From September 21 to 23, 2017, Chef Pino Lavarra will be hosting a one-of-a-kind wine and dine tour of Italy, bringing together top wineries, culinary maestros with three Michelin stars and divine gastronomies from four key regions – Puglia, Campania, Sicily and Lombardy, all in one menu.
The exciting dining concept draws inspirations from the time-celebrated Giro d’Italia annual three-week-long bicycle race navigating around Italy. This time, instead of leading riders in signature pink jersey, four highly respected Italian craftsmen in their recognizable white chef’s jackets will be under the spotlight. Whereas food is the key to enjoyment, pairing wines give life and vivacity to a dining experience. Premium Italian wines, with an overwhelming rise in popularity worldwide, are the backbone of Tosca’s exclusive menus. Chef Pino lined up four giants in the Italian wine-making scene – Gianfranco Fino from Puglia, Feudi di San Gregorio from Campania, Tasca d’Almerita from Sicily and Bellavista from Lombardy, and three other acclaimed guest chefs from the respective wine regions, to whip up an unparalleled three-day-only culinary storm.
Gianfranco Fino from the Manduria city of Puglia is a young winery founded in 2004. The estate is home to grapes which are allowed to ripen on the vines for a longer time to give the wines higher sugar content and more intense flavors. Hand-harvested grapes are aged in new and inert oak to strike a perfect balance between hints of barrel aging and the unique characteristics of the terroir. Originally from Puglia, Director of the Michelin-starred Tosca Pino Lavarra has a special fondness for “the heel of the boot”. Warm memories of his hometown are reinterpreted into lovingly crafted creations to deliver the taste of Puglia at its very core.
Heading west on the map is Campania, where Feudi di San Gregorio runs its 300-hectare wine empire. With an unwavering respect for the land’s historic heritage, the winery is on a mission to enhance local wine production with a modern approach. Much emphasis has been put on cultivating native varietals such as Greco di Tufo – the most noble of the Southern Italian grapes; Fiano di Avellino – an ancient vine of the Roman era prospering in soils of volcanic origin; Falanghina del Sannio – another ancient varietal enjoyed by the Sannites and Romans; and Aglianico – ranking among the finest red Italian grapes. Pairing with the Feudi di San Gregorio wines will be scrumptious dishes prepared by Chef Paolo Barrale. Having honed his crafts for almost 30 years, Chef Paolo specializes in traditional Italian cuisine full of unique territorial flair. With family roots in Sicily, Chef Paolo has headed the kitchen of Feudi di San Gregorio’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Marennà, for over 10 years and has fully adopted Irpinia of Campania as his home.
Further south on the Italian peninsula is Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Boasting five farming estates in different territories in Sicily, the 500-hectare Tasca d’Almerita demonstrates the region’s vast potential in producing world-class vintages made with both international and Sicilian varietals. Benefiting from the Mediterranean climate of Sicily, the five estates enjoy significant differences in average temperatures and rainfall levels, which foster the cultivation of a wide range of varietals from the well-structured reds with great aging potential to the whites with strong notes of mineral. Bathed in southern light and salt-sprayed sea breeze on the Aeolian Island of Salina, Capofaro Malvasia & Resort is a luxury lodging facility in one of Tasca d’Almerita’s estates. Its Executive Chef Ludovico De Vivo is known for fashioning his Michelin-starred creations around local flavors ranging from ingredients from the estate’s vegetable gardens to seafood from the waters surrounding the Aeolian Islands. Aged 36, Chef Ludovico refined his culinary skills in kitchens in Amalfi, Anacapri, Zermatt in Switzerland, Bray in the UK and Copenhagen, before his passion for fine cuisine came to the notice of Capofaro Malvasia & Resort in 2012.
Home to the largest metropolitan area in Italy, Lombardy is customarily the place where Giro d’Italia starts or finishes. Producing one of the most reputable Franciacorta wines, Bellavista takes pride in its balanced landscape – sunny hills between the scenic Lake Iseo and the Alps. The 190-hectare vineyards spreading over ten municipalities have individual harvest schedules, resulting in wines acclaimed for tasteful and subtle expression enriched with extraordinary complexity. The wine producer of excellence has been the official partner of Teatro alla Scala opera house since 2004, supplying a limited collection of vintages to the theater’s major debuts. Just a few strides away from Bellavista is LeoneFelice restaurant where Executive Chef Fabio Abbattista showcases territorial cuisine bonding between traditions and modern interpretation. Freshness and the quality of ingredients are key to his cooking, whereas techniques, as he mentions, come later. In celebration of the strong agricultural tradition Lombardy is famous for, Chef Fabio loves working with local ingredients – vegetables from the restaurant’s own garden, cheese and dairy products from small farms, seafood caught by local fishermen and meat from neighboring breeders. His dishes, inspired by modern Mediterranean cuisine, are not just an expression of his talents, but also a representation of the work and passion of local producers behind the scenes.
Giro d’Italia Menu
Venue: Tosca, Level 102, The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong
Date & Time: September 21, 2017
6:30pm to 10:30pm
September 21-23, 2017
12:00nn to 2:30pm
6:30pm to 10:30pm
Price: HK$880+10% per person for 4 courses / HK$1,680+10% per person for 8 courses
HK$1,780+10% per person for 6 courses / HK$1,980+10% per person for 8 courses
All prices are subject to 10% service charge. For reservations, please contact Restaurant Reservations at (852) 2263 2270 or via email at [email protected].