Like bona fide Italian restaurants everywhere,
This is all about the quality of the raw ingredients.
Olive oil and cheese.
Cheese and olive oil.
Buy the finest on the planet.
Let them do their work.
* * *
The cooking here is completely fine.
They have gelato desserts that look like they are to die for.
I don't think I will ever get to those gelato desserts.
The cheese board I had here was totally life changing.
Only two cheeses.
The world's most subtle and suave Gorgonzola.
The world's most aggressive and dashing Pecorino.
I was blown away.
The Gorgonzola almost tasted like a French creamy cheese with charcoal.
Only better. Much better.
Suave does not mean tasteless here.
There was a gentle caressing taste that was manifest in every bite.
There was none of the all out assault that comes from a supermarket Gorgonzola.
The Pecorino was strong in its own right. However it was buffed up by red pepper the same way you can get a red pepper Gouda. The cheese did most of the work.
The effect was similar to eating Coleman's mustard right out of the jar.
WAKEY-WAKEY !!!
Add a perfect wine pairing chosen by the house.
(I am sure the maison has a standard pairing for each cheeseboard it designs).
A little fig compote on the side and perfect bread.
Most people finished their gelato in about five to ten minutes.
I spent nearly an hour on that cheeseboard.
* * *
Other stars of the olive oil and cheese show.
a) A chestnut puree veloute with olive oil infused croutons.
The soup was strictly a backup singer here.
The backup singer did its job.
The croutons were life itself.
b) A carpaccio with rocket and large shavings of Parmesan Reggiano.
I had heard people talk and talk and talk and talk about Parmesan Reggiano.
The Parmesan Reggiano I get in my gourmet grocery store back home (Central Market) is nothing special.
Kraft grated Parmesan cheese is stale powder that sometimes does its job.
This was the Maria Callas of Parmesan cheese.
This was Parmesan Cheese taking central stage at La Scala and singing Puccini's "Un Bel Vedromo".
I was rapt.
The carpaccio and the rocket played nicely in the orchestra.
* * *
Is Veronatuti a mystical magical place?
Yes it is.
Cheese is their god, and I have just converted. read more
