May 22, 2012
La Pergola
La pergola is a Michelin 3 star restaurant located on the 9th
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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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.
the best pasta...i have ever...had. i miss those carbonara filled tortellinis...mmmmmmm. i have a feeling that will be a once in a lifetime experience.
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