VZCZ Food: June 2011

Dal Pescatore, Canneto Sul Oglio

The last time I was here was in 1996, 15 years ago, and it was very good then, even better this time. The Santini family holds a firm grip over this establishment, their son was 10 when I was here last, now he is part of the team that delivers their magic.

Classic and stylish dining room.,

Tomato terrine wrapped in Aubergine brings back memories of a similar terrine years ago.

Pickeled eel with lobster terrine with caviar and capers, pea sauce.

Pumpkin ravioli with parmeggiano reggiano, excellent (and hot villa crespi)

Gnocchi with sea bass, olives, tomato, basil, fried fennel, broccoli. Wow.

Triangular ravioli filled with burrata (mozzarelle like cheese), reggiano. Subtle and direct.

dentice fish with tomato,olive oil, spring onion, Mediterranean taste. Superb.

Breast of duck with sauce of Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena and mostardo di fruita.

Local cheese

Selection of sorbets, look no paco jet.

Chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream

Ristretto and grappa from Romano Levi

Dal Pescatore is one of those places you want to return to, family style cooking on a very high level. Worth 3 stars without a doubt. Recommended!

Locanda degli Artisti, Capella de Picenardi

Fantastic honest food with clearly accented flavors, make a detour if you are ever in the area.

I started off with tartar with yellow peppers, zuchini and balsamico, a dish I will certainly copy myself.

Then a local meat filled ravioli with a vegetable sauce, excellent (and warm, take that Villa Crespi)

Then seabass with olives and cellery and potatoes, wow.

I am sure dessert would have been great, but alas, no room for that. Must be hungry for Dal Pescatore tonight.

Villa Crespi, Orta San Guilo

A nice hotel in a villa built in the Moorish style, after having spent 1 hour to drive 10 km as the GPS in my rental car failed to cooperate I finally arrived and was pleased to find I had been upgraded to a suite.

The food however, while several dishes where very good, failed to impress much overall. The place reeks of the 5 star hotel curse. They try too hard to cater to the rich clientele who probably frequents the place. There was a large range of amuse-bouche, all of which were bland and uninteresting. Bread selection was vast, but none of them where any good, except perhaps for the grissini. Why not focus one or two?

None of the dishes where warm, tepid at best. The kitchen is obviously not paying much attention.

The wine menu, turned out to consist of sparkling wine, mostly champagne. While champagne is good, I fail to see why they would serve that with every dish, certainly not in Italy.

Terrible Iberian pork, I had to send it back to the kitchen, as it tasted of cod liver oil.

When settling the bill I found it was unusually steep, and indeed on closer inspection they had charged me twice for the food. Clearly a sign that they are used to clients who do not pay much attention.

My advice is to pass on this place. Try Al Soriso in Soriso instead, just 10 km away.

Schauenstein, Furstenau

This is the latest restaurant in Switzerland to be awarded 3 Michelin stars, and I tried to book a table for this summer back in January, but was unsuccessful. But I was on the waiting list and was fortunate enough to secure a table for lunch on Saturday 25th of June.

It was a revelation, some of the best food I ever had.