Le Calandre and Da Vittorio

[vmilor]

Following our Alba trip and after parting ways with Robert Brown and Susan, my wife and I had 4 more outstanding meals in Italy: superb fresh seafood at Alla Testiere in Venice, some of the best charcuterie from cinta senese pork products at Pompiere in Verona and two unforgettable meals at the 3 stars Michelin Le Calandre in Rubano near Padua and at the 2 stars Michelin Da Vittorio in Bergamo. Le Calandre has been a favorite of mine, and I have reported on it before. I had my third meal there about 2 weeks ago on November 30. Robert Brown, on the other hand, is responsible for putting Da Vittorio on my radar screen, and our December 2 meal there was stunning. At the outset, I will make the strong claim that, of all the 2 and 3 stars Michelin we have been in Italy in the last 3 years (the list includes Dal Pescatore, Miramonti l’Altro, Perbellini, Cracco-Peck, Da Caino, Don Alfonso, Gambero Rosso and Flipot), Da Vittorio and Le Calandre are the 2 best, although none of the above have disappointed me.

The 2 restaurants could not be more different in style and philosophy. Le Calandre is modern, sleek and a touch avant garde, and the chef Massimiliano Alajmo is very young, tall and slender. His dishes incorporate some of the state of the art techniques he learned at Veyrat and Adria, while never imitating them. The Cerea clan at Da Vittorio, on the other hand (papa Vittorio and sons/nephews Francesco, Bobo and Chicco), are cooking a type of regal cuisine that in my imagination I associate with the grand style of the Risorgimento period. This is the place I would have liked to invite my literary hero, Giuseppo di Lampedusa, and I am sure that his Prince Don Fabrizio would have felt at home there. At any rate, you do not have to be a Prince or a Sultan to get treated there like one—in the tradition of the great Italian hospitality. In this sense, I cannot think of better hosts than the Alejmo family (Massimiliano’s brother Raffaele is in charge of both the dining room and the wine list), the charming Cerea ladies who are the daughters of Vittorio, and our captain Nicola who anticipated all our needs and displayed the most stunning acts of generosity I have experienced in my eating out career in a totally understated, refined and elegant Italian way. (Just think of the American restaurants when they do not charge corkage or give you and extra course; they list it on your check—which often comes before you ask —and they list the item with a capitalized “No Charge” caption as if you are too insensitive to understand favors.)

Stylistic differences aside, what unites these 2 institutions is their overriding concern for high quality ingredients and raw materials. Everything you eat, from a pedestrian vegetable to ultra luxurious Alba truffles or seafood, are very good, and so incredibly intense and delicate at the same time.

Alejmo is playing with some Adria like textures, soft or liquid filled interior and crunchy exterior, and his amuses like a mini beignet filled with tomato juice, tomato juice injected with a syringe I guess, and, other goodies, such as ethereal potato and eggplant purees in thin pastries, are nice ways to start a meal.

His second amuse, the obligatory (in this season) pumpkin soup mixed with parsley cream was better than any other pumpkin amuse I have had in France and Switzerland recently, presumably because he did not need extra butter to highlight the natural sweetness of pumpkin. My only qualm is that pumpkin would have benefited from some thinly sliced white Alba truffles; they both flourish this season and call for each other.

Alejmo is a minimalist in the sense that some of his best dishes contain only 3 to 4 elements, and each of them shine and complement each other, rather than contrast with one another, a la Gagnaire. This simple looking ricotta mousse flavored with orange and topped with creamy mussels and shaved bottarga is a case in point. This is a very appetizing delicious dish. The minute details are well thought out, and the quality of ingredients is top. For instance, the bottarga is made from pressed grey mullet or cefalu fish rather than from a variety of tuna fish. The latter is more oily and less delicate, and for a Turkish, it is considered second quality. In Italy I mostly find inferior quality bottarga compared to Turkey, and I was surprised to see the best quality in Le Calandre, apparently from Sicily.

I was even more flabbergasted with the next dish. I have a special fondness for rock and deep sea fish, and they are getting rarer and sometimes extinct. If you have had a true rouget-barbet de roche, you will know how good they taste—a world apart from insipid farm raised sea bass and daurade or dorata which are now commonplace in Europe and are imported to the States and served with great fanfare in the US. (My last meal at the French Laundry on November 7 for instance featured a tasteless seabass from Europe.) At any rate some rockfish, like capon, are more rare than rock rouget and you have to order them in great restaurants in France, such as Le Louis XV when you make the reservation. I did not know that the 2 now almost extinct species of the Mediterranean, the very ugly lahoz and orfoz even existed in Europe. I know some restaurateurs at Bodrum, a beautiful seaside village in Turkey, and they call me when they can fetch one of these rare and ugly species, which weigh 3 to 4 kg., and live deep, very deep, under the sea. Often they are caught by scuba divers, and this is a reason why they are so rare and expensive. To cut the story short, Massimiliano had the right contact to bring one orfoz or, what they called in Italian a Cernia (black variety which is even tastier than the grayish one) from Sicily. Thinking that I was American because we converse in English, they called it a “stone sea bass” which does not make sense. It is closest in taste to Spanish mero, which should not be confused with the ubiquitous and rather bland merluza (except its cheeks are good). They should have told me that it was “merou noir” which would have saved some confusion. At any rate the taste was as good as rock fish gets, and it was served with a “crouton” on top and in very Mediterranean style, with a confit tomato, tapenade and a light mousse from lima bean sprouts. I am sorry that the picture does not reveal too much.

The next dish was a tortelli di zucca. This dish is a classic at the 3 star Dal Pescatore where they mix squash with amaretti cookies. Here, they “deconstructed” the dish by concocting little jellies from amaretti and drizzling some coffee powder on top. It was very good, but not as good as the Dal Pescatore’s more simple yet heavenly preparation.

But then Massimiliano beat any egg-truffle combination I had had by serving a poached farm egg, sitting atop fried bread and surrounded by fonduta. Very classic and solid, a time tested vehicle for truffle slightly modified by the existence of crostini at the bottom and a very light parsley mousse for color and texture. The ample truffle slices were from rovere or oak tree, and although I did not ask the source of the fonduta, I suspect it was classic, 2 different kinds of fontina.

Massimiliano prepares the best risotto of which I am aware, that can be equaled but not surpassed. His risottos are creamy, firm and very flavorful without being too heavy. I had had his licorice/saffron as well as coffee powder risottos, and this time, the period being late November, he cooked to order for the 2 of us a risotto with white truffles and cubes of meat jellies. He grated truffles from 2 different trees, and the more white truffles below are from hetre (in French) or beech tree. My wife was served from the oak tree, darker truffles. We tried to compare them, but we could not make up our minds.

We always order piccione or baby squab at Le Calandre because the quality is better than anywhere else I had had squab, the level of the old good Robuchon-Jamin and better than what I have had at Grand Vefour, Gagnaire, and Les Ambassadeurs under Piege. They say that their pigeon comes from a special farmer who is a classical music fan, and he raises his pigeons by having them listen to Bach and Beethoven. This probably explains all there is to explain! Maximiliano also knows how to handle the squab, and it is one place where the breast is rare and the thigh is so crisp and juicy that it falls from the bones. Sauces vary. The first time it was with foie gras. The second time was with cherries and cherry liquour (my favorite of the 3). This time he became more “Asian,” (I noticed some Asian apprentices in the kitchen), and he crusted his pigeon with sesame seeds and made a soy and sesame oil based sauce and prepared a sesame paste as a dip. He also included fresh soy bean sprouts to complement the Asian style dish. The overall effect is to render the tender and gamey pigeon a bit more earthy and harder to match with wine compared to his other versions which I prefer.

Next course, suckling pig was as good as Da Renzo’sversion. Massimiliano sources Piemontese pig, and it is slowly cooked for 48 hours. The skin is very crunchy. It is served with wild chicory, honey infused mustard sauce and some coffee powder which actually adds to the flavor. I thought it is the type of dish one expects from Passard, had he not been so stubborn about cooking meat. Maybe he just cannot find this quality in France!

We were kind of getting full, but they wanted to show us the last meat dish on their menu, testicles of young bull in a very Venetian Valpolicella wine sauce and served with a heavenly chestnut/ginger puree. Had I closed my eyes and not known what I was eating, I would have said I was eating some kind of fish’s liver, possibly a monkfish liver that I have in Japanese restaurants. Bravo Massimiliano for not caving in to the expectations of international clientele and for preparing rustic dishes.

Desserts are improving at Le Calandre. Or, they understand my taste and advise us better. Both the 3 layered grapefruit dessert with 3 kinds of grapefruit and home made jellies and lemon-gin sorbet on top and Massimiliano’s take on cassata with layers of ricotta mousse, white chocolate, pistachio cream and apricot mousse with thin cookies on top were light and explosive in fruit taste. When we finished our dolce we certainly were no longer hungry, but not uncomfortably full either. So we did what was called for: move to the champagne bar to finish a great meal with espresso and aged Calvados.

Two days after our feast at Le Calandre we moved from Verona to the beautiful old town of Bergamo where we stayed at San Lorenzo which is a converted monastery, instead of staying in a business hotel in downtown Bergamo. I wanted to get hungry by visiting some beautiful places, so we drove in the early afternoon to Bellagio by lake Como. We got caught in traffic in our return and made a wrong turn into the Commercial Center in Bergamo which turned out to be outside Bergamo rather than in the center. Given the traffic problems, instead of feeling relaxed, I became tense and edgy. Not a good omen before a meal with high expectations.

My mood changed as soon as we stepped into the holy abode of the Cerea family (not much longer though—this summer they are opening a Relais et Chateaux). Genuine smiles and the existence of a voiturier so that you do not have to look for difficult parking are good things. As soon as we were seated in a very nice corner table in a beautiful cozy room full of flowers, all my senses were awakened and I almost had a headache from the intense perfume of that most intoxicating product on earth, the white truffles from Langhe. I could not see them, but their aroma was all over. Upon my questioning, our gracious captain Signor Nicola whose qualities would reveal themselves gradually but surely into the long journey into the wee hours of the night, showed up with a basket full of incredibly aromatic truffles, each weighing a pound or more. They had come the same morning, as this was a Thursday, and the restaurant is closed on Wednesday. At that point my facial expression had totally changed from a sour face to a genuine smile:

When I am in a good mood and in a special restaurant I derive more joy from the process of planning my meal than anything else. I try to lengthen this process, weigh the alternatives, ask a million questions, relish the sheer joy of visualizing various possibilities in sequencing and wine pairing, etc. Here my preferred activity was under serious challenge as Da Vittoria is known for seafood, but they had a crustaceans and molluscs menu for 2 with no description. I did not want to miss shellfish, but I also wanted dishes with truffles and I did not want to miss the veal cheek mentioned by Robert, etc. We had only eaten a couple of clementines the whole day, and we were very hungry. I stated all my preferences to Nicola and to Vittorio’s (he was also in the dining room with his wife) charming daughter. I asked insistent questions about the source of ingredients (where does your aragosta come from? Do you have gamberi di San Remo?), and then I let them put together a menu for us with shellfish, truffles, veal cheeks, and suckling pig.

After some bacalao croquettes and little anchovy tarts which they serves as amuse bouche they brought the first set of four cold antipasti. They were wild sea bass carpaccio with salmon caviar and truffles; Passard style soft boiled egg with what I thought was maple syrup and truffles; incomparably fat seasoned and not smoked raw Scottish salmon with chive-cream and toast; and sashimi grade tuna with carpaccio.

Then came the second set of four hot antipasti. These included a Robuchon-like creamy potato puree with leeks from Cervere, melted brie cheese and…of course truffles; some very small and deepfried lake fish sandwiched between two layers of crisp hash browns and topped by velvety Bearnaise; Atlantic lobster tail and claw in an intense Nantua sauce that the French rarely make nowdays; and finally 2 big langoustines (scampi), as fresh as the ones at Alla Testiere but bigger. They were not hidden in phyllo sheet as is a la mode nowdays and nor unnecessarily embellished by caviar. I think that the langoustines had never seen the ice and have been kept in salted sea water to be that fresh-sweet tasting and non-iodized. They were simply served with home made mayonnaise.

I was not expecting any more shellfish, but a miracle happened and 6 mid-sized gamberi di San Remo arrived. For those who know how they taste, since they are now very rare, there is no need to reiterate. For those who do not know, I can only say that they are adorable. The photo below may give an idea about the freshness and the accuracy in timing when cooking them.

One gets very picky about the quality of pasta when one eats artisanal preparations in Italy. Pasta dishes in multistarred Italians sometimes disappoint me: they end up a bit fussy by trying to be original. This was not the case at Da Vittorio. We had simply the best gnocchetti, made different from gnocchi by mixing cheese with the dough, ravioli with castelmagno, my favorite Piemontese cheese, and hand cut tagliolini, with duck stock. They were all topped with a generous quantity of ripe, perfumed Alba truffles.

Da Vittorio serves porchetta a bit like Da Cesareserves baby goat; they want you to taste different parts of the animal: the leg, shoulder and ribs. The skin was glazed with honey and the intense sauce contrasts with Spanish pine nuts and raisins which they include in ample quantities. This dish was less refined than what we had at Le Calandre and Da Renzo, but equally tasty. It reminded me of the Basque Zuberoa’svery intense and non-compromising roasts. Porky intense pig.

Caramelized veal cheeks were as good. Accompanied by an intense red wine sauce, they were full of flavor and very tender at the same time. Baby vegetables were all fine, esp. the fennel added a welcome exotic touch to the dish, but especially noteworthy was the best soft polenta I put to my mouth, which was topped with homemade salsiccia or very firm veal sausages. Another triumphant dish.

I do not think anybody can accuse Da Vittorio for being less than generous with desserts. Before they brought our desserts they wheeled two carts in front of us which were filled with all kinds of little bonbons, chocolate truffles, caramels, liquor filled round chocolates, orangettes, etc. Well, since the days of Robuchon-Jamin, I have never witnessed such a gesture in the grand old European tradition.

But before moving on to the little goodies, we were served 5 sorbets, on par with the level in Dal Pescatore which serves superb sorbets. They were: chestnut, campari, passion fruit, lemon and a mix of berries.

Then seven little sins or desserts arrived. There was a 3 layered fruit-chocolate mousse that you see in the middle with the spoon which was interesting because it was offered with wasabi icecream. Ripe raspberries with sabayon were very good. In general their desserts made me think that the dessert chef went to Gagnaire and was influenced. At the moment, the desserts do not reach the level of Gagnaire’s grand dessert.

But the little goodies, esp. the nougatines and the sambuca, cognac and grappa filled chocolates were very good. But they were overshadowed by my after dinner digestive: an 1899 Bas Armagnac Laberdolive. Such a once in a lifetime drink is not only an apt finish to a memorable meal, but makes you contemplate about the transient nature of pure joy but more durable bonds of friendship. We left the restaurant feeling bonded with the Cerea family who, with no doubt, are trying to give their guests all they can. This was a fitting ending to our one week trip to Northern Italy.

[CyN]

Vedat!! You never told us you were married to a movie star!!!

[robert brown]

But Vedat, you are a Sultan (see my recent post on truffles and dining in Piemonte). This time, as co-host of this forum, I thank you profoundly for yet another great post today. I know how much time you put in to this one and the Donostia post as well. I'm sorry I had to return to Nice, and Cy must be counting the days before he gets to Bergamo.

[CyN]

154(days until Bergamo)

[Joe H]

My wife chided me because I did not take notes on Saturday at Le Calandre nor, despite having a digital camera, did I take photographs. Were it not for your report I would be angry at myself for not taking the time. Thank you! Your words and your photos are much appreciated.

We did not have the "creative" prix fixe at Calandre, rather the "classic." It is extremely interesting to see the various dishes that comprised your's since several appear and sound very similar. Curiously, there was not a risotto course as part of the classic and I agree about his talent for this based on past dinners dating back about four or five years to the first. In fact I bought 2 kilos of the violane nano at his "deli" across the street to bring home. That deli, by the way, had a fantastic cheese with barolo whose name escapes me.

The single best course of our dinner was, for lack of a better description, his version of spaghetti carbonara. Without taking notes I have no idea what was in it but when I suggested the best version of this that I had ever had Dennis (a superb ambassador for this restaurant) said that this was how he would describe it in English for taste. (I should note that Dennis also has a great line in his presentation of the pigeon, "fresh from San Marco Square.")

We have not been to Da Vittorio-yet. We have been to Alle Testiere a number of times over the years having also promoted this restaurant on another board. It is one of my favorites in Italy. (A third restaurant that I have raved about-totally dissimilar from either Testiere or Calandre is Sostanza in Florence which has superb bisteca and a fantastic "meringue cake" which is off the menu. The oldest trattoria in Florence and quite "plain" yet on par with Peter Luger for steak. In fact virtually everyone of the thirty or so seats will have someone eating this. In the closet sized kitchen three inch thick cuts are grilled over charcoal after being cut to order and loudly "flattened" before grilling.) The desserts at Da Vittorio appear to remind me of a German three star, Schwarzwaldstube in Baierbronn. Have you been there? He has three dessert courses totalling about seven or eight dishes along with another 10 or so individual bites for the final "fattening."

For what it's worth I actually much prefer Le Calandre to Dal Pescatore. The latter had several dishes that I really enjoyed. In particular a rather basic one was her saffron risotto but the flavor was especially intense-she grows her own saffron! (I also remember having a rental car and leaving the window open several inches since it was a hot summer day. When I returned three or four hours later there was a layer of chicken feathers over the front seat and dashboard. This helped explain a particularly exquisite chicken dish which was one of the courses!) Still, the unique contrast of flavors, textures and temperature (particularly the amuse you noted-the tomato filled one was an "explosion," a literal burst of flavor!) along with unusual combinations and very personal style, for me, place Calandre on par with anything I have had in the past several years. Not just in Italy but in Europe.

I have not been to La Pergola in Rome either yet this is a restaurant that also intrigues me as does Uliassi in Senigallia. The latter I'll find a way to visit this spring.

Thanks again.

[vmilor]

Thanks for the nice comments to you all.

Cy, my wife is very appreciative of your comment.

Joe, I am intrigued about the German 3 stars in the black forest. From my own sources I know that it is one of the very best anywhere in the world. It is also a very hard place to get a reservation and one should plan well ahead of the time. I was in Munich for a conference and had 2 successive great meals at an Italian: Acquerello. I never got around to post but I recommend heartily. The owner is from Bergamo.

I never take notes when having dinner. I do nothing that detracts from sheer pleasure. Actually I do not even take photos. It is my wife who took them.

Who is Dennis by the way?

I also do not order the ready menus. I looked at the both menu at Le Calandre and also a la carte dishes and then I told them what I want to eat. It combined dishes from both menus and a la carte. I think the proliferation of menus with binary opposition of "traditional versus creative" in Italy is not a welcome development. It is pigeonholing the diner into one or the other camp unnecessarily.

[Joe H]

Dennis was a waiter who spoke particularly good English. He told me that he had worked for two years at the White Barn Inn in Kennebunkport. He had dark hair, probably in his late 20's, but had a great deal of enthusiasm.

You know, I'm not exactly certain IF he was a waiter! But he was superb and could have just as esily been the maitre d' or the sommelier. A wonderful ambassador for this restaurant who helped put the dinner over the top for us.

I agree with you about notes and photos. Honestly, I personally would just feel uncomfortable doing this; for me I want to experience the dinner and not focus on reporting on it. When someone else does it, I am deeply appreciative.

I have not been to Tantris in Munich but a very good friend of mine ("whose opinion I trust") has and really enjoyed it. This same friend has been to Calandre four or five times and most of the three stars in France. This is a post of mine from another board for a recent visit to Schwarzwaldstube:

http://www.chowhound.com/boards/intl/messages/32412.html

Both Schwarzwaldstube and Bareiss are in Baierbronn which MUST be one of the most beautiful places on earth. I went to Bareiss in May as part of a five or six country driving trip for business and wanted to reward myself for driving 3700 km in seven or eight days. Bareiss was superb! Perhaps as good (and "correct") of sevice as I have ever had in a restaurant in my life. And, I dined alone at "a table for one" (me) on a Saturday night! In a restaurant where, perhaps, one American a month comes for dinner every member of staff spoke perfect English! The same was true at Schwarzwaldstube.

I built my trip around the Bareiss reservation. For Schwarzwaldstube I was told that for Saturday dinner one should reserve AT LEAST six months in advance. For a weekday at least several months and occasionally a space opens at lunch on a weekday when they serve the exact same menu.

If you do go you should stay either there or Bareiss and go to both restaurants. Each is a "loss leader" for their respective hotels with each having another three or four restaurants where most go to who stay there. In America I would describe the rooms in both as being very similar in style and comfort to The Inn at Little Washington but at approximately one half the price. Dinner at each has Prix fixe about E 125 to E 135; both have superb wine lists and are fairly priced (considering the Euro!). Bareiss has a fantastic cellar that you can tour.

Similar to Calandre you will find that each table for two is really a table for four and each table for four is really a table for six. Additionally each of the eight tables at Schwarzwaldstube have a smaller side table for wine service. Bareiss wine service incorporates exquisite Topazio Portuguese crystal decanters that they also sell in a shop for about E 500 to 700. I collect wine decanters and these are among the most beautiful I have seen.

I have no shame sometimes: I'll order a prix fixe and then ask for an additional course if its not art of this!

By the way, I've also found that Italian in Germany can be exceptional in a number of places. Further, the image that most Americans (I live near Washington, D. C. in Reston, VA) have of the best German restaurants is as far from reality as could be. Successive dinners at both the three star Schwarzwaldstube and the two star Bareiss, for me, would equal much of the rest of Europe. I don't mean to use so much hyperbole having just raved about Calandre but Schwarzwaldstube is also a world class restaurant that probably has the best dessert course (s)I've ever experienced.

Your photos of the Italian invite a first person comparison!!

Edited December 13, 2004 by Joe H (log)

[paulbrussel]

vmilor: thank you very much for your description of the meal! Like Joe (who happened to be there at the very same evening as I was), I had a few of the same dishes as you had.

The Taglioni al fumo con burro, acciughe e sfoglie di turolo, was indeed very special.

Nevertheless I found overall the meal less creative as expected. But Massimiliano Alajmo didn't believe at all in "creativity", but more in "personality" and especially using the ingredients and recipes of the region, giving them a more modern interpretation. In that way, he fits for me more in the tradition of Santi Santamaria then of Ferran Adrià.

In a way, I also found Cracco in Milano and the German chef at La Pergola perhaps more creative then Alajmo.

Service I found by the way excellent at Le Calandre, as was the wine list and the maître-sommelier!

By the way, when some members of the staff noticed that we didn't understood Italian, all dishes were explained by members who did speak English very well.

[Joe H]

One of the best meals I have ever had was at El Raco de Can Fabes on a night when Santimaria was hosting a visiting two star chef at the table next to us. I asked to be served the same dinner as he and 17 courses later it-up until then-was the best dinner of my life. We returned four days later with two other couples and asked for the same dinner. It was not "exactly" available and we ended up with what amounted to his "classic" which lacked four or five of the most exquisite and complex courses of the first evening.

Overall, my wife preferred our dinner at Le Calandre more last year than this. There were a half dozen outstanding dishes on that including "fish and chips Venezia style" which was an extraordinary adaptation which included him brewing his own beer to accompany it. This year seemed to be more creative in a diffrent way and included more play with "horizontal" texture and with NO PLAY with layering flavor and texture in a glass or container. Last year there were at least three courses which included three to five layers in a 2 to 3" wide glass approximately 3 or 4 inches deep. These variously incorporated contrasting texture, temperature as well as sweet/sour, sharp/smooth, etc. sensations as well as "crunch followed by smooth warmth" if you will. Then, we were instructed to take the spoon and "dig" down to the very bottom of the container and then pull the spoon straight up so that approximately equal amounts of each layer was on the spoon.

These were all extraordinary, all "Great" dishes. (In America I've had two similarly styled dishes at Maestro outside of Washington, D. C.)

We had none of these on Saturday. Rather, as you experienced whatever "layering" of ingredients/textures, etc. was done on a flat or shallow plate with, for me, a different reaction than what I had experienced the previous year.

The dinners were totally different from each other and seemed to actually go in different directions, attempting to accomplish different sensations. These "layered" flavors in glasses were real strengths of Massimiliano as was an extraordinary black risotto that he served as part of last December's dinner.

I would not necessarily say that for myself this dinner was "less" than last year's, rather that it was different. Still, an extraordinary experience that I personally believe is the equal of any in Europe today. Several of these layered glasses would have put it over the top for me. I'm sorry that I don't have any photos and have forgotten (if I even knew!) the descriptions.

The "spaghetti carbonara" was not part of last year and along with a course which incorporated beets, I thought the two best of the evening.