Pasquale Laera, plenty of Langhe and a Mediterranean touch

«I want to smell the aromas, the pan, the frying, the mirepoix. I like strong flavours. I serve Italian food that tries to respect the nature and tradition of the Langhe. Aromas are important, because too often I see lots of attention paid to aesthetics, and too little to flavours. I love fonds: I spend 15 or 16 hours in the kitchen each day, and it’s a triumph of pheasant, veal, capon, pigeon fonds…». Trimalcionly impeccable, pantagruelianly exalting, gargantuanly inviting: one could say that given his young age, Pasquale Laera, born in Gioia del Colle in 1988, goes against the tide while the culinary mainstream leads to frugal banquets, an oxymoron, and culinary accounts lead to sobriety instead of pleasure for the palate; in other words we’ve moved from light-hearted dissipation to dining while keeping an eye on sustainability and waistline.

Things are different here. We’re in the Langhe, the land of orgasmic culinary fantasies and of products “all the world envies us”, to use a cliché; plus Laera is a disciple of Mediterranean Neoclassic Cuisine, and with French accents too, its first author being that big man called Antonino Cannavacciuolo, his master. 

This is how it went, more or less, in the kitchen of La Rei, the gourmet restaurant at Il Boscareto Resort: when in 2013 Cannavacciuolo started directing the restaurant’s offer, he chose Laera, his sous at Villa Crespi, a kid at the time, at 25, as his executive chef. Three years later, when the contract between Antonino and Il Boscareto ended, patron Valentina Dogliani called Laera and basically said: «Pasquale, don’t go. Stay here, I’ll give you the helm of the restaurant». He accepted with no hesitation.

Dogliani, as we saw, is one of the main actors in this story and thus deserves an extra note. She’s director-owner-general manager and host of the resort, born in 2009, the only five-stars locally, «I took care of it since its birth, and I followed its growth step by step, as if it were a child». It has 38 rooms, on her family’s estate, some of the most famous wine producers in the Langhe: vineyards since 1978 with winery Beni di Batasiolo (with vineyards in La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Barolo, Bricco di Vergne and of course in Serralunga d’Alba).

«The whole area was lacking a luxury resort that would satisfy the needs of clients who come here attracted by truffles and wine»; of course, on top of a structure with all the necessary frills, including a beautiful spa, we also needed a proper restaurant. At first, we handed it to Gian Piero Vivalda of Antica Corona Reale in Cervere, who sent his trusted Chen Shiqin – Piedmontese of Chinese origins. Then, as we saw, came Cannavacciuolo. And as of two years ago, Laera is here “solo”.

He shows his energy by directing a brigade of 12 people, and seating maximum seventy. In our meal, we noticed a great soundness above all: he gave an excellent interpretation of the great tradition of the Langhe, an essential part of the menu (the Vitello “tonnè”, that is to say the veal without tuna was delicious. It starts from the tradition of cooking meat “in concia” with vinegar, anchovies and capers, elements that also appear in this beautiful dish, together with dehydrated egg. The tajarin and plin were also remarkable). As for the main courses (sweetbreads, delicious, then pheasant and pigeon…) we have the opulent flavours we described earlier, and without hesitating on fonds and, in general, on flavour. Sometimes even too much, we could say: here and there one feels the need for a “cleaner” dish, to reset the taste buds.

This task is something the chef is capable of, as proven by the entrées: Laera here proves he knows how to use (even) milder colours, he shows an elegant hand and a voice that can scream goodness and whisper harmony too. Raw meat, turnip tops, mayonnaise of sea urchins, kombu seaweed and Murazzano is a perfect proof of this. It’s a sort of geographical short circuit that elegantly overlaps Langhe, the Mediterranean Sea and Japan (where Laera worked. His curriculum also includes an internship at Geranium in Copenhagen); and the even more spectacular Raw amberjack, beetroots in carpione and pepper sauce, perfect and essential. Then, well, given it’s truffle season, there’s not much to add.

A final note of merit goes to the dining room: maître-sommelier Fabio Mirici Cappa is a great professional, he knows what he’s about. (In the photo gallery by Tanio Liotta our long series of tastings)
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso