After learning all she could from the kitchens of Niko Romito and Antonia Klugmann, Nicoletta Franceschini decided to come back home to be close to her family. Today, she surprises with a small venue focusing on originality.
Photos by Alice Cristaldini
The story
Silene is a small restaurant, tucked away in a narrow street, with a modest entrance leading you into a winding and bucolic space. An "L" of old walls with vaulted ceilings, where everything exudes pastel tones, giving the feeling of stepping into a green boutique.
Elegance, even in the wallpaper adorning the first welcoming square, but also brightness in the main dining area, with the same wallpaper delineating the boundary between the service aisle and the kitchen. Well-spaced tables and minimalist decor in shades of white, with a fresh tulip hinting at a delicate yet intense femininity, which we'll soon discover in the kitchen.
Project, menu, and dishes are the work of Nicoletta Franceschini. A woodland sprite emitting good energy, who, after learning all she could from the kitchens of Niko Romito and Antonia Klugmann, decided to return home to be close to her family.
She brings to Foligno great technique and a strong determination to unveil the true value of plant-based cuisine to her land, a challenging mission that still needs to fully integrate into the entire gastronomic offering. In the menu, indeed, we find dishes of animal protein ranging from game meats to freshwater ones.
Two tasting menus, one entirely dedicated to Foligno tradition, with 4 courses, and one of 6 (crafted by the chef) which bears the restaurant's name. The wine list, featuring locally sourced paper with broom flower inserts, has a concise offering focused solely on Umbria, enjoyable for those who love exploring small, organic, and natural wine producers.
The dishes
The chef's welcome, grilled capon sandwich with mayonnaise, potato mayonnaise, and marinated lettuce is tasty, but what really hits the mark is a sphere of liver in pickled meat pâté, surrounded by lentils. Rich and clean, with the legumes almost crunchy and an unexpected freshness in the final. From the starters comes a grilled hare with seasonal herbs, including the first blossoms of peas and wild asparagus, all bound by an oat foam and a dog rose drying powder.
The hare is wild and initially dominates with a strong smoked flavor, its very tender and moist texture merging with the foam, but it is the vegetable the key element in opening up the palate and constructing the final flavor. A simple dish, yet structured on multiple taste levels. I also tasted the marinated eel in saor sauce, with fennel, spring onions, and yarrow mille-feuille.
The meats are lightly marinated with sugar and salt, maintaining a pleasant texture and easy eating. The saor sauce, made with eel stock and a small addition of apple cider vinegar, contrasts the sweetness provided by pine nuts and raisins, balancing with a not-too-acidic acidity. Also in this dish, showing great respect for the ingredients and surprising with its lightness, the principal element remains the vegetable thanks to the balsamic action of the yarrow. First up is a nettle tagliatella with escarole extract and rosemary milk.
It's a tasty, aesthetically pleasing, and opulent dish to behold. The texture of the tagliatelle provides a satisfying bite thanks to a nettle-infused dough that holds its cooking well, while the blending with escarole extract is echoed in the escarole powder itself and enhanced in the rosemary milk. A truly elegant scale of bitters, narrating a dish structured in all its vegetal aromatic persistence. Grilled swiss chard, rye, and sour cream arrive as a dish of simple appearance. However, in taste and bite, it conquers with a flavor of great richness. The chard's texture is perfect and very moist, offering a chewing experience that mixes sour cream with drops of fermented strawberry found among the leaves. Simply good all around.
Before dessert, I had a surprise. I was expecting the pre-dessert, but instead, I received a small taste of Fusilloni with vegetable brown stock, tench eggs, and fermented albedo citrus. I was torn between these and the tagliatelle, and to see them arrive like this, at the end, I confess was a truly appreciated surprise. Also, in the distinctly full and satisfying taste of the pasta, with a slightly sweet stock and tench eggs that, along with the fermentation of the albedo citrus, balance a comfortable and round flavor.
Another special mention goes to the dessert itself. From the hands of Michele Morici, among the three tasted, the citron and pollen stand out for technique, taste, and balance. A refined and delicate dessert for strong aromatic essences, but never intrusive and finally very balanced in sugars. The acidic component contained in the citron panna cotta, and the pollen dosed just right in its ice cream form served with tagetes.
Foligno is a medieval glimpse of beauty immersed in greenery. Alleys, arcades, and stone buildings crossed by suggestive silent courtyards make it one of the most beautiful villages in Umbria. I walked through it on a Saturday morning, finding it deserted with 80% of the shops closed. Few people, some friendly cats, and in an alley behind the small pizzeria Don Giovanni Minzoni, a string of light bulbs connected the narrow inhabited banks of via Maurizio Quadrio, at number 21. There, behind the small sign of Silene, is Nicoletta. A petite girl with skilled hands and a strong character, who along with Leonardo Fanini and Michele Morici carries on a hidden cuisine that serves as a gastronomic outpost for all of Umbria, which is beginning to make noise right in its kitchens.
Contacts
Silene Piccolo Restaurant
Via Maurizio Quadrio, 21, 06034 Foligno PG
Phone: 380 392 7747
