On our second night in Venice, we headed for one of the top restaurants in the city, Al Covo. It turns out that the owner Cesare has an American wife Diane, and she is good friends with my friend Megan (who is the US Consul in Venice), so with Megan joining us we were definitely in for a great night. Dad gave me a chance to look over the wine list, and I was quick to make a decision - the 2004 Giuseppe Rinaldi Cannubi San Lorenzo-Ravera Barolo.
I've heard so many good things about Rinaldi, but never tried any of his wines, so I was eager to get this chance. And since we were having Barolo, I felt just having seafood wouldn't be allowing the wine to show its full potential. Thankfully Cesare had some great options for us among the specials for the night. I still began with a local dish, a pasta served on cuttlefish ragu. I can't remember what the pasta was called - it's a tubular pasta, but cut and not stuffed. It was different, but went wonderfully with the cuttlefish ragu. The wine also actually worked well here, as it was quite an elegant Barolo, and not as tannic as I worried it may be for being so young.
The wine really caught on with the second course though - braised beef cheeks with a chickpea puree. What an amazing dish and a perfect complement to the wine. Like I said, this wasn't an over the top brawny Barolo, but an elegant wine that offered nice earthy flavors and a very long finish.
This was a meal and experience to treasure. Cesare and Diane were wonderful hosts too, happy to talk with us about their restaurant, and what they are doing there. This was another spot that Anthony Bourdain had visited, and I felt like we got a special experience too, really hearing the pride that they take in preparing the best local ingredients and showing them off. For anyone that goes to Venice and wants a truly special meal, I can't recommend Al Covo enough. But regardless of where you are, I'd also recommend the Rinaldi Barolo too.
No comments:
Post a Comment