The genius of all things small

Maybe Andrea Stella and his trattoria dalla Libera will never receive a Michelin star: he’s too much of an “anti-personage” and his restaurant, at first glance, is a simple, pleasant, old trattoria, that’s not even easy to find, slipped, as it is, in between houses, cottages and tiny streets. Nevertheless, there’s nothing missing here: not the great and passionate cellar (see it to believe it), not the helpful, smiling service, with a gentleness of other times. Not to mention the genius in the kitchen.

Andrea – who went straight to the kitchen (and now he’s been there for twenty years) to help his aunt Libera (this is the reason behind the small “d” in the name of the establishment – “della” means “of”) – is a genius of all things small, of the ingredients picked outside the backdoor (the kitchen garden, with something like a hundred aromatic herbs, is right behind the trattoria) and put in the pan, of precise pairings, of simple but impeccable raw materials (perhaps coming from nearby farms), which he elaborates wisely.

An obsessive genius, however, because on the one hand there’s the knowledge of the product, on the other there’s an absolute obstinacy to try out each dish, again and again, until the aimed for result is reached. He’s a genius of taste and lightness, because Andrea goes easy on butter, oil and milk and the pairing game is clever. He gives priority to digestibility and lightness, even when using ingredients which, initially, appear (and in fact are) everything but light.

This is a family-run trattoria (officially established in 1970) and is virtually without a menu: this is usually a trick but here it’s a true necessity because sometimes Andrea thinks of dishes on the spur of the moment. While you’re already sitting at the table he comes up to you, shows you a product, a cut, and he proposes an idea. And if you ask him about that sandwich filled with trimmings you once had found a little scary but then never forgot, he doesn’t even remember.

Ravioli, of course, are never missing, they’re the restaurant’s trademark. Like the superb ones, with dandelion, radicchietto chicory and lardo di Colonnata, for example, or the Pure pumpkin raviolo, an explosion of taste in the palate and the usual perfectly rolled pasta. And then it’s beautiful when they serve them right in front of your eyes, taking them from a sizzling small saucepan. Then again, there’s the Bread baked in the oven with no yeast, with bacon and potatoes mashed without milk; the Fake frittata with naturally minced Sorana tripe, with a perfect balance of taste between eggs and tripe; the Veal knuckle with double grilling, with the addition of sage, an example of a dish (and mostly of a cooking technique) that Andrea had tried out for years before including it in the menu.

Having lunch at Dalla Libera (I say lunch because in the evening it’s usually closed, except on Fridays and Saturdays) is a nice, serene and gratifying experience, a delicious mix of trattoria atmosphere and a cuisine that often moves you thanks to its elegant simplicity, its intelligent use of ingredients, its passion. Even though, perhaps, it may turn out, that when you go there, you won’t find many of the dishes mentioned. The mind of a genius is never at rest.

Trattoria dalla Libera
via Farra, 24a
Sernaglia Della Battaglia (Treviso)
+39.0438.966295
info@trattoriadallalibera.it
Average prices: starters 8, first courses 13, main courses 15, desserts 5 euro
Closed on Mondays; open for dinner only on Fridays and Saturdays (or upon reservation)