I typically use the guides by the Italian journal Gambero Rosso to decide on wines and eating places. Wines are awarded one, two, or three glasses (bicchieri), trattorias one, two, or three shrimp (gamberi), and eating places one, two, or three forks (forchette). My candy spot is eating places that obtain tre forchette from Gambero Rosso however ‘solely’ one Michelin star. This normally means glorious worth for cash, and I typically really feel they deserve at the least a second Michelin star.
We just lately went on a brief trip to the Tuscan coast, flying into Rome as a result of the flight schedule and fares from Amsterdam had been higher than these to Tuscan airports. Our remaining cease was the island of Elba, and to keep away from the stress of mixing a ferry and a flight on the identical day, I regarded for one thing close to Rome’s Fiumicino airport. And lo and behold: Fiumicino has a restaurant with tre forchette from Gambero Rosso and one Michelin star—Pascucci al Porticciolo. That is the restaurant of chef Gianfranco Pascucci and his spouse Vanessa Melis, who manages the entrance of home. It’s positioned proper by the fishing harbor in Fiumicino, simply minutes from the worldwide airport. Given the placement, it’s no shock that it is a seafood restaurant.
The restaurant affords two tasting menus: the “Traditional” menu that includes the restaurant’s signature dishes for 120 euros, and Come è profondo il mare… (“How deep is the ocean”) for 140 euros, showcasing the chef’s newest creations. We opted for the latter and added a wine pairing—seven glasses for 110 euros.
The primary wine was a glowing Verdicchio from Jesi: Gran Conte Metodo Classico Brut 2019, made utilizing the normal technique (second fermentation within the bottle) and aged for 48 months on the lees. It was very pleasurable, with the attribute almond aroma of Verdicchio clearly coming by way of within the glowing type.
The amuse-bouches had been pleasant. The primary resembled a starfish—crispy, made out of potato, and full of tuna sauce.
The others had been a cannolo full of dried cod and tomato, a bonbon made out of fish liver, and a clam served with uncooked clam meat and a contemporary filling.
And at last, a French oyster served with a white chocolate granita and an Indian cress sauce. The distinction between the salty oyster, the marginally spicy cress, and the subtly candy granita was pleasant.
The bread served with the meal was excellent. The sourdough was solely mildly bitter (which I like), with a really crunchy crust that wasn’t too thick—because it typically is. The focaccia was glorious as effectively, served within the form of a bun (and subsequently referred to as focaccina). The whipped butter was flavored with anchovies and oregano. Whipped butter has been a development in eating places for some time now, and with these great added flavors, it makes extra sense to me.
The following wine was a Pecorino from Abruzzo: Vento e Sale 2023 by Caprera, aged on the lees in chrome steel.
It was an excellent pairing with the cuttlefish, served within the type of a torrone with hazelnuts, almond cream, orange peel, and samphire. A torrone is a nougat confection usually made with honey, sugar, and egg white, together with toasted almonds or different nuts. The chef got here to the desk to current the dish and defined that he had cured the cuttlefish with salt and sugar, then dried it for a number of hours. So whereas the cuttlefish was nonetheless technically uncooked, its taste and texture had been enhanced—making it much less robust. The mixture with the toasted hazelnuts was glorious and likewise contributed to the profitable pairing with the Pecorino, due to the wine’s nutty character.
The identical Pecorino was additionally the pairing with the following dish: uncooked mazzancolle (tiger prawn) topped with a tomato ‘pores and skin’ and served with leche de tigre—a Peruvian marinade made with coconut milk and lime. The prawn meat was impeccably contemporary, with a splendidly unctuous texture that was superbly complemented by the tomato and leche de tigre.
This dish was additional elevated by an accompanying piece of toast—very crunchy and full of prawn meat, with the deep taste of the prawn shells built-in into the bread.
We continued with a Greco di Bianco from Calabria: Particella 58 by Antonella Lombardo. The names of grape varieties in Italy might be complicated, as a result of Greco Bianco is similar as Pecorello, whereas Greco di Bianco is similar as Malvasia di Lipari. The wine was made with 24 hours of pores and skin contact after which aged for 12 months on the lees in chrome steel. The pores and skin contact gave the wine superbly fruity and floral aromas.
The dish paired with these two wines was a tataki of grouper with a inexperienced herb curry and a grilled slice of lemon, accompanied by grilled lettuce with crunchy nuts and a béarnaise sauce on a separate plate. Tataki is a Japanese approach by which the fish is seared over excessive warmth on the surface whereas remaining uncooked on the within. I now understood the aim of the Laguiole knife supplied with the dish—it might have been inconceivable to slice the uncooked grouper with a daily fish knife. The flavors complemented one another effectively,
You might have observed that I photographed all of the dishes above the bread within the middle of the desk, and that Kees was even holding them there. This was as a result of the lighting within the middle was a lot better than on the fringe of the desk, the place the dishes had been really served. It was a wise suggestion by Kees, and it offered higher lighting than his traditional technique of helping together with his cellphone’s flashlight.
We had requested the sommelier to focus totally on Italian wines, however for the following dish he chosen a Fernão Pires from the Azores: the 2021 Cadmarvor by Lucas Lopes Amaral. Fernão Pires is a grape selection native to mainland Portugal, and this vineyard is the one one cultivating it on the island of Pico. The wine had great aromas and a pleasing texture.
Due to our request, he served a second wine with this dish: a Catarratto from Sicily. It was a pleasing wine as effectively, although extra austere and never fairly as pleasurable because the Fernão Pires.
The dish served with these two wines was monkfish cheek with mushrooms, truffle, and a creamy sauce. The Fernão Pires was already a terrific wine, however the dish actually introduced out its aromas, making it a wonderful pairing. It additionally paired higher with the creamy texture of the dish, whereas that very same creaminess accentuated the austerity of the Catarratto from Sicily, which made the wine much less pleasurable.
All dishes up thus far had been antipasti—now it was time for the primo piatto. The wine served with it was a 2020 Albana from Emilia, aged in amphora, by Al di là del Fiume.
The primo was the chef’s tackle the basic linguine alle vongole, enhanced with pine resin and bottarga. The clams had been a really small selection referred to as lupini, faraway from their shells for simpler consuming. I’m unsure whether or not the pine resin was an enchancment, however the dish was scrumptious all the identical.
The following wine initially appeared Spanish as a result of it had “Crianza” on the label, however it additionally mentioned Bianco Vendemmia 2017, so it turned out to be Italian in any case. Issues received much more complicated when the sommelier talked about the grape selection was Trebbiano Romagnolo, but the wine was made in Campania. It was an orange wine, macerated for 40 days, and subsequently fairly tannic.
It was not an excellent pairing for the secondo piatto, which was great by itself: pink mullet served as good tempura—crispy on the surface and tender on the within (a real accomplishment, as pink mullet can go from undercooked to robust and dry in seconds). It was topped with berry powder, and accompanied by beets and foie gras with cherries. The creaminess of the foie gras intensified the wine’s astringency to the purpose the place it grew to become disagreeable.
Ms. Melis rapidly observed I wasn’t comfortable and got here to our desk to ask what was mistaken. The sommelier then introduced out a 2016 Italo Derthona Timorasso from the Colli Tortonesi in Piemonte, made by Bottazzi. Though related in type—Timorasso can be produced with pores and skin maceration, albeit for a a lot shorter time—this wine had a a lot creamier texture and paired splendidly with the dish. The wine’s age additionally contributed to its glorious efficiency.
The dessert wine was I Capitelli 2022 by Anselmi, a late-harvest Garganega aged for eight months in barrique, with 154 grams of residual sugar per litre. It resembles a Sauternes, however hails from the neighborhood of Lake Garda.
It was an excellent pairing with the dessert, which consisted of 5 layers with various textures and flavors.
We had an exquisite night at Pascucci al Porticciolo. This was clearly an instance of a tre forchetterestaurant with one Michelin star that, in my view, deserves two. The meals was glorious, with clear flavors and impeccable freshness and approach. The ‘cuisson’ (diploma of doneness) can generally be the Achilles heel of Italian cooks, as they have a tendency to err on the aspect of warning—undercooking pasta and overcooking protein. However Chef Pascucci executed every part completely, even the notoriously tough pink mullet. The service was glorious as effectively: Ms. Melis shouldn’t be solely very cordial and educated concerning the dishes and cooking strategies, but additionally maintains a excessive degree of hospitality. Each the wines and the wine pairings had been glorious, which isn’t at all times a given in Italy, the place pairings typically encompass a logical sequence of wines that don’t essentially complement the dishes. The wines had been of top quality, particularly in comparison with what you’ll get for a €110 wine pairing within the Netherlands. So for those who’re flying into or out of Italy by way of Rome’s Fiumicino airport, I strongly suggest having dinner right here. We had been there on a Friday evening and the restaurant wasn’t even totally booked. I can perceive that, because the city of Fiumicino isn’t a lot of a vacationer attraction, however with the airport so shut, it’s simple to incorporate in your itinerary. We will definitely be again.
