Continuing his father's legacy, Nicola Bonazza has run a former wine shop turned Italian restaurant Enoteca, offering a-not-another-copy-and-paste Italian food and wine pairing without disappointing guests, old and new.
Recently, Enoteca's Head Chef, Stefano Borra, who hails from Turin, launched a new menu with a provocative name for Italian food lovers to devour, presenting a tantalising seven-course menu highlighting his mastery of culinary techniques and featuring only the finest ingredients.
Before the dinner started, Chomp received a plate with different kinds of crip and grissini, followed by amuse bouche. Although it looked like three desserts, the amuse-bouche was made up of crab cannoli, pâté macaron, and Gorgonzola sandwiched between two thinly sliced beetroot crisps. The owner of Bangkok's institute advised first starting with the cannoli and following the two bites, respectively.
The first course was light-grilled langoustine with roasted tomato sauce dots served with baby fennel. The light grilling keeps the crustaceans sweet, moist and juicy while adding a smoky aroma to the meat. The roasted tomato sauce dots on the langoustine were umami and slightly smoky, which went remarkably well with the dish's main ingredient. The baby fennel gave this dish some bite. Nicola chose a creamy pinot grigio to pair with this first dish.
The second course was thinly sliced US sea scallop carpaccio dropped with Vanilla Oil. Beside the carpaccio was a small pond of Fresh Tomato Purée with Italian black olive. The dish was served with fermented buckwheat bread. Nicola suggested putting everything on the buckwheat bread or eating the bread separately. Chomp did the former. The sweet vanilla aroma misled the expectation because the taste was rather salty, sour, savoury and slightly briny. The textures of the scallop, tomato purée and bread were stimulating, giving a pleasant experience. This dish was paired with a white wine of six different grapes with a floral aroma with honey and passion fruit on the taste.
Paper-thin duck carpaccio drizzled with uni and tarragon sauces and topped with crispy kale was the third course. The duck was brined to wash some gaminess off and add flavour to the meat. The umami uni sauce and herbaceous tarragon freshness to the dish. The kele balanced everything. A nice chianti with a berry characteristic that Nicola chose was an excellent company to the dish.
A nest of spaghetti covering red mullet and topped with caviar and drizzled with burrata cream was the fourth course. The spaghetti was cooked in a dashi broth, giving the umami flavour to the noodles. Chomp first thought this dish must be fishy, but it wasn't. The noodles were complemented by the salty caviar and balanced by the creamy burrata. Nicola let us enjoy the dish with a crisp red.
Another pasta dish was served after we finished the spaghetti dish. Gnocchi with asparagus and baby spinach, topped with foie gras foam and sprinkled with Parma ham crisp, was buttery, rich, earthy, grassy, sweet and slightly bitter. A red with a parmesan character that Nicola also chose for us was a perfect choice.
The sixth course was a certified wagyu lamb striploin from Australia with spring vegetable ragoût. The wagyu lamb was glazed with demiglaze sauce and drizzled with lamb jus and extra demiglaze sauce. The lamb and the sauces were rich, and the ragoût balanced it out so we could continue with the dessert. However, a dry and velvety red was chosen to be a pair of this dish which didn't disappoint.
Honey ice cream with ginger crushed ice, the last course, was creamy and refreshing. The kick from the ginger gave this dish a feisty character. A sweet and fruity Sicilian Muscato was a perfect pair for this dessert.
This Bangkok's institute is perfect for solo-eaters to a group of people. The look of the place may be classic, but the food is an ideal combination of tradition and modernity.
Enoteca
Hours: Daily, 17:30 - 23:00
Reserve: +6663 942 9669
Website: https://enotecabangkok.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EnotecaBangkok
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enoteca_bangkok/
Location: 39 Sukhumvit Soi 27, Khlong Toei Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok 10110
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