October 15, 2021
Within the pantheon of greatest pasta dishes you’ve ever eaten is the Fettucine ai Gamberoni Imperiali (Fettucine with Shrimp) at Giovanni Pina in Central (there’s also a branch in the K11 Musea). The fresh pasta -- from a combination of 00 flour, semolina, and whole eggs -- was rolled by rolling-pin and sliced by hand. Unlike many mushy rivals, it had remarkable bite and its sensual, irregular shape was optimal for adhering sauce. This dish was not at all the same old same old, farm-raised shrimp and reduced cream a la Red Lobster. You’re pretty certain it was based on intense shrimp stock or glaze made with sauteed shrimp shells with tomato and cream then added (it was hard to get the details of what goes into each dish because of language difficulties). Strained and reduced, it was served with whole, deveined shrimp, heads-on, imported from Italy. You’re pretty sure they were blast frozen the instant they were hauled ship-board, losing no flavor or texture. It was super shrimpy funky scrumptious. Pontificating pasta pundits say you should never put parmesan on a pasta dish containing seafood but you wanted it here.
Their French Fries were not among the best you’ve ever had. They were the best. Though just double-fried, they somehow managed to outclass the excellent triple-fried bad characters at Jean May and Rubia. You don’t know how they did it, but it’s undeniable. (You wonder if there was some kind of coating on them which enhanced their crispness. No one could tell you.) They came hot, greaseless with extravagantly flavorful truffled mayonnaise. Tour-de-force!
Your meal actually started with Polpo alla Griglia (grilled octopus) and Affettati e Formaggi (a platter of Italian cold-cuts and cheese). The grilled octopus, served with salad, was quite good, but you’re almost positive it wasn’t done over charcoal which would have lofted it higher. Nor was it crisped, charred, or lightly blistered which is what you believe this dish requires for maximum flavor, as they do it at Machneyuda – where the servers match you drink for drink -- in Jerusalem. There was a Romesco sauce with it that you liked so much you wanted more.
The cold cuts, mortadella, prosciutto, pepperoni, were excellent standard fare. There were two cheeses which you thought were too mild and too similar. On the side, were wonderful pearl onions slow cooked in balsamic vinegar (you think) that at first you mistook for stewed figs they were so sweet.
Still, their hand-sliced Jamón ibérico probably would have been a more interesting choice. You could see its hoof peeking over the window sill of the glass-enclosed kitchen, beckoning you.
Bread was only fair, nowhere near killer like Amber’s or Levain’s or Bakehouse’s or Brut’s or Mono’s. This surprised you given this restaurant’s bakery chops.
For the meat courses they gave you a box of knives from which to choose. Your knives were sharp and had heft which you liked.
Your wife ordered Wagyu al Foie Gras (filet mignon medium rare with seared foie gras in a black currant sauce). The dish didn’t click. Ordered medium rare, it came (as confirmed by your gracious server) medium well done which by itself will ruin any fine piece of meat. The foie gras was slightly overcooked (it should have come au point) and oddly flavorless which was baffling. There was also some sinew remaining in it which put your wife off. The sauce was too sweet and the taste of currant indistinct. Some fresh currants strewn over at the last moment would have helped in this respect.
You had Costata di Agnello al Pistacchio (a rack of lamb, crusted with chopped pistachios), artfully plated with a mélange of vegetables and mashed potato. You asked for the lamb medium rare but it came medium (probably because it kept cooking on the plate from residual heat) which may seem trivial but isn’t. The sauce, based on some kind of reduction, was tasty though not memorable, as were all the other components. Doneness aside, the dish was good, not great. A more interesting sauce – for instance, mint -- would have done it wonders.
You felt the food could use more salt. In fact, salt might have been the missing ingredient necessary to enliven the foie gras. There’s no salt (or pepper) provided on the table. Instead, they bring an elegant glass cloche containing a stone of pink Himalayan salt that looks like an idol in a shrine. The server dons black gloves (salt grating gloves?) and grates it onto a plate which they pour over the food. The restaurant clearly has ambitions of elegance with this but the process is far too clunky. By the time you flag down a server, they don gloves, they bring the salt over, they grate it onto a plate, and pour it on your food, your food has cooled. And then, what if you want more salt? The process must repeat. A salt grinder or small bowl of salt really belongs on the table. A pepper grinder too. Please.
You split three desserts. You adored the rum raisin gelato, notable for its silkiness and the rumminess of the raisins.
You got two pastries, a Saint Honoré and a Grazia, a Vanilla Mouse with Cold Semi-Candied Strawberries - Dacquoise. Both were as beautiful as Christmas tree ornaments. And both were less than exemplary.
The Saint Honoré supposedly contained Grand Marnier. Though you and your wife paid sharp attention, you couldn’t detect its taste. It was a bit dry.
The Grazia was sweet but neither of you could distinguish any specificity of flavor. It was sweet with a flavor you would call unidentifiable/non-specific, certainly not vanilla. You felt it was slightly over-gelatanized. It was described as a Dacquoise. In your experience (and this is confirmed when you check on line) a Dacquoise is a pastry made with layers of crisp meringue. Perhaps in Italy, Dacquoise has another meaning. Though the two of you were keenly attentive, you could detect no meringue whatsoever.
The restaurant is top-cabin as though you’re sitting in a high-end, inside-out hatbox. It reminds you of the tony restaurants in the flagship department stores of New York City (e.g., Macy’s) of your childhood, the kind of restaurant where little girls sported patent leather Mary Janes, their moms’ fur stoles, and expensive perfumes intermingled. In your mind, this is the sort of restaurant that Eloise’s mother would have taken her to when she’s in town. (You do know the classic Eloise pictures books, don’t you? If not, read them pronto!)
Servers wore earpieces, as though they were moonlighting Secret Service agents. They were distinctly gracious and helpful. You’re used to being assigned one server and in this case it seemed as though several helped interchangeably, like they had overlapping territories. This was mildly confusing when it came to calling upon a server for help. You couldn’t quite figure out who exactly your server was.
High culinary intelligence animates the kitchen. The spectacular pasta dish couldn’t have been made elsewise. However, based on your small sampling, it seems possible to you that the restaurant hasn’t quite got its groove yet when it comes to precision cooking meats or saucing. They’ve only been open a short while which could be why.
You would have predicted spectacular pastries. After all, pastries are this restaurant’s calling card. Maybe it was just chance but yours were meh.
There are many more menu items which may well be spectacular, including fish and pizzas. Based on what you ate, you advise aiming for the pastas and the gelatos (and it’s vital you get the frites) Then revel in the swanky setting, and you’ll have a top tier Italian meal.
Rating (on a scale of 0 to 5)
Food overall: 3.5
Ambience: 4
Service: 3.5
Overall greatness: 3.5
Restaurants are intuitively rated within their particular realms. So Michelin restaurants, pizza places and stand-up sandwich joints are judged against like restaurants, not each other. A 5 for a high-end restaurant is not meant to be the same as a 5 for street food.
From my website, here’s how I rate food: “I believe the quality of a restaurant’s food is vastly more important than any other factor. Even if I love a restaurant’s food, I’m very conservative about giving out 4’s or 5’s. I reserve 4’s for food that is uniformly excellent. Preponderantly excellent tends to get a lower score. 5’s are for food that is uniformly stunning.”
This meal was comped.
Giovanni Pina
G/F, Two Chinachem Plaza, 135 Des Voeux Road Central