Pascoli part 1

How good does a meal have to be if it took three years to make it happen and how much would you be willing to pay for that meal?

Have I got you curious?

Imagine a group of friends that have been talking about organizing an adults only dinner for 3 years.  Well not to long ago 10 of those friends, me and my DH included, finally managed to organize suitable child-care and went to an incredible restaurant for the meal of a lifetime.

Every meal I eat from here on end will be compared to the meal we had at Pascoli. 

I will warn you right now that this was an expensive meal, even by Milanese standards. This meal cost more per person than my wedding did – but it was worth every cent.  All the ingredients are fresh, organic and local. The menu is seasonal and depends on what the chef found at the market that morning. You cannot count on finding your favourite dish if the ingredients aren’t in season or weren’t up to the chef’s standards, but you can count on excellent dishes year round.

The attention to detail in every dish was a gift and the tastes and textures were something out of this world. The restaurant is run by a husband and wife team that have dedicated themselves to a pursuit of excellence that is staggering.

He is the chef and she is the sommelier and together they have created something very, very special.

It is off the beat track but the gardens around it and the décor are elegant yet welcoming at the same time.

 

 Today I am going to focus on the antipasti, otherwise this post would take days to read.

 Zucchini blossoms stuffed with herb seasoned ricotta served on a bed of chickpea purée.

 This dish was divine, seasoned to perfection and all the flavours worked together beatifully. The softness of the ricotta was balanced by the texture of the blossoms and the chickpea purée was perfect. A drop of creme fraiche finished the dish off nicely.

Pan seared, walnut crusted shrimp on a pea purée.

Looks like good old breaded shrimp right? Wrong, this went beyond that old familiar favourite. The *breading* was crushed walnuts and the shrimp were quick fried which resulted in a crisp exterior and a soft, warm, rare shrimp inside. Perhaps not to everyone’s taste and although the chef offered to cook them well done if anyone wished, I chose to eat them they way he made them and I am glad I did. The shrimp had a sweetness and delicate taste to it that would have been lost if cooked further. It was served with a breaded artichoke which was delightful.

 Octopus and potato salad with olive oil and fennel sauce.

This twist on an Italian classic was served cold, the octopus very thinly sliced and arranged over a bed of puréed potatoes and then drizzeled with organic extra virgin olive oil and a cold fennel sauce. To say that it was superb would be an understatement.

Tuna carpaccio on a bed of warm potatoes.

It sounds like nothing, tuna + potatoes = ??, but believe me when I tell you that this dish was so much more than the sum of its parts.

Once again everything was perfectly seasoned and the textures worked together beautifully.

All of these appetizers were served with the restaurant’s own bread, small rolls made with all organic ingredients, the size of an egg and served constantly throughout the evening – a couple were even still a little warm in the middle!

Coming soon: the primi.

Buon appetito and happy blogging.