Verso is a motion to a place: it stands in the logical analysis of fine dining not as an object, but as a subject that still has something to add. The Capitaneo brothers' symbiotic challenge.
The new Verso in Milano
Capitaneo Brothers
Behind any great chef, there is always a great sous chef. Enrico Bartolini, a star-riding grabber, had two of them. Remo and Mario, the Capitaneo Brothers, helped make Milan see the three stars once again - that much? Bartolini talks maybe even less than he used to since his couple of aces left him - they then preferred to move under the golden light of Milan’s Madonnina. Did they do this so as not to risk becoming museum pieces? We do not know. What we do know is that they now "live" in Piazza Duomo in a house where the living room is in the kitchen or the kitchen in the living room, as you prefer.
Their new home is called Verso. Don't think about the ecstatic sound your vocal cords are going to make when you taste their dishes. Too personal to tell a brand story. Verso is a motion to a place, it stands in the logical analysis of haute cuisine not as an object, but as a subject that still has something to say about fine dining.
In the press release, they alliterated the name Verso, linking it to the new cuisine, a new relationship with the customer, and Milan's multicultural world. All correct. Yet, something didn't add up for me. Or rather, wasn't enough for me. After lunch at Verso's, my belly was full, my palate was laughing, and my brain was satiated as well. Verso literally means ‘towards,’ I had seen the coming and going of it, the symbiosis. You can watch Mario and Remo moving and working in the kitchen. Communal cuisine, one would say? Peripheral vision intertwined with a personal vision. And constant escape points, because organizing and planning are a must, but the unexpected is the only hope. Just like when a musician whose earpiece stopped functioning reminds himself, he’s a phenomenon and decides to keep going, no matter what.
The restaurant
Some technical details. Verso has 28 covers in total, three open islands of five covers each, where Mario "closes" all the dishes. In short, it’s like being at the counter. A table of 6-8 people and a private room of 6 are almost ready. We are at number 21 Piazza Duomo, under the porch you have to enter a narrow corridor and then go up a glass elevator. Second floor and there you are. Verso doesn't have a sign on the street, although you can't see it, we are sure it has more users than the Metaverse.
A part of you must be wondering how incredibly high the rent must be. Duomo 21 s.r.l, former owner of Terrazza 21, is the investor and partner of the Capitaneo brothers. Although the company operates usually quieter venues, their desire was to have a high-end restaurant among their assets. Let's just say they didn't do too badly. Verso (towards) and Spazio (space), only two words identify the main restaurants overlooking Piazza Duomo which offer high-level cuisine. If Spazio moves vertically, sublimating the potential of an ingredient according to the credo of founder Niko Romito, Verso proceeds horizontally by going in search of symbiosis, the soul mates between ingredients. Preferring complementarity, reciprocity, let me say the fulfillment of the other.
The relationship between the Capitaneo brothers tries to go in the same direction, that of a symbiotic act. I think the cuisine of Spazio is much more cerebral than that of Verso. Sometimes the singularity of the ingredient can be more mental for the palate to understand.
Let's go back to Verso's kitchen for a moment. The hood runs the length of the brigade work area. Customers cannot miss it, but neither can they miss noticing how efficient and quiet it is. For a concept where the chef is always in the customer's presence, an annoying background would break any potential magic. And I can well recall open or semi-open kitchens where the hood was the only annoying member of the brigade.
The dishes
The symbiosis sought by Remo and Mario is not delivered every single time - just as with the perfect introspection of an ingredient in Spazio - but when it does happen, it is a moment of pure epiphany. The metaphor between the sacred and the profane immediately calls for a centerpiece, animella di vitello, ricci di mare, sedano rapa alla brace e bernese al caffé. (Calf’s sweetbread, sea urchins, braised celeriac, and coffee béarnaise). Heart sweetbread comes from Michele Varvara’s super young calves. It is seared in butter and herbs after blanching in water, then repassed over the coals of the Mibrasa. Sea urchins are Apulian ones, loaded with magenta. Together they are a swirl of different sweetness’s and edges that, chasing one another, complement each other perfectly. Braised celeriac and coffee béarnaise are the bitter cheers that close the circle. Edible electrocution. A new idea.
Lunch started with a perfectly executed and languidly sweet lustful torta di zucca e caviale (pumpkin and caviar cake), followed by ostrica ai carboni, ceci neri e mandorla (charcoal oyster, black chickpeas, and almonds). A proposal in which the chickpeas dampen, and by quite a bit, the brackish power of the oyster. The pink chocolate medallion resting on top, evokes, in addition to its sweetness, the crisp acidity of red fruits, as if to remind us that oysters used to be (and still are) eaten with lemon.
When the Ravioli di funghi, ristretto di pollo e anguilla affumicata (mushroom ravioli, chicken broth and smoked eel) arrive we observe their semi-spherical shape, we might mischievously think of Enrico Bartolini's famous buttons; it’s but a passing thought. In this dish, it is as if the moisture of the earth and its oily richness have been concentrated. Mushroom and eel. An example of perfectly executed symbiosis is in spaghetto al granchio e marasciuoli (crab and marasciuoli spaghetti). The pungent vegetable of the wild herbs, often used in traditional Puglia cuisine, covers the flavor of the crab meat. The result is a dish that is not well tied together, even though the spaghetti used, from Puglia's del Duca pasta factory, is superb.
You must have noticed how Puglia is ever-present. There’s a very simple explanation: the chefs are from this region and, with passion and without obsession, they pay homage to their home. They also told us about the fat and opulent San Michele oyster, which we had already tasted in the court of another chef from the same region, Felix Lo Basso. We close with the second symbiotic act. Agnello delle Dolomiti Lucane, broccoletto di custoza e peperone di Senise. (lamb from the Lucanian Dolomites, broccoli from Custoza, and Senise bell pepper). Remo and Mario are all into express cooking, and here you can see how well they handle it, without letting the meat turn into stone. This process is repeated three times. A detail of technique that makes the meat tender and juicy. In the naming of the dish, there is not one element that in my opinion deserves all the laurels possible. Melon. This ingredient develops longitudinally to create a borderline.
Together with the lamb, its rolled entrails, broccoletto, and, at first glance, what appears to be a shrimp. Actually, Mario and Remo used the melon to wrap the bell pepper in the manner of a shell. After tasting it and with this picture in mind, the dish can be succinctly called a lamb going on vacation, coming down from the Lucanian heights, and heading to the sea to take a break, to experience some days of relaxation. Melon and bell pepper manage to enhance the character of the lamb without taking away its country soul and intensity. Una trippa e menta di vitello (A veal tripe and mint), something that chefs offer only after scanning the customer thoroughly. The supplier is the Pantano Carni company, near Padua, where only Black Angus is bred. A fantastic pre-dessert. Meringata di tartufo nero, mandorla e radicchio tardivo (black truffle meringue, with almond and late radicchio) marks the end of our journey.
Mario was constantly on the first line. Loquacious and discreet at the same time. Remo is the arm of the kitchen, the live transformer. Mario is perfectly comfortable showing artwork without dragging his feet, always listening, yet at the same time never distracted from performing a great dish in front of your eyes. Remo has not yet gotten used to the light, the total openness, being in the room. Perhaps because, by nature, he expresses himself best in the shadows, backstage even when backstage is part of the show. His graffiti artist past resurfaces gently, not glossy, but rather like a spray cloud that, fortunately for us, does not stop spreading. They are the Capitaneo brothers, and they are symbiotic.
Address
Verso Ristorante
P.za del Duomo, 21/second floor, 20121 Milano MI
Tel: 02 8975 0929
Website
