch in the garden, jazz nights. I then headed into the kitchen to say goodbye to the kitchen brigade, salutare the chef. A quick see you later/I enjoyed myself/grande/grande/ciao was basically all that escaped my lips, since the staff was in full swing getting ready for yet another sold out Saturday night.
Chef Sposito shook my hand, a quick smile, then added - "On your next visit, I'll have you try some of our classics..."
Next visit?
When is the best time to visit a restaurant for the second time? At the beginning of the season to try the new items on the menu? In the heart and heat of the summer? At the end of the season to get an up close and personal taste of the classics?
Taverna Estia Via G. De Ruggiero, 108 80031 Brusciano (Na) 081 519 9633
