03-10-2017
Stefano Baiocco, great chef at Villa Feltrinelli in Gargano, on the Brescian side of Lake Garda. First star in 2007, second in 2014
Our dinner at Villa Feltrinelli, starting from the appetizers. Here Datterino all'arrabbiata (photo by Lido Vannucchi)
Cauliflower gravel (photo by Lido Vannucchi)
Vegetal toast (photo by Lido Vannucchi)
Ravioli with beetroot, salmon and lime (photo by Lido Vannucchi)
Zabaglione and dried sturgeon biscuit (photo by Lido Vannucchi)
Gazpacho with cherries and scampi (photo by Massimo Loda): scampi tails marinated with citrus zest, vegetable crudité and cherry gazpacho
Carpaccio with dehydrated watermelon, ovuli, Parmigiano, lettuce leaves and lettuce cream
Tutto pomodoro (photo by Massimo Loda)
Tiramisù di porcini (photo by Vincenzo Matteo Lonati), this dish is three years old but is already a classic. It has savoiardi soaked in porcini water, salted mascarpone, cocoa powder and porcini
Raviolo "al verde" (photo by Lido Vannucchi), an extraordinary dish: pasta with chlorophyll filled with wild herbs and goat cheese, seasonal vegetables (blanched chards, asparagus, roasted friggitello) and crushed basil. Incredible vegetal echoes in a rich and elegant first course
Risotto al "corallo": Carnaroli creamed with butter and lobster coral, salmon roe, powdered lobster coral and prawn legs, grapefruit juice. «I was already making butter with lobster coral in the days at Pinchiorri»
Rabbit kidney, taggiasche olives, broth of cod in the style of Ancona, a dish that Baiocco dedicates to his homeland
Barba di rombo: the fattest part of the turbot is roasted and glazed with diavola sauce. It’s paired with a cream of whole wheat bread cooked in vinegar, plus sour cream, shallot, mozzarella water and Sirk vinegar. A fantastic dish
Agnello Dorset Crown: Dorset Crown lamb fillet slowly cooked with oil, butter and herbs, cream of almonds, caper flowers and jus of roasted peppers aromatized with cardamom. Another unforgettable dish, lamb reinvented with an eastern charm
...una semplice Insalata
Amelia in the photo by Richard Haughton. We wrote about it here: Baiocco and the cake dedicated to kitchen hand Amelia
La Banana: banana Bavarian cream, caramelised and salted pumpkin seeds, cream of umeboshi, cream of black garlic, scales of Parmigiano
La Vecchia Gargnano, that is to say Lake Garda interprets the Mediterranean Sea: lemon mousse, olive oil, caper ice cream, white chocolate wafer, Sancho pepper
At the end of a marvellous dinner, a question comes natural: «How come such a talented, young and creative chef like you chose to be faithful to hotel catering for 17 years now, with all its pros and cons?». Stefano Baiocco hesitates a moment: not because he’s unprepared – in fact, he must have wondered a million times – but because he knows the issue well, and never gave himself a definitive answer. Then he explains his choice.
«Here I feel at ease, and it’s fine for me. Of course at first I had adapt. I realised I had to create a double track, gourmet dishes on one side, and caprese for those requesting it on the other». These difficulties have in fact stimulated his creativity, instead of discouraging him. At Villa Feltrinelli he can afford the luxury of working – intensely – for six/seven months per year (the last service is on Saturday 7th: be quick), then the hotel closes and he can focus on research, on travelling. At the moment he also oozes a special energy: «During the winter break, we’ll pull down the kitchen. I can’t wait. It will be a Ferrari. I can’t sleep at night. I’ve been cherishing this project for two years now. I designed it myself, with Marrone», and he walks you to see the pass that will no longer be there, the area for the new stoves, and so on, as happy as a child on Christmas Eve.
Villa Feltrinelli in a photo by Richard Haughton
Carefully separated tomatoes...
...and their model
It is for this reason that his cooking is always dynamic. On our visit – all the dishes are in the photo-gallery – we tasted delicacies «I’ve always prepared» like...a simple Insalata, that is, or Amelia, a charming dessert thus renamed recently, here’s why: Baiocco and the dessert dedicated to kitchen hand Amelia. But then many others were only born this year: Ravioli “al verde”, truly perfect; Risotto al “corallo”; Rabbit kidney, up to the dessert, La Banana and La Vecchia Gargnano.
One year later, the kitchen was suffering: Baiocco had been sous chef at Rossellinis in Palazzo Sasso, now Avino, in Ravello, with Pino Lavarra for three years. He got a call, asking him to go to Gargnano, «but I said no. I was about to go to Ferran Adrià», the engagement with Lake Garda was postponed, but just a little.
Photo by Lido Vannucchi
Though he hasn’t moved since 2004, this is not because he’s settled. This is proven by the number of internships in these years (Andoni Luis Aduriz, the Roca brothers, Quique Dacosta, Pascal Barbot, Dani Garcia, Seiji Yamamoto and in a kaiseki restaurant, Kikunoi in Kyoto); and by their variety, which gives the idea of an omnivorous and multifaceted chef, of a professional whose thirst for knowledge is never satisfied; it is proven, above all, by his cooking, which is the most important thing of all. Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
An outdoor trip or a journey to the other side of the planet? One thing is for sure: the destination is delicious, by Carlo Passera
by
journalist born in 1974, for many years he has covered politics, mostly, and food in his free time. Today he does exactly the opposite and this makes him very happy. As soon as he can, he dives into travels and good food. Identità Golose's editor in chief