Little Ears and Sauce

A couple days ago Melanie and I decided to go out for some Italian food for the first time since getting back from Italy. We decided to go to Olive Garden because we had a gift card.

We started with caprese flatbread. It was fairly good, for a chain restaurant. It was a flatbread topped with tomato, basil, and mozzarella. The tomato didn't taste the freshest. It wasn't bad by any reason, but it can't compare to tomato bought fresh from the farmer's market. The same for the basil and mozzarella. The cheese tasted like a semisoft mozzarella as opposed to a creamy fresh mozzarella.

For the main course I got the "Taste of Tuscany with Sausage." It was grilled italian sausage with orrechiette (ear shaped) pasta, broccoli, sundried tomato, in a garlic butter sauce. The best part of the dish was the sausage. I enjoyed the taste of it. It was grilled nicely, and had a nice spice to it. It was moist, not overcooked and dried out which was nice. The pasta unfortunately was not up to standard. Individual ears of pasta were overcooked way past al dente and stacks of pasta were sticking together causing the inside of the fused bunch to be undercooked. The broccoli was cooked nicely and kept it's bite and wasn't mushy. The sundried tomato got lost in the sauce. The sauce had a nice garlic flavor to it. However the sauce was really, really, salty for my taste. For my two sides I had a spinach salad with balsamic and a bruschetta with feta and tomato. The impression of the bruschetta was similar to the flatbread.

Melanie had the Taste of Tuscany with Chicken." I only had one bite but the chicken tasted pretty good, and the tortellini was fair. I can't really comment on it as I only had a small bit of it.

I do have to say the service we had was good. Our waitress was very good and was very apologetic when it took 5 tries to get my drink. It wasn't her fault, they were just out of everything I ordered and then the machine wasn't working. She handled it well. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if the manager comped my drink because I had to choose 5 different things before getting one.

Overall it was a good experience. To be honest the food was what I would expect from a chair restaurant in America doing Italian food. I have to admit I have been spoiled eating Italian food in Italy. But given that, the food was pretty good for what it was.

The cat who hopped

Tonight Melanie and I went to one of our favorite places to eat, HopCat. In case you don't know about HopCat it is a beer bar (rated #3 in the world by Beeradvocate) in Grand Rapids that has a rotating beer menu with dozens of different beers on tap at any given time. It also has what I would call upscale bar food. There are a lot of bar type foods on the menu such as burgers, tacos, and sandwiches... only better.

Tonight I had The Angry Bird sandwich. It was a fried chicken breast covered in buffalo sauce with tomato, onion, and blue cheese dressing on a brioche bun. It was very good. You could tell that the chicken was breaded and fried in house as opposed to frozen then reheated in a fryer. It was juicy and the breading was very flavorful, with many herbs and spices in it. The buffalo sauce was a typical buffalo wing sauce, but was not too hot. In fact Melanie (who has little tolerance for hot food) said that it was eatable, meaning it wasn't too terribly hot. The blue cheese dressing actually tasted like ranch, so maybe they substituted it in. Either way it was a nice compliment to the wing sauce. On the side were the wonderful "Crack Fries." They are seasoned fries and are addicting... like crack.

Melanie had the chicken tacos. They are slices of grilled chicken breast on a blue corn tortilla and topped with tomato, onion, and scallions. On the side was dirty rice, salsa, and a garlic cream sauce. The tacos taste very fresh, and the sauces compliment all the flavors going on, not mask them.

We also had a starter of loaded crack fries. It was a plate of crack fries covered in the house cheese sauce, pepper jack cheese, jalapenos, bacon, and onion. We got ours minus the jalapenos. It was reminiscent of a loaded baked potato, only it would have been a crack potato. Anyways, its a pretty good starter if there are multiple people around as it can be heavy.

HopCat gets my gold seal of approval for local eateries.

Pasta Mia!!!

For the final entry into the culinary travels of our time in Italy I will be focusing on pasta.

Bourgo Nuovo

Spaghetti Carbonara

In addition to the pizza that Melanie had at Bourgo Nuovo I ordered a spaghetti carbonara. It was a fairly straight forward carbonara. I have to admit though it was not spectacular. Fairly straight forward with parmesan and egg. The pancetta was a little lacking. I was waiting for that bit of something extra... some smokiness from the pancetta, saltiness from the cheese. But there was none. Just a one note carbonara. I was pretty disappointed. The pasta was cooked ok, a little past al dente, but far from the overcooked noodle you generally get here. Overall a 2.5 out of 5.

Antica Osteria Da Giovanni

Fettucini pomodoro

This place was out of the way, between the Vatican and Tresevere. A little hole in the wall with paper table coverings.We ate there for lunch after visiting the Vatican while we south along the river toward the Tiber Island. We both ordered a simple plate of fettucini with a tomato sauce. Let's start with the sauce. It tasted like a fresh tomato sauce that had been cooked for a few hours. It had the usual suspects of onion, garlic, basil, and I believe thyme and oregano. Salt, pepper, and maybe a little bit of some pepperoncini. It was topped with peccorino romano.It was very simple and very, very good. The past was a good dried pasta, not fresh. That didn't really matter though. The pasta was perfectly done, with a nice seasoning from the water. It was also inexpensive, around 5-6 Euro for a plate. We also had the house wine which was very good. Overall I give it a 4 out of 5

Spaghetti  vongola

Rigatoni carbonara

Osteria Dell'Anima is located right behind Piazza Navona. It is another hidden place. We sat and ate dinner after visiting the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. I had the spaghetti vongola. That's spaghetti with clams. And that was about all that was in it. Nicely cooked spaghetti and tender clams, topped with parsley. The sauce tasted like clam liquor (the water from inside the clam) or possibly bottled clam juice, and pasta water. Over all the dish was very intense. The sauce tasted of clam amplified by 10. It was almost overwhelming. And it made the actual clams taste a little boring. If they could have married the taste of the clam with the sauce it would have been excellent. The pasta was a dried pasta and was cooked nicely and had a good flavor to it. Overall it was a pretty good dish. The rigatoni carbonara was pretty good. It was nice to see the carbonara on something other than spaghetti. The carbonara was nice and creamy and flavorful. The pancetta added a nice smokiness to the dish while the parmesan added a nice salty note to the dish. The rigatoni had a nice firm texture to it. A very good meal. 3.5 out of 5

L'Archetto

Bruschetta with artichokes

Lobster Spaghetti

Spaghetti with spicy tomato sauce

Once again another restaurant a little bit off the beaten path. This one specialized in spaghetti with over 100 different spaghetti dishes. We started off with a bruschetta with artichokes on top. It was very good. It had a topping of cooked down artichokes that was somewhat creamy that sat on top of mozzarella and toast. It had a very good artichoke taste and the cheese and bread were also good quality. I had the lobster spaghetti. The pasta was a really good dried pasta that was cooked perfectly. It was in a lobster cream sauce. The lobster was very delicate and very sweet. It was good lobster. There was also some parmesan in the sauce. It was a very good pasta dish. Melanie had a spaghetti with a spicy tomato sauce. The sauce consisted of fresh tomato, very good pancetta, parmesan, onion, garlic, basil crushed red pepper. Everything worked well together but the pancetta was the star. It had a nice heat to it, and a freshness from the fresh tomato and basil. Overall it was very, very good. 4 out of 5

Trattoria Abruzzese

Bucatini all'Amatriciana

Spaghetti Carbonara

Veal Ravioli in meat sauce

Osso Buco con fungi

Chicken with sage

Tiramisu

Trattoria Abruzzese is a little restaurant off the beaten path that specializes in local Roman and Abruzzese dishes, as well as some other regional Italian dishes. We had to stop and try this restaurant as Melanie's grandfather came to the USA from Abruzzo, the region directly east of Lazio, where Rome is located. We ate here on our last day in Rome. To start Melanie ordered the spaghetti carbonara. Let's start with the pasta. Once again a high quality dried pasta. It was cooked perfectly al dente and seasoned well. The sauce was a classic carbonara of egg, milk/cream, pancetta and parmesan. The pancetta was the standout of the carbonara. It was thick, salty, had a nice fattiness to it, and just delicious. The sauce was well seasoned with black pepper. Everything was in balance. By far this was the best carbonara we had in Rome. I started with the classic Abruzzese dish of bucatini all'Amatriciana. The bucatini was outstanding and perfectly al dente. The sauce seemed to be a fresh, homemade long cooked tomato based sauce with onion, garlic, crushed red pepper, guanciale (a delicious cured pig jowl), and pecorino romano cheese. It was absolutely delicious. All the ingredients worked well together, the red pepper adding spice, the guanciale adding smoke and salt, and the onion and garlic adding a sweetness. There was only one problem... I found a bug in my dish. I was so disappointed as it was so good up to that point. To his credit, the waiter looked very disappointed and took my plate back and started yelling at the chef. He came back out and offered another dish on the house and I agreed. He suggested the ravioli filled with veal and in a meat sauce. It was very good. The filling was very mild being veal but it was also very flavorful. The meat sauce was "like mom makes" as Melanie put it. It was a very good substitute for the original. The second dish for Melanie was a simple chicken with sage. The chicken breast was pounded thin and sautéed in a sage infused oil with some fresh sage. It was also seasoned with salt and finished with a little butter. It was very good for being so simple. The chicken was cooked beautifully so it was moist and not dry at all. The sage flavor was prominent but didn't overpower any of the other flavors in the dish. I had osso bucco con funghi. It is a veal shank with the bone in so that the marrow roasts while the meat cooks. The meat was so tasty. It also had a nice consistency. The problem with veal is that sometimes it is almost too tender. It was smothered in a sauce of tomato and mushroom. I was a little disappointed in the sauce as the mushrooms were either canned or jarred, not fresh. The sauce base was like the same for the bucatini. The marrow was very good too. We finished with tiramisu and it was a fantastic rendition of the classic dessert. Overall pretty good. The obvious downside to the meal was the finding the bug. While that cannot be overlooked (and I do have to dock a little bit from the rating) the response to it was great and the food was very good, classic Italian fare. Perhaps the best food outside of La Pergola. 4 out of 5

Pizza, Pizza

Continuing on the Italian theme I will be focusing on pizza, or the plural pizze as you will sometimes see in Italy. To be honest we had quite a bit of pizza while in Italy. In fact we had pizza of some form at five different restaurants. There were basically two types of pizza we had, Neapolitan and Roman. Neapolitan pizza comes from Naples and is a thinner crust pizza that much of our pizza in the US is based on. A New York thin crust is essentially an American version of a Neapolitan. Roman pizza has a little bit of a thicker crust to it, similar to a personal pan pizza, only better and without the pan. Most all of the pizzas seemed to be made to order, were handmade, and baked in a wood burning pizza oven. So on to our journey of pizzerias.

Cafe Leonardo
May 22 2012

Cafe Leonardo was located around the Piazza de Spagna, also known as the Spanish Plaza and home to the Spanish steps. We ate lunch there while some rain moved through the area. After looking through the menu we ordered a pizza diavola. This was the first time we ordered one, but would not be the last. It is a simple pizza composed of a tomato sauce, mozzarella, and spicy salami. It was more toward the Roman style than Neapolitan. The salami had some nice heat to it and had a nice "cured" taste that good salumi (Italian cured meats) has. It was from a large roll of salami thinly sliced. In my opinion it was the best part of the pizza. The mozzarella was nice if not spectacular. I would call it very average compared to other pizzas we had. It didn't have quite the same creaminess and flavor other mozzarella had. The tomato sauce was again good but not spectacular. It had good tomato flavor but was neither sweet, fresh, or zesty. Just middle of the road like the cheese. The crust was nicely baked and had a nice flavor pizza gets when it has been in a wood oven. It was again pretty average compared to the other pizzas we had in Rome though. The service was good and waiter friendly. Overall I give it a 2.5 out of 5. The salami was very tasty but the rest of the pizza was average, tho I have to admit that it would be one of the better pizzas in Grand Rapids.

Pizza Forum
May 23 2012

Pizza Forum is located behind the Colosseum. As the name implies this is a pizzeria and it does pizza like no one else. We ate lunch there before going on a tour of the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Capitoline Hill. We ordered another pizza diavola. The spicy salami was awesome. It was diced up instead of sliced like at Cafe Leonardo, and had a nice spice to it. It also had a smokey quality to it. The mozzarella was creamy, flavorful and very fresh. The tomato sauce had a fresh, sweet, and herbal flavor to it. In my opinion it was the best sauce we had. The crust was outstanding. It was definitely hand made, thin, perfectly baked and very flavorful. The pizza is baked in a wood oven and as you can see from the picture, had that wonderful blistering that occurs in a hot wood oven. Simply put, this was the best pizza I have ever eaten (although Melanie thinks another place is better). This isn't hyperbole, this is the honest truth. The service was fairly good and value outstanding. I loved this pizza, so I give it a 4 out of 5.

Pizza Ciro
May 23 2012

Pizza Capricciosa

Pizzette fritte

Pizza Bufalina DOC

Tiramisu

We ate at Pizza Ciro Wednesday night after the tour. It also was the same day we ate at Pizza Forum. Pizza twice in a day! It too was very good. We actually started by ordering the pizzette fritte, or fried pizza dough. Similar to pizza puffs at some area restaurants. Except it was better. It was sprinkled with salty parmesan, pizza sauce, and field greens. All the flavors worked well and the greens added a nice freshness to a heavy tasting, albeit delicious, appetizer. We then ordered our pizzas. Melanie got the Bufalina DOC and I got the Capricciosa. The Bufalina DOC consisted of little cherry tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, parmesan, and olive oil. The buffalo mozzarella comes from domestic water buffalo and was outstanding. It was creamy and fresh tasting. It had a slightly different taste then regular fresh mozzarella, and was creamier. The cherry tomatoes were good and added a nice, fresh acidity to the pizza. The parmesan added a nice little salty note. There was no sauce on this pizza. But it didn't really need it. The crust was a Roman style, thicker than the other pizzas we had, and wood fired. It was very good. Melanie loved it and said it was the best pizza she had in Rome. My pizza capricciosa consisted of tomato sauce, prosciutto, mozzarella, artichokes, mushrooms, and olive oil. It was good. The artichokes and mushrooms were not fresh, but were canned/jarred. They were good, but I would have preferred fresh. The prosciutto was ok, it wasn't as good as other prosciutto I had on the trip. The tomato sauce was very good, only Pizza Forum's sauce was better in my opinion. It was fresh with slightly more cooked taste than Forum's with a nice herbal note of basil. The crust was the same as what Melanie had. To finish we had tiramisu. It was very good. The lady fingers held their shape nicely and the cream had a nice coffee flavor. The chocolate added a nice compliment to the coffee flavor. The service was very good. Overall I give Pizza Ciro a 4 out of 5. It was very good, but I felt that Pizza Forum's pizza was a little better. It was a close call though. But the service and the other food we had bumped up the score.
 
Borgo Nuovo
May 24 2012

Borgo Nuovo was located near the Vatican. Melanie had the pizza diavola. In my opinion this was the worst pizza we had in Rome. It was a Roman style pizza with typical diavola toppings. The salami was good, but nowhere near as good as the other two diavola salamis. The mozzarella was ok, nothing great. Definately not as fresh as Ciro or Forum. The sauce tasted like a very good canned sauce. The crust was done in a regular pizza oven as opposed to a wood burning one and was very one note. I think it falls somewhere between a very good take out pizza and an average restaurant pizza. Service was good. 2 out of 5

Tiepolo Lounge
May 21 2012

The Tiepolo Lounge is located in the main lobby at the Rome Cavelieri Hotel. We were hungry one night so went down for a bite and a drink. We ordered a focaccia (flatbread cousin of pizza) with arugula, speck, and spreadable cheese. It was very good. Speck is a smoked prosciutto from the north of Italy. It was very good, combining the taste of a very good prosciutto with a smokiness that was very nice. It complimented the peppery flavor of the arugula very nicely. The cheese served as a nice base and platform. It was smooth and creamy and had a very mild goat-cheese like flavor to it. There was also a little olive oil drizzled over top that added a fruity note to it. The flat bread was very good with a lot of herbs mixed into the dough. Overall it was very good, but pricy at over 20 euro for it. I give it a 3.5 out of 5.

La Pergola

For my first post I am going to start with the best restaurant I have ever had the pleasure of dining at, La Pergola.

May 22, 2012

La Pergola

La pergola is a Michelin 3 star restaurant located on the 9^th floor of the Rome Cavelieri Resort Hotel. The chef is the excellent and world renowned Heinz Beck. On May 22 Melanie and I had the privilege of eating at La Pergola and chose the 9 course tasting menu. It cost 210 euros. This is a critique of our experience.

The meal actually turned into a 10 course tasting menu as the chef decided to give a special “starter course” compliments of the chef. It consisted of very thinly sliced beef cooked rare and then finished with a light smoking to finish the cooking of the beef. It was wonderfully colored with a nice, thin outer smoke ring and sear with a pink middle. With it were micro porcini mushrooms, micro field greens, and a sauce underneath to tie it all together. I don’t remember what the sauce was. The dish was very tasty, with a strong earthy flavor from the porcini and beef, yet was very clean and refreshing on the palate. The field greens worked to enhance a freshness and lightness that already was present in the dish. Over all it was very good. Presentation was top notch too, as it was served on a clear acrylic box in which were beautiful pale yellow pebbles.

Duck Foie Gras

The first course was Duck foie gras with apple, almond, and ameretti. To me this dish was the disappointment of the night. The foie gras was rich and creamy and the apples and almond served as a nice balance of texture, adding some crunch. The ameretti cream was pleasant. However I found the foie gras with apples to be very plain, with a bitter after taste that lingered in my mouth. Even with the ameretti cream, which I assumed to be used to cut the richness of the foie gras (along with the apple) and on the toast it still was not very good. Presentation also seemed lacking to me. As I sat there I wondered what the rest of the meal had in store. I was wondering why I was paying that much money if this was what the food would be like.

Second course was lightly grilled tuna with Mediterranean flavors, fennel and red onion in “carpione” marinade. The tuna was cooked perfectly for this dish. It served as the base and had a nice red color to it. On top was a layer of different vegetables and other ingredients. I have to be honest I am not sure what was in it, but it was very good. My guess is that it is local fresh veggies. The fennel added a nice licorice flavor and onions added a nice sweetness as the marinade eliminated the harshness that can come with onion. The absolute miracle of the dish is that Melanie ate it all. She hates seafood, but enjoyed this, stating that it didn’t smell or taste fishy at all. She couldn’t tell it was tuna. Overall very well executed

Third course consisted of a dish simply titled “The Sea…” It was a marvel of presentation as in a small indenture in the bowl originally sat a green colored cube. After the waiter set down the bowl he poured a hot “broth” into the indent which caused the cube to instantly melt. Where the broth was originally clear, the new combination of broth with cube was a light green with a briny smell, just like how the ocean smells. In the bottom of the bowl were two small white shrimp and two small shellfish, what I assumed to be clams after tasting them. Also in the bowl were little green spears called sea asparagus. The shrimp and clams cooked in the hot broth and both were perfectly done. The shrimp were also scored so they retained much of their soft texture. The shrimp and clams were cooked through from the broth but not overcooked so they turned rubbery. Instead they kept their softer, tender texture. The shrimp were sweet and subtle in flavor, while the clams were sweet but with a more “coastal” flavor to them. By that I mean almost a saltiness to them. The sea asparagus were very crunchy with a salty burst of flavor. They also had an almost sweet/sour taste to them. The sour was not sour like a lemon or lime, but more like a sour note like a good sour cream has. All together the interplay of briny, sweet, and sour played together really well.

The Star of the meal 

The fourth course was the star of the show: Fagottelli “La Pergola.” The chef made delicate pasta pouches in which was filled a carbonara sauce. Garnishing was a micro dice of zucchini. Ok so to describe the flavor impact let me just say these things were like if a water balloon and nuclear bomb mated and then exploded together. The minute these pasta pouches ruptured in the mouth it was as if someone shoved an entire plate of the best carbonara in the universe into your mouth at that given time. And there were multiple little pouches. It was creamy, with a light smoky bacon flavor while the zucchini added a lightness and freshness to the dish much like fresh peas would bring to a traditional carbonara. The pasta was incredibly delicate and flavorful, but not enough to overpower the dish. But enough to have that pasta flavor on the back of your tongue. In all honesty, I would pay $30 just for 4-6 of these things easy. This dish was that good.

The fifth course featured king prawns in tempura on puree of fried squid. The prawns were perfectly fried using a tempura batter as opposed to a more traditional heavy batter such as a beer batter. It offered a light crunch and light flavor that complimented the subtle sweet flavor of the prawns well. It also served as a contrast of texture to the delicate prawn and creamy puree. Speaking of the puree, it sounds unappetizing when heard or seen in print, but is wonderful when tasted. It is not the least bit fishy, nor does it have that squid aroma that you can get when using squid. It was light yet flavorful, with clean flavors of squid, with a light saltiness and a slight flavor of a fried batter or coating. The prawn was sweet and perfectly done. Firm without being overcooked. It was also a beautiful presentation.

Following was the sixth course of black cod with marinated anchovies and chili pepper sauce. The main attraction was the cod. It had a strong cod flavor with a salty note delivered from the anchovies. There were also crispy fried olives to add a nice texture contrast as well as a tartness that you can get from olives. The chili sauce was light and added a very slight heat to the dish. The cod was flaky yet firm and very moist. In other words, it was beautifully cooked. The only problem with the dish was it was very oily. The fish seemed oily to start with, then throw oily marinated anchovies on top, followed with olives and finally the chili sauce and you have a lot of oily elements on the plate. The flavor was very good from it all, but I did feel the need to follow each bite with a drink in order to wash the oiliness out of my mouth.

The last of the none dessert courses was Lamb on tomato sauce, salty ricotta and basil. This dish was so simple yet very refined. The tomato sauce was incredibly complex: it had the freshness and acidity associated with a fresh tomato sauce, yet had the depth and character of a tomato sauce that had been cooked down for a while so that the sugars started caramelizing. It was really intriguing. The basil added that freshness that fresh herbs bring to dishes, while the pairing of basil and tomato is a no brainer. They should be used together in sentences like “peanut butter and jelly.” The lamb was very flavorful and somewhat mild. Typically lamb can have a gaminess to it that can be off putting to some people. This was not the case. If you had a piece of this lamb and a piece of beef I think many people would have a problem picking out which was which. It was very meaty without that gamey taste, like a very good piece of beef. And it was cooked well. My piece tasted like it had been cooked for a while, not just thrown on a grill or pan and blasted over high heat. This was probably the second best dish of the night.

Between the dinner and dessert was a cheese course. Mel and I both had four kinds of cheese with two types of bread. We both had a goats cheese, a semi soft cheese, a pecorino Romano cheese. She then picked a cows milk hard cheese while I was given a blue cheese. The first three cheeses were exquisite.  The goat’s cheese was salty and creamy, the semi soft creamy and somewhat nutty. The pecorino was salty and crumbly, similar to a parmigiano reggiano. The cow’s milk cheese had an incredible and intense “cheese” flavor. Take a very good parmesan and turn the taste intensity up a few notches. My blue cheese was my least favorite. I am not a big fan of blue cheeses but gave it a shot. It just has too much of that moldy taste that I associate with bad bread.

The start of the dessert  course consisted of a banana-coconut ice cream over mango and a lemongrass infusion. Let me start by saying I HATE BANANA’S. With that said comes the earth shattering admission that I kind of enjoyed this dish. Mind you, while Melanie said she couldn’t taste the banana at all, I could. But then again my tongue has this ability to pick up even the slightest taste of banana in things. Still, I found the dominating taste of coconut in the ice cream along with the mango and lemongrass allowed me to enjoy this palate cleansing dessert.

Also brought to the table was a, for lack of a better term , cabinet filled with different sweets. Some were awesome such as chocolate triangles with mint and pistachio. It starts off with a strong mint chocolate chip flavor that finishes with pistachio. Also good was a light candy that tasted like pistachio, almond and hazelnut liquor. The standout though was the tiramisu bites. It was everything a slice of tiramisu is in  a bite size form. I didn’t find all candies to be successful. The worst of the bunch for me was a peach jelly type candy. It just did not taste good on my tongue. Melanie liked it however.

Next was a tray of 4 fine chocolates. One was a dark chocolate, one was dark chocolate with a cherry center, another was milk chocolate and the last was white chocolate that was covering an unknown inner core that tasted like there was some almond in it. Overall the chocolates were very good, but nothing to really write a lot about.

The finale’ was an Iced sphere of raspberry on chocolate and tea cream, with crystalized raspberries. This dish was unbelievably gorgeous.  The hollow iced sphere was made by filling a balloon with raspberry puree, then blowing up the balloon and tying it off like a water balloon. It was then rolled in liquid nitrogen to freeze the raspberry puree into a hollow ball. It was very fun to crack open the sphere. And it had an intense raspberry taste, as if you condensed the sweetest raspberries into one raspberry and then ate it. The chocolate tea cream was a perfect foil to the raspberries as it balanced the sweetness with a certain amount of bitterness. It also had an upfront note of chocolate, but finished with a note of tea on the backend. It was an amazing finale to the meal.

For our meal we ordered a I Sori Chianti Classico Riserva 2006 for 60 euro. It was an amazing bottle of wine. Very smooth and easy to drink. I thought that it actually paired well with many of the dishes.

Now I have to mention service, as it was fantastic. It was interesting because after each course not only were the plates cleared off, but the silverware was cleared and new silverware brought for each course change. There was also a constant offer of bread between courses, ranging from flaky/salty “roman” bread, to seaseme bread, a baguette like bread, and a brown nut bread. Each was fantastic. They also poured a plate of very, VERY, fine olive oil to dip your bread in. The olive oil was light, fresh, and peppery. They also added two kinds of salt to the top corners of the olive oil plate, a gray sea salt from Dover, England; and a black, smoked volcanic sea salt from Hawaii. Both were very good. They also gave a menu to pick out what kind of water we wanted from over 20 choices and two wine menus with over 5000 different kinds of wine. For the most part they did a very good job keeping our wine and water glasses full.

This also goes to show what kind of service they are committed too. The original plan was for me and Melanie to split the 9 course tasting menu. We knew there would be things she didn’t like on there (almost all seafood) and it was nine courses. The maître d’ tried to explain that each course was small. But Melanie replied “Yeah, but there are nine courses. How are we supposed to eat all that?” He went away with an order for 1 nine course gourmet menu and 1 bottle of wine. At each course we had two plates, one for Melanie and one for me. At one point Melanie asked the maître d’ “These are each half of the tasting menu right?” He assured her that it was, and that he took care of everything. From what I can gather, he taking care of everything was us getting a free meal. One nine course gourmet menu cost 210 euro. We got one free, because we wanted to split it and he wanted us to experience the full menu. For that I will forever be grateful. The final bill showed 1 nine course meal, 210 euro.

Finally, at the end of the dinner service, the world famous executive head chef, Heinz Beck, came out to meet all the diners that night. I could not believe it was happening. Very few times have I been taken aback by meeting someone famous. I have met many a world famous people. I was shocked though to talk to this chef and that he took the time to interact with his diners after the dinner service was completed. It was a fitting end to the night.

I have to rate this establishment a 5 out of 5. The first course had me worried that it would not live up to its Michelin 3 star rating. However the food thereafter was amazing. The service was unlike anything I had ever experienced, and they actually comped us a free meal after a misunderstanding about wanting to split the nine courses. That just added on to the amazing food. This place turned up everything to 11. This is a meal I will remember the rest of my life.