Last minute booking for a surprising treat /Magorabin

Y (May '23)

SCORE: Tell yo friends

Highlights: Venison Agnolotti, onion spaghetti, 2018 Scarzello Barolo

VALUE: Good. 240 EUR for one pairing with 4 glasses of wine

When I sat down, they presented me with 3 menu options - a 5 course menu, a 10 course menu and a vegetarian menu... I mean given the requirements to be on this group of friends who are writing about their eating adventures, that was basically only 1 option - the 10 course menu. With the next day's dinner in mind, I didn't want the full pairing, but instead asked the helpful sommelier for wines that were to my liking / requirement. I'm writing down the courses as I remember them, and then just highlighting what I liked the most.

They gave me an Elderflower welcome drink. It was sweet but earthy. I would have liked something a bit more fizzy. but this'll do.

Then they gave me four Snacks and the highlight was this cruffin type thing that I think she called a spaghetto pane burrecho with gel of parsley and anchovies

Chawanmushi with bbq cauliflower and almonds and scampo. Beautiful complement of the grilled cauliflower and shrimp different types of sweetness but they work very well together

Next came the bread course. My favorite was the Focaccia da Roma. It was chewy and spongy with a nice crust. Strangely enough, the aroma and taste reminded me of the chewiness of a good roti kosong.

The two fish courses were a bit hit or miss. the Mackerel tempura, and the Lobster roll a bit too doughy. Like fancy hotel soup rolls they should have hollowed out the roll to give a better ratio of filling / bread ratio

Finally a good poultry dish on this trip! It was a Chicken stuffed with foie and topped with dried chicken skin. The foie stuffing was oddly delicious, gave it the flavor of duck, without the gamey / meatiness

Interestingly, rather than have the carby courses at the start (primi) they lumped them together towards the end of the meal. - a delicious venison agnolotti with tender, yet satisfyingly chunky venison and a simple brown butter sauce. I really liked it, thinking there's no way they'll step up for the next pasta course. But then they showed up with the spaghetti. For something that seemed this simple, they really had to nail the execution. And that they certainly did. The spagheti were perfectly aldente, and the rich slow carmelized onions and leek oil at the base, and the onion powder were just so rich and satisfying! Just the aroma of the onions was fantastic. The last carby course was a saffron risotto with hazelnut and chicken stock reduction - classic risotto with an umami and fatty sweet kick. The hazelnut paste at the bottom was a revelation. Never had a risotto with hazelnut sauce before. It was decadent in a different way.

There were just a couple of proteins left out of the large 10 course meal... a Codfish with vinegar and sugar pickled asparagus - asparagus beautifully light and refreshing. Like a crisp Chardonnay almost. Again, that pickling the asparagus with sugar, was such a nice little touch, but that made the dish in my opinion. Finally a Duck breast with seed crust and mushroom jus - good duck breast. I mean it was great.. a rich and gamey. but a bit too much at this point

As with most of these sorts of menus, they had a number of desserts come up: the gorgonzola diplomatico and the homemade snickers were the highlights for me. The gorgonzola diplomatico had the spice from the blue cheese the same way one may get in a good basque cheesecake. Snickers were.. well snickers. and the nostalgia of snickers, but in an atas setting was very welcoming!

All in all, it was a delicious meal. I would highly recommend any friends who are in Torino to go give it a shot. Don't expect it to be a quick affair, but it would definitely be worth the time you take out of your schedule for it.