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ROME RISTORANTE LA PERGOLA
You will need to go outside the centre of Rome, to one of the city’s hills. Here you will find the Rome Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria Hotel. It is a large building, and it is good that its rather stark, modern lines are softened by enveloping creepers. Inside, it is a treasure trove of fine art. The numerous paintings and sculptures are of the highest quality. If it looks like a Tiepolo, it is a Tiepolo. It is a pleasure just to walk across its spacious entrance hall to the lifts. But, for the gourmet, the real pleasure is to be found in the restaurant on the top floor, where 17 waiters look after 50 diners and the smiles of both staff and guests tell the nightly tale of wonderful hospitality given and received. Here, too, the objets d’art abound – most recently they have been joined by a collection of Art Nouveau vases by Gallé and by a table made by Marie Antoinette’s cabinet-maker.
First, however, came marinated scallops with lentil purée, flavoured with liquorice and bacon. This was an object lesson in soft textures and subtle flavours. Then appeared a dish which displayed all Chef Beck’s inventive brilliance. The sea bass within the crispy bread cannoli was first class, but it was its combination on the plate with the bright, chopped celery and melon which sent the spirits soaring. This was the beauty of contrast. It was then the turn of the pasta to thrill my palate. Over the perfectly-cooked tagliolini the waiter grated thin slices of the divine fungus. It was so simple; it was so delicious. Fried red mullet with herbs followed, and then meaty amberjack with a bright green liquid of turnip tops. The duck foie gras was superb: caramelized and served with a mushroom and cereal consommé – the delicacy of the partnership ethereal. My mouth felt caressed and flattered. Venison had a pistachio crust and was served with chestnut purée and persimmon jam. From the cheese trolley I could manage little more than a crumble of Parmesan – but I did eat it with 100 year-old Balsamic vinegar, and thought I had glimpsed Heaven. The ‘Grand Dessert’ comprised so many tasty elements that my efforts to do justice to the silver chest of drawers which was subsequently placed on my table, full of petits fours, was feeble indeed.
I left La Pergola as I always leave La Pergola: grateful that so many talented people have been drawn to one magical place for the benefit of those of us who relish the pleasures of gastronomy. Chef Heinz Beck, Sir Umberto Giraudo, Maitre d’ Simone Pinoli, Sommelier Marco Reitano and everyone else at this great restaurant deserve the highest praise for their hard work and professionalism. They bring joy to all their guests, and do so with courtesy and refinement. Is it necessary to swear to be a great chef? What a silly question.
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RISTORANTE LA PERGOLA
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© Francis Bown 2003
Is it necessary to swear to be a great chef? There are now many chefs who seem to think so. Unfortunately, some of them appear on our television screens, where their scatological unpleasantness invades the homes of millions. They fulminate (quite rightly) about junk food, but see no inconsistency in condemning bad, lazy food in language which is itself bad and lazy. The poverty of vocabulary thus displayed is the linguistic equivalent of ‘chips with everything’. The sensitivities of the civilized are being damaged by the assaults of these vulgarians. We need re-assurance. And nowhere provides it more beautifully than Rome’s finest dining room. Here, in one of the world’s best kitchens, there cooks a gentleman of refinement, courtesy and humility. I suspect that the great Heinz Beck could no more utter a rude word than he could over-cook a soufflé. His immense talent and his considerable energies are directed entirely at producing some of the most delicious dishes to be found on our planet. So, if you want to be sure that there is still goodness in the culinary world, follow my example and visit the Ristorante La Pergola.
In this context it is entirely proper that the Restaurant Manager should be, not just any ordinary restaurant manager, but a Cavaliere della Repubblica. I first met the delightful Sir Umberto – for such I must now call him – before he was a Knight of the Italian Republic, when he was plain Umberto Giraudo. Then he was an impressive waiter at the Louis XV in Monte Carlo. Now he rules the front of house at another Michelin 3-star establishment, and he does it with charm and absolute efficiency. For how many other folk would I drag my dress suit across Europe? Not many. But I had promised Sir Umberto that I would be in black tie when I next dined at La Pergola, and in black tie I was. As proof, I offer you a photograph of the two of us, taken at the door of the restaurant. (I am the decrepit gentleman on the left.)
Shortly after this portrait was taken, I was sitting at a table set with the finest Riedel glassware, three glasses of pink roses, five little candles and exquisite silver-gilt place-settings (originally made for George III). Before me was a napkin embroidered with my initials (pictured) and, beyond the plate glass window, was set out the Roman panorama, with the floodlit dome of St Peter’s Basilica to the right. (Before his ascent to the Papal throne, the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger dined at La Pergola and enjoyed the food prepared by his fellow countryman – for Chef Beck is also from Germany.) I sipped a glass of Dom Pérignon 2000 in the Eternal City and all thoughts of nasty, loud cooks disappeared from my mind. Instead, I thought about which of the ten salts I should chose from those being proffered by the waiter. Then I had to study the water menu. (Its 50 offerings go up in price to 200ε for Bling H2O from California.)
Apart from the carte, two set meals are offered – with 6 courses at 170ε and 9 courses at 195ε. I chose the latter. For food of the quality served here, these prices strike me as remarkably friendly. Before the food began to arrive, the excellent Maitre d’, Simone Pinoli (on the right of the group picture), approached with a wooden box. He opened it to reveal those jewels which quicken the pulse of every gourmet... white truffles. These were large. Immediately my nostrils were filled with their sublime, outrageous aroma. Truffle, I was assured, would accompany my pasta dish. (This would, of course, attract a supplementary charge.) I could scarcely wait.
With a kitchen of such magnificence, you would expect a spectacular cellar and a brilliant sommelier. La Pergola has both. Sommelier Marco Reitano (second from the left in the group photograph) seems to know intimately every one of the 3,200 offerings listed in the two volumes of his list. Here are a few of the gems which caught my eye: 1893 Yquem (12,000ε), 1955 Dom Pérignon (4,600ε), 1945 Pétrus (9,000ε), 1961 Pétrus (23,000ε, magnum), 1945 Haut Brion (8,000ε), 1961 Latour (11,500, magnum), 1976 Romanée-Conti (11,500ε) and 1988 Romanée-Conti (14,500ε, magnum). If you know your French wines and vintages, you have probably swooned by now.
After the champagne, I began with a most intriguing blend of pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc and chardonnay, from the Friuli region (Blanc de Buri, Meroi, 2006 - 65ε). The sauvignon dominated, given roundness from the pinot grigio and hints of creaminess from the chardonnay. This was a handsome wine. With the foie gras came a glass of Gewurtztraminer Kastelaz, Elene Walch, 2007, and then there arrived a bottle of one of my favourite Italian reds from Tuscany – Luce (Frescobaldi - 170ε). From the difficult 2003 vintage, this was glorious drinking – complex, sweet and full of ripe berries and damsons. Cockburn’s port (1963) accompanied the cheese and a Vin Santo di Montepulciano (Avignonesi, 1995) came with the puddings. This final wine – intensely sweet, with suggestions of liquorice – was quite unlike any other I have tasted, because of its astonishingly high viscosity. I am so grateful to Mr Reitano for introducing me to it.