Yes, it’s technically still white truffle season, and we flew to Italy of course, to partake in the coveted mushrooms. Instead of heading to Umbria though, we decided to multi-task and also celebrate the 20th Anniversary of La Pergola, the only 3 Michelin-starred restaurant in Rome. This is a classic, all the way fancy dinner scene, complete with fine china, silver, candlelight and views of Rome and St. Peter’s Basilica. In other words, it’s grand.
Dinner starts with a menu of 29 waters, selections of salts, local olive oils and aged balsamic vinegars. You know, in typical Michelin restaurant fashion. To celebrate their anniversary, La Pergola’s Chef Beck created a 12-course dinner (not counting the amuses bouch and chocolates), which we paired with four of the list of over 65,000 bottles of wine.
Each of the 12 tastings displayed Chef Beck’s wide culinary range, his creativity in the marriage of ingredients shined; amberjack tartare with snow, fried zucchini flower with caviar, roasted cod with celery sauce and veal with mushrooms and summer truffle. It was all a highlight, but as trained chefs, it was his transformation of flour, semolina, eggs, cream and cheese into his signature, classic Fagottelli – Carbonara “La Pergola”, that left our taste buds stunned.
Not to be outdone, the pastry chef just brought it, to close out the meal. Desserts shaped into frozen spheres of red fruits, and mounds of chocolates, crescendo-ing with a silver tower of twelve drawers filled with assorted unearthly dessert bites. Unforgettable meal? To say that barely scratches the surface. So run, don’t walk to La Pergola this holiday season.
