There's a new place in Liguria that the most careful gourmets cannot miss: it's called Impronta D’Acqua and it's in Cavi di Lavagna, right off the railway station in Cavi, in the province of Genoa. For many years this was the location of another restaurant. Since July 6th these are now the headquarters of Ivan Maniago and partner Romina Di Fabio, who's in the dining room. They're parents to a 6-month girl and a restaurant with a dozen tables and an open view kitchen. Different tasks, both quite demanding.
She was born in Liguria, he, in Friuli, but moved to Levante around ten years ago. Ivan worked in the most important kitchens: Gualtiero Marchesi, Léveillé, Alajmo, Vivalda at Antica Corona Reale in Cervere (Cuneo), and Lord Nelson on Chiavari's promenade. However, it is in his own Impronta D’Acqua that he can finally indulge his whims. He mixes Liguria and Friuli: so he doesn't cook only fish, because after all he tells us that the hills in Liguria are full of meat and game and they deserve attention. For the winter, he's already thinking of a tasting menu only including game.
With a team of 4 people in the kitchen and 3 in the dining room, including Ivan and Romina, they present 3 tasting menus:
Impronta Classica,
Impronta D’Acqua and
A Mano Libera, where one can enjoy the chef's cuisine, or 5 options per course, from starters to main courses. One can already notice from the amuse buche that this won't be food just based on local tradition:
Panino filled with panzanella,
Grilled cube of mortadella with mustard and pistachio and
Sphere of parmigiano. You must eat these using your hands only. Everything is delicious.
We chose the seven courses in the A Mano Libera menu: Zuppetta di conchiglie [Seafood soup], coconut milk, green lemon and Spaghetto “sembra una carbonara” were excellent. In the first dish, with muscoli (mussels), clams, sea snails and fasolari, delicious, the coconut milk was not overwhelming and the aroma of the sea was well defined. Ivan says he had a very similar dish in Thailand, but it was too strong because of the coriander and the many spices, so he made it simpler and put it in the menu. The fake carbonara is an excellent dish of spaghettoni in which the only ingredient from the original carbonara is pepper. As for the rest, you'll have to find out yourselves.
The open view kitchen. In the middle, Ivan Maniago, 31
via Aurelia, 2121
Cavi di Lavagna (Genoa)
+39.375.5291077
i.maniago@improntadacqua.com
Average prices: starters 29, first courses 22, main courses 25 and desserts 12 euros
Tasting menus: 50, 60 and 75 euros (plus 35 euros for the paired wines)
Closed at lunchtime on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays (in the winter it will be closed the entire day on Tuesday and on Wednesday at lunchtime)
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
