Eating well on the Argentario

Massimo Bottura is at the top, and we’re all happy. Yet the health or even the excellence of a cuisine – in this case the Italian one – is real only if the primacy of one induces many others, if not all, to improve. At every level. Only then, the system works. This is why it’s nice to show, on top of Bottura, Crippa, Alajmo, Romito, that Italy today has a big number of great professionals with a modern mentality, grateful to their territory, aware of its excellence, yet without lingering in a past that’s been outdone. Chefs who are also capable of mastering technique and serving products, yet with a contemporary logic. The other day we met one of these quiet chefs. His name is Mario Cimino.

Born in Calabria in 1974, as of April he’s the executive chef at the Argentario Golf Resort & Spa, a five star resort surrounded by nature in Porto Ercole, with an international and wealthy clientele. Cimino knows this target well, having spent most of his career in top hotels, such as those in the Baglioni group or, more recently, the Palazzo Montemartini start-up in Rome.

In these cases, food lovers immediately spot three possible risks: 1) food without identity, mediocrely international, that is to say totally incoherent with the context, with a standardised average imported taste, be it Russian, American or English. In other words, banal; 2) that, having avoided this problem, which is the worst, one would instead settle for an out-dated and vaguely grotesque territorial approach; as if we only ate fried cutlets in Milan, lamb in Rome and trofie with pesto in Genoa; 3) that having avoided the most serious obstacles, one falls into the last trap, offering perhaps even intelligent and current recipes, yet with an excessive wish to please. Rich tastes instead of complexity. These may succeed in satisfying the palate, but have no passion.

Cimino is really good at avoiding these three obstacles. He changed the looks of restaurant Dama Dama in the Argentario Golf Resort (“dama” is the Maremman word for the deer that live in the surrounding woods) which until recently was settled on old Tuscan recipes, always the same, with fiorentina steak and pappa al pomodoro. He introduced fish, which he’s very good at using, with a line that matches seafood with a Mediterranean style and multiple local inspirations. All this with good ideas and excellent techniques.

The Seared baby calamari on late broad beans purée are delicious, the Maremman Panzanella with steamed lobster, onion from Tropea, vegetable court bouillon and guacamole sauce are a noble take on a traditional dish with a unexpected pleasantness. While the Tuna mosaic with vegetables, Dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar reduction is a little banal, good for those who are not looking for surprises, the Home made spelt vermicelli with trawler prawns from Porto Santo Stefano, cream of courgettes and courgette flowers are good; and the Kamut flour and beetroot caramelle filled with buffalo milk mozzarella from "La Principella dei Principi Borghese" and smoked and grilled asparagus are even better, and confirm his constant great attention to texture. The Seared mullet filet on a warm salad of "Podere Pereto" organic black chickpea and cream of spring courgettes is absolutely perfect. A dish truly worth the trip.

There are few flaws, perhaps a little too much salt here and there, while the desserts need improvement. On the other hand, there are many positive notes; and it’s impressive, first of all, how in such a location Cimino shows the enthusiasms that leads him to look for local small excellent products so as to interpret them in the best possible way in dishes with a soul.

Final note, you dine in a beautiful place: the Argentario Golf Resort & Spa, part of the Design Hotels group, is a 5 star resort with 73 designer bedrooms, an 18 hole golf course and a spa almost 3 thousand square metres wide. All this surrounded by woods of centennial cork and olive trees in the Tuscan Maremma, the home to hares, deer, squirrels, boars and many species of birds.

A luxury certainly not everyone can afford, yet restaurant Dama Dama – open to non-guests too – has an excellent quality-price ratio: the tasting menu, including wines, is 90 euros; in the menu, starters are priced 20 euros, first courses around 18, and main courses around 24. It’s worth it.

Argentario Golf Resort & Spa
Via Acquedotto Leopoldino, Porto Ercole (Gr)
Tel +39.348.5540367
www.argentarioresort.com