Tastes of the Tuscan sun

Patrons of Acqua, the Italian restaurant at the Centara Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya, will be without their favourite chef later this month, as Alberto Bruni heads to Bangkok for a stint at the Centara Grand’s Fifty Five
 restaurant.
Bruni’s visit to the 55th floor of Central World is long overdue but he’ll be making up for his tardiness by creating Tuscan-themed menus from April 22 to 27 and hosting a Tuscan wine dinner on April 26.
With much of Tuscany facing the sea, gourmets can expect an emphasis on seafood matched with artichoke, pachino tomato and thyme acquapazza as well as pan-seared red mullet on braised fennel.
“We’ll be using high quality produce from Tuscany such as salami and Parma ham from the Tuscan pig known as the Cinta Senese, which is characterised by its black skin and a white belt on the shoulders and forelegs. These will be paired with Tuscan wine from two different areas. From central Tuscany, we have Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino while from the coast, we are serving a wine from the Bolgheri area. Italian food should be matched with Italian wines,” says Bruni.
Bruni hails from La Spezia and has been working in the kitchen since he was 14. A resident of Thailand for more than 20 years, he’s a music connoisseur, a Big Bike rider, and a skilled photographer. Italian food connoisseurs may remember him from his years as the head chef at Don Giovanni restaurant at Sofitel Centara Grand Bangkok
“I live in the area that forms the border between Tuscany and Liguria. Tuscan food is simple but it’s also the best and most difficult to make. I’m committed to tradition. Tuscany’s famous steak Fiorentina that weighs one kilogram or more, for instance, will be simply grilled to bring out the natural flavour of the meat and served with rocket salad, rosemary potato and aromatic salts. I don’t like fusion; to me it’s confusion. Mixing different ingredients just to shock people is not my style,” he says.
Diners can whet their appetite with Parma ham on the bone along with salami and condiments and a gourmet cheese selection served with fresh berries, jams, truffle honey and walnut bread. For appetisers, the chef will offer broiled red tuna fillet carpaccio on mango as well as salmon caviar and sauteed broad beans with Italian pancetta and poached egg served with truffle cheese fondue.
His signature dish of Canadian lobster spaghetti will also be available. The lobster is cooked with fresh sliced artichoke in garlic olive oil, white wine and parsley and served with the al dente spaghetti. Other pasta choices are rigatoni with Italian sausage and mushroom and gnocchi filled with cheese and Gorgonzola cream.
Bruni’s main dishes are guaranteed to please both fish and meat lovers and include Dover sole fillet with herbs and sauteed baby spinach, seafood on artichoke with pachino tomato and thyme acquapazza, oven roasted Italian pork shank and apple-beer sauce or trilogy of beef with three condiments and three sauces.
Traditional and familiar desserts are offered as the finale, among them tiramisu, panna cotta and the typical Tuscan trifle Zuppa Inglese .
Bruni wil also offer a three-course business lunch menu with a choice of appetisers, mains and desserts. Among the dishes are endive salad with walnut, celery, apple and red grapes, risotto carnaroli with porcini mushroom and panna cotta with berries compote.
The Tuscan wine dinner on April 26 will feature slow braised veal cheek on pumpkin pure and green peas paired with Fontodi Flaccianello Sangiovese as well as Charred Fiorentina steak with aromatic salts matched with Tenuta Sette Ponti Orma Bolgheri.

Italian by design

>>> “A Week in Tuscany” by Chef Alberto Bruni runs from April 22 to 27 with the a la carte dinner served from 6 to 10.30pm. The business lunch costs Bt955 and is available from noon to 2.30pm.
>>> The Tuscan wine dinner on April 26 is priced at Bt2,555 per person.
>>> For reservations, call (02) 100 6255.