Renovating a villa, hunting for white truffles, eating and wine tasting in Piedmont, Italy
Restaurant Review - Locanda dell'arco
Restaurant Review - Locanda dell'arco, Cissone, Piedmont, Italy. We visit the well celebrated restaurant with a deep and dedicated wine cellar in the Alta Langa.
I receive two texts that are music to my ears early Thursday morning just after dropping the girls off at scuola. The first from Sara, "sure, I'd love to go out to dinner with you tomorrow, find out if Elisabetta can babysit, please." And the second from Elisabetta, "si perfetto, ci vediamo domani sera verso le 7!" Yes, our date is confirmed! In our family, clearly I am the one who is driving the interest in restaurant dining. It's not that Sara doesn't like to go out, it's that she prefers a hike or a bike ride over a meal. Me, I love both!
Immediately after hearing from Elisabetta I speed-dial Locanda dell'arco in Cissone in hopes of securing a reservation for two for tomorrow evening. My heart races as I hold the line while my mind meanders the long list of wines the restaurant has to offer. "Yes," we have a table for you. I breathe a deep sigh of relief. Thursday evening I struggle to convince Tamar that, although tomorrow night's meal will most certainly include many of Piedmont's traditional recipes, the wine list has been cultivated for more than twenty years and there will be a delicious bottle of nebbiolo for us to savor. "Whatever you like, it's fine by me, you know I will be ordering the same thing anyway," says Tamar.
Friday evening I meet Sara in the main Piazza in Dogliani where head up the hill to Cissone. We drive up the hill and park. It's a crisp autumn night with fog encircling the town and church above the restaurant. We take a short walk around town up before entering the packed restaurant. We are shown to our corner table next to shelves of enticing wine bottles. We peruse the menu and I beg Sara's forgiveness before I delve into the large volume of wines. There is no rush with service as we have the table for the entire night and the staff is busy tending a number of large groups already in the middle of service.
We order from the menu and I ask for a few more minutes to read the entire wine list. Finally I settle on an outrageously good 2004 Langhe Nebbiolo from famed wine producer Giuseppe Rinaldi located in Barolo.
We order to share, although I know full well that Sara won't try everything that we order. First we have 'Filetto di trota salmonata marinato alle erbette con limone confit al sale' or 'Marinated trout salmon filet with lemon confit' and 'Linguine all article con sumo di verdure e nocciole' or 'Noodles made with wild nettles and topped with a vegetable sauce and hazelnuts.' The Salmon trout is made in house and served in a fairly small portion and, honestly, I can't recommend this dish as it is flat and uninteresting. The handmade wild nettle pasta, on the other hand, is toothsome and quite delicious if slightly sweet, this is a dish to try. The negative for this plate and the next pasta is that they are both served on small plates which result in a heap of pasta and not a lot of thought for presentation.
For our second course, Sara orders the 'Tajarin al sugo di carne langarolo' or 'traditional thin noodles with a meat ragout sauce.' I have the ultra-traditional 'Brasato al Barolo con polenta di mais integrale "otto file," or 'Roast beef braised in Barolo and served with corn polenta.' First the Tajarin pasta. In my opinion, this was a lackluster version of this outstanding dish. The Roast beef was well prepared, the sauce delicious, while the polenta cake was clearly prepared in advance and reheated. It was savoury, but not spectacular.
The wine, on the other hand, was spectacular. It unfolded throughout the evening and had me thinking more about how spectacular and nuanced the nebbiolo grape can be and thinking less about the edible, but not spectacular food that accompanied it. I decided to order the pannacotta in order to give one last attempt with food. The small dessert arrived on a large plate which stood out to me mostly because of how remarkably small the pasta plates had been. The panacotta was not silken and smooth, but it was well balanced. All in all, I would not hesitate to return to this beautiful, homey, and warm dining room with a spectacular wine list and a hope of more precisely prepared food.
All photographs copyright 2015, Clay McLachlan
Putting on my Chef's Coat - Cooking at the Drogheria di Langa
Cooking traditional neapolitan pizza as well as non-traditional seasonal specialty pizzas as head chef at the Drogheria di Langa in Bossolasco, Piedmont, Italy
It's ten o'clock at night as I make my way down the stairs to our kitchen to prepare my dough for tomorrow night. I carefully weigh out my ingredients of sourdough starter, water, and flour. I am mixing 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of organic soft wheat flour locally grown and milled by Il Mulino Sobrino here in Piedmont, Italy, and adding a mere 30g of sourdough starter per 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of flour. Stefania, owner of the Drogheria di Langa in Bossolasco, Italy, asked me yesterday if I'd like to be a guest chef in two days. My heart pounded in my chest as I laughed out loud, "absolutely!" I said.
Up until this point, I have kept a firm line between my work as a documentary food photographer and my passion for cooking. From time to time I will try and take photos of the food I cook, but when I'm working in a professional kitchen I focus on how things look and not how they taste. I never photograph fake ingredients but I am always focused on the appearance of food when looking through my lens at a plate of delicious food. Year's ago I considered turning my passion into work by going back to school to train as a chef but after some contemplation I decided I preferred creative photography to the pressures of working on the line night after night. I am beside myself with excitement to have this opportunity to realize my long held dream.
I finish mixing the dough and wish it a good night of slow fermentation. My success depends entirely on my dough. I feel cautiously optimistic that I will impress a restaurant full of Italians. What am I crazy? Making pizza for Italians? Yes.
I order my go to selection of cheeses including thirty-month parmiggiano reggiano, the best mozzarella di bufala from campania that I have found here in Piedmont, and cacciocavallo from Puglia. After running errands all day I pick up my two daughter's from school, bring them home, cook them a snack and prepare the dough for transportation to the restaurant. I will be baking the pizza on cooking sheets in a gas oven as opposed to how I normally prepare pizza in our wood-fired brick oven. I do realize it is a risk to be making pizza for a full restaurant (it's tiny so I am looking at a maximum of twenty-five to thirty covers) having never prepared pizza in their oven. My daughter's help me load the car after their snack. After a long day at school they are not thrilled to be heading back to Bossolasco from the comforts of their home in order to help me work in the restaurant. I jokingly tell them that I am afraid that Stefania during the rush of service may start yelling at me like Gordon Ramsey does on Master Chef. In the back of my mind, I think that may actually happen.
We arrive at the restaurant and get straight to work. Isabelle, age 9, helps me prepare the tomato sauce while Azalia, age 6, takes care of her dolls. The restaurant is tiny but has three levels including the kitchen, main dining area, and an upstairs dining area, and the girls love having the time to explore and make themselves comfortable. I prepare the genovese pesto ingredients including lots of basil and get my station set up. I'm ready to go at seven o'clock. At seven-thirty I decide I should at least try and make one focaccia in the oven to see how the dough is rising and how long each pizza will take. Eight minutes later a beautiful focaccia with fresh rosemary and salt is ready. Stefania, looking nervous, tells me I've cooked it too early and it will be cold by the time guests arrive. I feel the pressure mounting. When we planned this evening she told me that we would begin serving apperitivi at seven forty-five. Stefania asks if I'd like to put on a chef coat, "yes, please." Tamar comes to pick up the girls and take them home before the rush.
It's eight o'clock and people begin to arrive. I suggest I put another focaccia in so we are ready for antipasti. Stefania scolds me and tells me again the focaccia will be cold. I thought we would already be in the midst of service by now but in Italy one never knows when the guests will arrive. I anxiously away my call to action.
It's now eight-thirty and the tables are full. The guests are hungry and now I can't make each pizza fast enough. All the sudden we are racing around the kitchen trying to get everything ready so the guests don't have to wait. I take a deep breath and dive into my job. My mind is clear and focused only on the task at hand. The only time I ever feel this way is when I am in the creative process of taking pictures and all five of my senses are directed through the lens. I smile as I shape the dough and top pizzas for the next two hours. After the initial stress and small quantities of pizza we have to serve, everyone is raving about the pizza and Stefania is thrilled with the evening. I go upstairs and see the crowd afterwards and everyone says "complimenti!" I am thrilled beyond words.
All photographs copyright 2015, Clay McLachlan and Tamar McLachlan
Restaurant Review - Osteria Battaglino, Dogliani
Osteria Battaglino in Dogliani, Piedmont, Italy
Marco Battaglino, age 35, is at the top of his game right now at his eponymous Osteria Battaglino. You can view his website at that link, but don't judge the website, he 's focused on his food much more than promotion online. Battaglino takes inspiration from the traditional recipes of Piedmont and makes them better. He cooks with passion and creates local dishes sourcing ingredients from passionate producers that anyone from our children to the most discerning food aficionado would crave. Battaglino makes food that he wants to eat including a delicious array of seafood that is a spectacular compliment to the rich and filling food of the Langhe.
Flavia Bergamo, in charge of front of the house, is warm and welcoming, honest and generous. They have a huge representation of wines from Dogliani as well as a great selection of wines from Barolo and Barbaresco. When visiting Piedmont, food and wine are at the top of everyone's list of important daily tasks (it's a tough life but someone's got to do it, right?). I would highly recommend the carne cruda, hand chopped raw veal, often topped with white truffle in autumn. The meat is sourced from a single producer located in the small village of Briaglia where the animals feed on grass and live outdoors year round. When I visited this farm I realized that, if possible, I would try and only eat meat from this producer as it is that much better than the rest. The whole roasted onion stuffed with sausage and cheese, a piedmont classic, is outstanding as is the raw sicilian red shrimp, a melt in your mouth change from the traditional langhe fare.
Pasta here is not to be missed. You can visit any Osteria in the Langhe and most make their pasta by hand daily, but I would say that although you may find equal, you will never find better. Again, Battaglino uses locally sourced flour and fresh farm eggs to make his traditional tajarin and ravioli, 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of flour with 46 egg yolks. This is a delicious pasty packed with protein and when you are here in autumn, this is the perfect dish to have topped with white truffle shavings. Our daughter devours a bowl of this pasta served simply with butter or olive oil every time we eat here. Another option is gnocchi made with fresh pumpkin which is divine and during autumn is served with fresh porcini mushrooms or the agnolotti del plin.
Second's can include bollito of bull or chicken. I have to remind myself how crazy it seems to order boiled meat in a restaurant, wasn't this the food we tried to get away from? In fact, these dished are stunning due to the quality of meat, the simplicity of preparation, and the stunning accompanying sauces which include bagna verde (anchovies and parsley), freshly made mayonnaise (I hate mayonnaise in a jar and I love this!), and a tomato salsa. Truly brilliant. If you don't want meat, then choose any of the fresh fish on offer simply roasted in the oven with spinach, tomatoes, capers and olives, simple and perfect.
While there are a good selection of desserts, the one not be missed is the zabaione. Battaglino comes down from the kitchen whipping up this froth of goodness and pours it into your dish table side, it's the best I've ever had. Run, don't walk, to this cozy sensational food destination.
All photographs copyright 2015, Clay McLachlan