ITALY

ROME

RESTAURANT LA PERGOLA

(February 2013 update: UMBERTO GIRAUDO has now left the restaurant and is the Front of House Quality Manager of the hotel.)

Bown's Best - Sir Umberto Giraudo with Francis Bown, Restaurant La Pergola, Rome, Italy An aged acquaintance used to repeat endlessly the old saw, “There are no guarantees in this life.” I was never quite sure about this. But it does sometimes seem to apply to my visits to restaurants, for I have had so many disappointing meals in my wanderings. Even the presence of friends cannot guarantee a magnificent dinner. But… when, as in Rome, those friends include one of mankind’s greatest chefs, a restaurant manager famous throughout Europe and beyond for his pursuit of perfection (recently voted ‘Best Maitre d’ in the World’ – and I am not going to quarrel with that) and a sommelier who presides over a cellar of surpassing magnificence, you have to concede that the omens are good. And a few other details might cause optimism: a napkin specially embroidered with my own initials, the very finest Riedel glassware, the availability of fifteen varieties of sea salt and silver-gilt side plates originally made for George III. It will not therefore come as a complete surprise to you, dear reader, that this visit to the Ristorante La Pergola, on the top floor of the Rome Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria Hotel, was a time of pure, unadulterated joy.

Bown's Best - Restaurant La Pergola, Rome, Italy I use the word ‘friends’, and as such I am proud to regard the magnificent gentlemen who have made this restaurant a place which everyone who cares about great gastronomic experiences longs to visit and re-visit. I hope that the picture I bring before you of myself with Sir Umberto Giraudo (the title is appropriate, for the Restaurant Manager is a Knight of the Italian Republic) imparts some sense of the pleasure which filled my bosom on the occasion of my last excursion into this Temple of Culinary Delight. I first met Umberto twenty years ago, when he was a waiter at the Restaurant Louis XV at the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo. His charm and talent were evident then, and I believe I had the privilege of being the first writer to mention him in print by name. He has certainly lived up to all the hopes I had for him. So now I will mention one of his colleagues in Rome, waiter Nino Tarallo (pictured, in waistcoat, with your correspondent), who looked after me very well throughout the evening.

Bown's Best - Marco Reitano, Sommelier, Restaurant La Pergola, Rome, Italy Sir Umberto greeted me at the entrance. And there, too, were the brilliant sommelier, Marco Reitano (pictured, in his cellar), and the marvellous maitre d’, Simone Pinoli, as well as several of the 17 waiters, who were to glide about the tables so efficiently and purposefully throughout the evening. I went into the calm dining room, past the Art Nouveau vases by Gallé and past the table made by Marie Antoinette’s cabinet maker (this is not an establishment which stints on the décor) and so arrived at my table by the window. Before me was the View of views: the whole of the Eternal City set out as a twinkling panorama, with the illuminated dome of St Peter’s Basilica on the right. This prompted a fleeting note of sadness, for it seems that, when you are the Pope, visits to restaurants (even when they have three Michelin stars, like La Pergola) cannot be made. I knew that Benedict XVI – before his elevation to the Apostle’s throne – had enjoyed the food of his fellow German at La Pergola. What a pity he could not be here now. But then I recalled that Chef Beck has, indeed, been to the Vatican to cook for the Holy Father, so my spirits shot back up again.

Indeed, perhaps we should regard Chef Beck (pictured) as the Pope of High Gastronomy, such is his reputation among the world’s finest chefs. Certainly, since he has never presented me with a dish which was anything less than wonderful, I would be quite willing to assent to his infallibility.

Bown's Best - Chef Beck, Restaurant La Pergola, Rome, Italy Apart from the carte, a set meal is offered at La Pergola – with 6 courses at 190 euros and 9 courses at 210 euros. It brings a wonderful display of the kitchen’s invention and technique. My own 8 courses were from both the set menus and from the carte. As my visit was during the truffle season (the white variety, from Alba), the presence of the divine fungus pushed the price of my food up to around 300€ - and that was a bargain, for is it not a modest price for perfection?

Chef Beck is a man who possesses not only remarkable culinary ability but also a palate of the utmost refinement. His dishes are object lessons in the art of balance – the balance of flavours, the balance of textures and the balance of colours. Each of my dishes was a work of art, and the art was subtle, careful and totally successful. There is no harshness or aggression in this cuisine. Rather, it aspires to the Sublime. And I am ready to lead three cheers for that. As the meal progressed, I found myself writing in my notes the word ‘superb’ over and over again.

I began with amberjack carpaccio with cannellini beans and truffle. Slice after slice of Alba’s finest came wafting down onto the plate as Simone’s gloved hand went back and forth. ‘Twas as if Heaven was coming down to earth. (Is this not, after all, what a Pope is supposed to be all about?) This was the perfection of delicacy and the delicacy of perfection. Then it was a brilliant first: lobster so soft that it virtually melted in my mouth. I have never had lobster like it. It had been gratinated with slightly spicy Patanegra and came on a cold gazpacho of celery and green tomatoes – as precisely judged a combination as you will ever find.
Next, as I was in Rome and at La Pergola, it would have been a serious crime not to have one of the world’s great dishes, Fagotelli La Pergola (pasta parcels of egg and pecorino custard, with flecks of crisp pancetta). If you care about pasta, you must have this. It is breathtakingly wonderful – soft, caressing and spiritually uplifting. Then came king prawns in tempura, the batter contrasting with a purée of fried squids, and it was followed by a superb piece of black cod, which, in its curry crust, brought my only hesitation of the evening, for my palate is not keen on the taste of curry. Bown's Best - Waiter Nino Tarallo with Francis Bown, Restaurant La Pergola, Rome, Italy Much better for me was the pistachio crust of the gorgeous venison which followed, set off with chestnut purée and persimmon jam. I could manage only a sliver of cheese from the trolley, before I went on to the pudding – a bit of cleverness and fun, in the shape of a sablé biscuit with cocoa grain and pop corn ice cream, topped with candy floss. I had not eaten candy floss for half a century, so this was a delightfully strange moment.

Prices on the wine list start at around 45€. But those of you with deep pockets will be pleased to know that among the 3,200 entries in the two volumes are many of the most desirable wines ever made: 1893 Yquem (12,000ε), 1945 Latour (6,500ε), 1976 Romanée-Conti (12,200ε), 1961 Pétrus (23,000ε), 21 vintages of Sassicaia, including the 1985 (2,800ε), and many more such gems.

Marco Reitano, apart from being the most charming sommelier you will ever meet, is immensely knowledgeable and has a discerning and subtle palate. He also knows the sort of wines which appeal to me. I was therefore entirely happy to accept his recommendations. After a flute of Dom Pérignon 2003, I stayed with Italians – beautiful Italians. The first was a sauvignon blanc from the Alto Adige (Colterenzio Lafoa, 2010), elegant, well-structured and absolutely right for the truffle. From Sicily came a big, buttery powerhouse, which reminded me of one of those huge Californian chardonnays I like so much (Barone di Villagrande, Legno di Conzo, 2009). I feared the red ‘super-Tuscan’, the famous Ornellaia, might be too young in its 2009 vintage. But it was amazingly delicious – with a density of luscious black fruit which was quite thrilling. It will improve, of course, but I was pleased to be able to enjoy it in its youth. With the pudding Marco brought a bottle I had never encountered before – a sweet wine from Ornellaia (Ornus, 2008). It is, I think, quite unusual and made only in small quantities. I found it seriously sticky – and certainly heavy enough to take on the pudding and come out victorious.

“There are no guarantees in this life.” Wrong. There is at least one. And here it is. If you go for dinner at La Pergola, you will have one of the best meals of your life. I guarantee it.

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RESTAURANT LA PERGOLA