This place is ridiculous. Ridiculously awesome! The super high marks come from several factors:
1) The restaurant is Michelin Star rated, so you know when choosing this place that the food is expected to be fantastic, and the price will be high.
2) The service for reserving a spot less than a week in advance was exemplary. Friendly staff, excellent English language, accommodating for our schedule.
3) Once we arrived, the surroundings were fantastic. It's a 16th century building (as much is in Genoa), and the paintings on the ceiling and walls reveal it's many-centuries old origins. There were only 7 tables in the room, which is quite nice for a very focused experience, and seatings were spaced out enough that our courses were nicely timed but not too busy/delayed.
4) The Maitre D/host was very knowledgable and friendly, giving us all sorts of information/data about each course, details before we ordered, and the composition and details of the ingredients in each course as well as anything unique or specific (like when to time the drinking of the pea extract). He has a rich 20-year history of Michelin star restaurants, and it shows in everything he does and how he interacts with the customers.
5) They were very accommodating in giving us a tour of the kitchen, as well as the other room in the building which was used in the 1500's for business and entertaining.
6) Of course the food was wonderful, and although I'm not a tremendous foodie (my wife holds that title), the sometimes-subtle and sometimes-bold choices in each course worked wonders on my palette and cemented the memory of each dish firmly in my elderly (55-years-old) brain, which is quite a feat!
Overall, a HIGHLY recommended place to dine if you've got a few hours and several hundred dollars you're willing to part with in exchange for a delightful meal, hopefully with wonderful company who can similarly enjoy such an experience. I shan't forget this experience for many years to come. read more