Daniele Lippi's Acquolina restaurant fresh off its second Michelin Star, possesses emphasis, sensitivity, and culture. All in one menu. Two in fact.
Acquolina
Restaurant
After several years, 2 Star MICHELIN restaurants are finally returning to Rome, rewarding as many as two restaurants: this is now clear and is as much a source of pride for the Capitoline fan curve as it is for Italian cuisine as a whole. It was 2009 when Acquolina, the Roman sign that has its roots inside The First Arte Hotel, the first of the three boutique hotels of The Pavilions Hotels and Resort group, now a trendy fine dining venue located in the heart of Rome, grabbed its first MICHELIN Star. But what more does Acquolina have today?
I remember sitting at his table just a couple of weeks before the 2023 guide presentation, and the dinner had disoriented me at times; I needed to rework the experience it in the days that followed. As for sensory enjoyment, I experienced that straight away. An original, quirky, conceptual, and challenging experience.
Daniele Lippi
"The young chef offers a cuisine where technique and imagination enhance the raw material in a way that is never banal and without virtuosity. Among the tasting menus, the Mediterranean one dominates with its ingredients, aromas, and traditions," this is what the MICHELIN inspectors revealed.
Acquolina embodies the quintessence of the modern contemporary restaurant where everything is allowed with the due criterion, technique, and importance. Even serving a pigeon stuffed with langoustine in which the extension of the limbs is replaced by the crustacean along with chard leaves, currant sauce, pigeon bottom, and langoustine coral.
The chef, born in 1990, grew up professionally in the Convivio dei Fratelli Troiani (1 Star MICHELIN), then perfected and elevated himself in kitchens of the caliber of Piazza Duomo, Pavillion Ledoyen and Lasarte. Today, Daniele Lippi entertains guests but, above all, himself by serving his very personal vision of cuisine in which he plays, questions and confuses by inciting thought, giving way to reason.
This is undoubtedly an approach that stimulates the senses, draws inspiration from and devotes itself to Mediterranean cuisine, ultimately achieving something distinctly identifiable, for better or worse. The writer recalls that at the very dinner mentioned above, a couple of recipes were not so easy to interpret, such as the Buffalo whey risotto, oysters and dehydrated licorice, where too much storytelling and technique may risk overpowering the overall pleasantness that should come first.
But, despite the risks the young chef decides to take, what he proposes is a pleasant journey not only geographically, but also through time, through the sea and territories usually excluded from Mediterranean cuisine, such as Morocco, Turkey, Spain, and Greece.
Hoink Hoink Anguilla
Dishes
Lippi narrates and plates the Mediterranean through two different menus: Periplo, with 7 courses, and Anabasi and Catabasi, with 9. The bread is a dish in itself and is exquisite; the Palamita, radicchio and pomegranate is fresh, fragrant and persuasive; the Mullet with duck heart and juniper is as deep as it is light and is a progressive bite made of different sensory planes and long after taste; the spaghettone, chickpeas and langoustine embodies simplicity.
Topinambur as artichoke
Credit also goes to Terra Arida, the dessert that denounces climate change and drought: a dish presented in the form of "cracked" sour meringue, licorice, root mousse, vanilla and white chocolate with a base of sorbet, black garlic and vinegar, composed of multiple edible parts and capable of satisfying all the senses.
Terra Arida
A virtours cuisine, but perhaps not for everyone – this is both good and bad. Continuing to push in that direction is the right way to remain creative and inspired, representing the concepts one feels are one's own. Provided one is capable of doing so, but Daniele Lippi has already proved so.
Just as he has shown that he has sobriety and humility: only with these virtues can one maintain a united team; it is no coincidence that the work done so far with Restaurant Manager Benito Cascone, Bar Manager Carlos Soriano, Room Manager Andrea Menichelli, Head Sommelier Francesco Aldieri and Group General Manager Andrea La Caita has been masterful and has led up to what Acquolina is today, far beyond the two tars awarded by the MICHELIN Guide. "A careful dining room service made of gestures and rituals, characterized by an empathetic and informal approach that never loses sight of professionalism. Every single detail is taken into consideration for perfect synchronism," adds Benito Cascone.
Benito Cascone
It is worth reading the introduction to his new menu, his way of honoring the Mediterranean:
"I think of the Mediterranean as a clash between Meditation and Earth, twisting thus the meaning. "Meditate" means to examine with great attention, to think and delve into something with mind and spirit. "Earth," on the other hand, means the planet we live on, the land we tread and cultivate, and figuratively the blood and roots that bind us to something or someone. Putting these two thoughts together means for me to dwell on our memories, our history. The Mediterranean is precisely the symbol of all this: a sea that has united different peoples for centuries, traditions and cultures. The water of the Mediterranean Sea flows, mixes, contaminates and unites, which is why my menu takes a bit of everything that´s 'inside´ the Mediterranean, and transforms it into something new, something different. This menu is my interpretation of Mediterranean culture: Medi-Terrae."
Address
Ristorante Acquolina
The First Roma Arte
Via del Vantaggio 14, Roma
Tel. +39 06 3201590
info@acquolinaristorante.it
