Chic Valtellina

The Charming Italian Chef (Chic) association gathered on the occasion of their annual congress on Sunday 5th and Monday 6th in Colico, at the end of lake Como, towards Valtellina. It’s no surprise Valtellina has been the ultimate protagonist of this event, which had as its star performer local chef Stefano Masanti who had the chance to present, in the best possible way, his new (it opened early this year) Masanti’s, the lake version of Cantinone in Madesimo – the latter is still the point of reference of the two.

In the beach environment of the Seven Park Hotel, where the restaurant is located, a gala dinner with dishes presented by the Chic chefs from the valley took place on Sunday. They were sided, on the occasion, by Mauro Elli of Il Cantuccio in Albavilla, +39.031.628736 and “intruder” (he’s not a member of the association but he’s nonetheless a historic starred chef) Andrea Tonola of Lanterna Verde in Villa di Chiavenna. Despite the terrible weather on the first day, with the wind whistling and getting into your bones and the low clouds that made this corner of Lombardy more hostile and similar to some spot in Transylvania, the evening had some very interesting moments thanks, most of all, to the dishes that were presented.

And the only red drink that was abundantly poured was certainly not Count Dracula’s favourite, but the more pleasant local Nebbiolo. Dishes, moreover, reserved some great surprises: from the photogenic Porto Santo Spirito squid tagliatelle, breaded but not cooked, with lemon, fennel and squid ink cream (by Neapolitan emerging chef Antonio Borruso of Gimmy’s, in Passo dell’Aprica), to the unusual pairing proposed by the host with the Prawns with goat from Madesimo. The latter is a dish full of character and with some very uncommon contrasts on the palate.

Praise, however needs also to be given to the delicious and extremely tender Rabbit with two cooking methods, with foie gras Rougiè by Mattias Peri, of the Chalet Mattias restaurant in Livigno. After all, that the event would have been a success had already been preannounced thanks to the presence, during the aperitif, of lots of Cadoret oysters, which put everyone in a good mood. Having said this, and after reminding that some valid ambassadors of wine produced in Valtellina were also present (the funny and young producers of Dirupi, among others), with precious bottles such as Terrazzi Alti’s Superiore Sassella, Boffalora’s “Pietrisco” and Mamete Prevostini’s Sforzato Albareda, the two day event later included among its top moments a trip to Gerola Alta for the close observation of the mythical Bitto Storico cheese produced by Ciapparelli.

Finally, after lunch on Monday, again we were at Stefano Masanti’s and followed the tradition of the valley with some Pizzoccheri and Sciatt as the main protagonists – with lots of satisfaction for president Marco Sacco (of Piccolo Lago in Verbania) and of some chef from other regions who was also present. From Luca Collami of Baldin (in Genova Sestri) to Riccardo Agostini of Piastrino in Pennabilli.