Before them, no establishment in Prato had received a Michelin star for the past 10 years. Now, the Paca team consolidate their achievements, led by Niccolò Palumbo in the kitchen and Lorenzo Catucci in the dining room.
Cover photo: Mike Tamasco
The Restaurant
Some places live the story that others choose to assign them, and regardless of whether this is reality or not, it always happens that for those same places, there are at least two other stories to tell. For this reason, if you asked the first person passing by for a good reason to go to Prato right now, they certainly wouldn't give you one. We are instead in a city boasting history and wealth, but which at the same time is today a symbol for artistic and architectural sensibility. The Pecci Museum is a center of contemporary art, while the Fabbricone Theater is one of the buildings reclaimed from industry and then turned into a laboratory for theatrical experimentation, over 23 thousand square meters and with 364 telescopic stands mounted on visible metal supports, which Europe envies us for. Just to name a couple. Then, there's the gastronomic revolution of Prato.
We are less than twenty kilometers from Florence, in a province with a great culinary tradition linked to the land. Between the hills of Carmignano and the Pistoia Apennines, Prato boasts more than two other stories to tell, and today's story speaks of a man named Niccolò Palumbo. The latter cooks in a restaurant on the threshold of the historic center, between Viale Piave leading to the Central Station and Piazza San Marco, which hosts the squared form with a cut by Henry Moore.
Paca is the restaurant that brought the Michelin Star to Prato, in 2022 (ed. 2023), with a team of guys under the guidance of Niccolò Palumbo in the kitchen and Lorenzo Catucci in the dining room. Two showcases on Via Frà Bartolomeo already tell of an intimate atmosphere, the civic number is 13 and upon entering, you are greeted by a space developed in depth.
Pleasant welcoming and then the rooms, where everything becomes more enveloping, the ceiling lowers and the warm lights cut the environment mid-air. Large tables, smiling service with great attention to the shape of an elegant yet relaxed experience.
The Dishes
The menu offers three tasting menus (short with six courses, medium with eight, and long with twelve), all in the dark, anticipating a list of twelve dishes evenly distributed between appetizers, first courses, main courses, and desserts. My lunch will be an unprecedented experience.
The amuse-bouche is a serious matter. Almost no restaurant makes it an essential part of the menu (both at the table and when you take it away when they give it to you), and it's a shame because I believe that handshake between the diner and the chef, which in any case dominates the first seven seconds of your experience, is significant. Niccolò's Sushi di Chianina impresses me, a bite of delicate sweetness and pleasant texture, made wild by the external streakiness in a truly enveloping persistence.
The Carpaccio of sheep, with shallot and almond, is a dish of great freshness. The meat has good chewiness and the expected taste, which is actually well-contained, the creamy almond base envelops everything, and the finishing chervil is the real balance needle on the final palate.
The Passatello of scallop served with mussels, saffron, and smoked scamorza water, puts saffron at the center stage. A creamy dish, with soft textures and a taste centered on the fun contrast between the saffron powder and the smoked scamorza. The scallop is somewhat unjustifiably absent.
Duck risotto, with winter melon and mustard. Once again, the amalgam of fats is the taste key on the aromatic components. A full, enveloping, and well-executed dish, where the winter melon serves as a texture and acidic component to amuse and reset the palate. On the side, a satellite is served with a duck and winter melon carpaccio, if needed, it focuses attention on the main elements.
The Plin of smoked herring, with roasted potato broth and green apple, has the great quality of being universally pleasing and well-balanced in the search for pairing between ingredients. Satisfying, technically well done, with the green apple that, however, begins to lose the right degree of acidity. Finally, the lamb, a dish that holds true to the earthy authenticity of a stylish cuisine. Two parts on the plate, sirloin and thigh, two cooking methods, and two different textures. The sirloin has tender and juicy meat, the thigh stands out for its cooking and processing to the point of remaining perhaps a bit pasty in its shredded and boneless recomposition. Both have very dense and intense bases that bind bold flavors, leaving a spiced aftertaste in the mouth alternating between bitter and spicy.
The dessert is Dark Chocolate and Blueberries, where obviously cocoa triumphs in its maximum expression. Furthermore, the slice of naturally leavened bread worked with chocolate dough, a perfectly executed and effective taste exercise.
The Wine List at Paca is measured, but it hits the right points to enhance a cooking technique based on relevant taste components, which should not be covered. You can find sought-after labels, with a special focus on Tuscany, as well as classic national and international ones. Niccolò Palumbo's dishes have a very precise style that you read immediately, in the Colonnata Lardo quenelle, for example, which replaces butter everywhere on other tables.
Paca has a cuisine designed to be direct in taste, authentic in the flavors of a territory accustomed to recognizing them, and surprising in surpassing them with elegance. So, if Prato and its hills are an unearthed area in the twenty kilometers that separate Pistoia and Florence, the Lungobisenzio that crosses it is the green director passing by the edge of another gastronomic story worth reading and rewriting every time.
Contacts
Via Frà Bartolomeo, 13, 59100 Prato PO
Phone: 0574 182 0222
