Eating Italy: Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, Lake Como

The Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio runs a superb restaurant.

Situated on the northernmost tip of the southern lip of Lake Como, it juts out into the lake, commanding a wonderful view of the beautiful lake. I attended a Lange sponsored dinner at the hotel's restaurant. Begining 2012, Lange is one of the sponsors of the Concorso d'Eleganza della Villa D'Este, to be held in Cornobbio the following day. Our table ovelook the hotel's pool, which in turn overlooks the lake.

Amuse bouche

I am not sure what the amuse bouche was...the waiter did not explain, and it was not listed in the menu. I didn't really quite like the amuse...but it was decidedly not spectacular in any way.

The first course was the reverse...spectacular in every way...it was a serving of crunchy prawns with mixed greens and citrus salad

The prawns were indeed crunchy and very sweet. Super fresh. The pastry which wrapped the prawns were light, crisp and broke to the touch...not a tad of grease was detected, though I am sure it was deep fried. The greens wer also fresh, light, and the salad dressing was quite superb.

The next course was also quite spectacular...a homemade ravioli with cottage cheese and spinach, fondant egg yolk, parmesan cheese and truffle.

Very tasty as well...except for the truffle, though looked like a fairly generous shaving, it lacked punch and taste. The aroma of truffle itself was very mild. But the ravioli was perfect. The pasta done superbly...al dente, and bursting within the stuffing.

For mains, we were served the loin of veal cooked in olive oil, fried potato and broccoli tartare and baby aubergine

In a word superb. The meat was done to perfection. The meat was glorious. The texture - text book perfect. The meat was tender but at the same time provided a bit of resistance. A light lingering taste of milk fed to the calf remained. Very good.

Next a show of sorts...the desssert was coffee cream with chocolate cookie with a nitrogen frozen Calvados ice cream. Liquid nitrogen was poured into the bowl of milk, briskly and expertly stirred, and served. All done in situ, right by the table side.

Judging by how busy this little team of waiters were making the calvados ice cream, this is indeed a popular dish.

Excellent meal. I overheard someone saying that the restaurant had one Michelin star, but searching the web sources, I could not confirm it. But the meal I had was spectacular, and worthy a Michelin star.

Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni
Via Roma, 1
22021 Bellagio Como, Italia
+39 031 950216

Eating in Italy: Gatto Nero in Cernobbio...George Clooney's favouirite restaurant

Cernobbio, by the shores of Lake Como is a beautiful place. The villas surrounding the lake testify the natural beauty and serinity of the place...the rich and famous have long made their holiday vacations here. The villa used by the recuperating Bond in the latest Casino Royale is by those shores, and not too far away, the villa of George Clooney. And yet a short distance the private retreat of Richard Branson. And up in the little mountain...will be a challenging bicycle ride...some 200m elevation, and I counted more than 6 switchbacks on the steep road up to the little restaurant.

A favourite of George Clooney, this restaurant has seen its share of paparazzi stalking the famous actor trying to catch a photograph of him and his latest squeeze. But we were there for an altogether different reason...for the excellent cuisine and the view to die for....the view from my seat, by the window of the town of Cernobbio.

I was invited as part of the press group from A. Lange & Sohne, joining the dinner was organized by BMW Classic Cars, hosted by Press Head Manfred Grunert. The starters...parma ham and cheese

Needless to say, top quality and absolutely delicious. Note the lean-ness of the parma ham...despite the lack of marbling, was very nicely flavoured and packs a nice wallop.

The wines, Italian, of course

And we started with the first course..primo piatti

A dumpling of sorts...the filo pastry was ultra light, and very crisp. The shredded beef filling was tender, almost to the point of melting. But I found it to be a bit over salted.

Secondi piatti

A lasagna of sorts, but not the usual kind. Within the stack was a very bitter vegetable...my Swiss friend seated next to me loved it, but I found the bitter core a bit disturbing. Not my favourite dish.

Main course, was a seared ahi tuna

This was absolutely marvellous. The tuna was fresh...tender, and had a beautiful flavour and texture. The grilling was done just right, with a nice pink interior, and this time too, the chef made a light sprinkling of sea salt, which elevated the taste. Very very good.

For desserts, home made tiramisu

Truly superb. The entire ensemble melted in the mouth, exploding with the flavours of the alcohol, the cheese, the cream and the chocholate. Marvellous.

We had rounds of limoncello and espressos, and at 11pm, fireworks!

As ordered by BMW...the fireworks were part of the finale celebrations of the Concorso d'Eleganza being held at the Villa D'Este just below Gatto Nero. I had also attended the Concorso, where the most desirable vintage cars were paraded, and judged.

Quite excellent restaurant...we were a group of about 20 that evening...perhaps the kitchen was a bit harrassed...and had a touch too much salt in my first course. But service was excellent. And the food otherwise good...other than my disagreement with the bitter vegetable, which I chalk up as my own inability to cope with a new taste. Recommended if you are in the Lake Como area. Beautiful, romantic restaurant.

RISTORANTE GATTO NERO
V. MONTE SANTO 69
CERNOBBIO (CO), Italy
Tel. 031 512042

Eating in Italy: Far Out! Bellagio

Italy...what a country. Some of my best friends hail from there...the food, the people, the scenery...wonderful.

I am in Bellagio, a tiny little town by the shores of the beautiful Lake Como...and for lunch, I wandered around...not wanting to eat at the hotel. I spotted this little place, somewhat up a slope just by the lake.

Being a tourist town, the waiter spoke good English, and the menu was multi lingual. Of course I wanted pasta...and the special of the day was Very Hot Spagetti in tomato sauce...when I asked the waiter "How hot?" he said, "Very hot...whooh!!"...I took the chance and ordered it anyway...

While I awaited the spagetti, a bread basket, with the typical hard long bread sticks...which I only found in Italy.

This was flat, not the classically round one, and lightly encrusted at some places with salt. Very tasty...I also had the house wine on offer...only Euro6 per half bottle.

Certainly no grande cru, but very excellent table wine. Smooth, flavourful. Deep dark hue.

And then the pasta was presented

Excellent. Al dente as only the Italians in Italy can manage. The spiciness was rather mild to my peranakan tongue. The tomato sauce's sharp tart notes was very nicely balanced with richness of olive oil. Simple, but very nice.

Nice meal, on a budget...total costing less than Euro 15 with an espresso.

Restorante Far Out!
Salita Mella 4, Bellagio (CO) -
Telefono: 031/951743
e-mail: info@faroutbellagio.com

Walkabout eats in Milan

I found myself in Milan again, and thought of eating Italian in Italy...hmm, makes my mouth water. Pizza (done correctly!), pasta (made properly), and bistecca alla Florentina.


Duomo Milano, the grand cathederal at the city center

Milano...an industrial city, some say. A place for style, others claim. But for me, Milano is always the big city (figuratively of course), when I spent time in my early career in Monza, attending meetings in a facility at Vimercate.


Tagliatelle alla Ragu...tagliatelle, in a meat tomato sauce at Da Willy, a chain restaurant in Milan

oops, sidetracking...back to food and steaks...It does not help that my friend Massi, a true Florentine, sings supreme about the beef in his home city. Bistecca is a product of Tuscany, where Florence (or Firenze, as the Italians call it) is a part of. I was in Florence as a day trip from Milan (again more later), but unfortunately travelling alone has its problems...one cannot order bistecca Florentina...as it is meant for at least 2...typically being sold by the kilogram.



So what is a man to do...but more of that later...

The market was abound with fresh and cured meats:



and beautiful cheeses



I did not have the time to seek out the temples of dining in Milan...but this time, I thought, what if I just wandered around, and ate at wherever I was at...seeking out what the locals and tourists would supp on.

I found the coffee...or cafe as the Italians refer to their espresso, is not always as wonderful as in the best bars (or in our Singapore cafes like Oriole and Papa Palheta, where the ristretto is truly a ristretto. In one of the small cafes I stumbled on...near via Monte Napoleone, I spied a nice espresso machine.



I ordered a doppio (double espresso), and when served, I took a seat at one of the tables...big mistake...which I was to found out later...a doppio at the bar...standing would cost Euro1.8, at the table, with the cover charge...it came out to be Euro6. Big difference!

Anyway, the espresso was nowhere near where Papa and Oriole can whip up. It was still good coffee, but not a nice, thick, syrupy pull.



But one of the things the Italians do right is pizza...unlike the Americans with their thick crust, oily pizza, the Italians have theirs done right. Super hot oven, dry, thin, crispy dough. And beautiful ingredients.



Quarto Formaggi...four cheeses. Divine! Interestingly also in Italy, pizza is served uncut. The diner cuts it into pieces according to his own needs.

The crust is thin, baked crisp, almost like a biscuit, and dusted gently with some of the flour.



Curiously in this restaurant, they serve a vino rosso - red wine, house pour in a carafe, chilled. It had an interesting almost efferverscent taste. Very refershing and quite nice.

I round off this blog entry with a look at the classical Italian humour...this huge sclupture outside the Bourse...the Stock Exchange...