The Cerea family does not deny itself: even in Portofino they bring the generosity and excellence of Brusaporto, interpreted in a convivial and informal way by Davide Galbiati, resident chef with an important international background.
The restaurant
The Cerea family has been bringing the sea to Bergamo for more than 50 years: an idea at the time visionary, on which they have built knowledge and success. Three years ago, however, they also undertook the journey à rebours, implanting a spin-off of Da Vittorio at the sea, to be exact in Liguria, a region where they have always spent their vacations in the family home. We are in Portofino, in the little square teeming with tourists, under the rooms of the Splendido hotel, where the latest talent from the Bergamo nursery officiates: Davide Galbiati.
Thirty-three years old, Galbiati chose cooking because of the enthusiasm of family Sundays, when his grandfather cooked a slew of shared appetizers. Then the hotelier school in Ponte di Legno, then from age 16 to 18 his first major experience in Paris at the trattoria Bocconi, under the advice of Alberico Penati, followed by another of his restaurants in London.
It was the Lombard chef himself who sent him to Robuchon's Atelier in Saint Germain, then there was Harris Bar in London, a good 7 years in Australia with Neil Perry, who had opened an Italian restaurant, and a move to Macau with Umberto Bombana. "It was for the covid that I returned to Italy and met the Cerea family; after a move to Brusaporto, they asked me in 2022 to take over the Portofino restaurant, which had been started by Paolo Rota in June 2021."
The common thread among his masters, Galbiati notes, is an obsession with quality ingredients. And if mentor Penati kept him on his toes, Perry passed on to him the mastery of the grill and Bombana the contaminations between cuisines. The Cerea family, then, means great hospitality.
The philosophy
"DaV mare shares Da Vittorio's DNA, so a great quality of raw material, subjected to processing that is never exaggerated, in a more informal environment marked by sharing. The menu is purely seafood, with influences of land, with the intention of promoting as much as possible the product of the territory, which is a plus and not a stigma, in which case we make up for it with other national materials."
Ligurian fish, after all, is often featured in Brusaporto as well, especially the amazing shellfish from the Santa Margherita pits. "But here we serve ourselves from local fishmongers, in the morning they tell us what they have and we baste a special or supplement the menu." Not to be outdone are the vegetables, authentic microseasonal gems, whether it be quarantina potatoes, mushrooms, Pra basil or herbs from the Portofino promontory, Valleggia apricots, lemons or chinottos.
"With the Cereas, the dialogue is constant: we consult almost every day about the progress of the menu, purchases and specials. Then when it's time to change the menu, we try the dishes all together." The cellar itself passes through the lens of Fabrizio Sartorato, a sommelier from Brusaporto. In Portofino it is followed by Walter Tartaglia, also former Da Vittorio.
The dishes
A few dishes echo the parent company: for example, the elephant ear, which is somewhat reduced, or the paccheri alla Vittorio, which, though, are not whipped in the dining room. However, the style is recognizable, whether it is risotto with mortar pesto and shellfish mix, bouquet of shellfish like cappon grasso, or catalana, but with more vegetables . There are two tasting menus: Libeccio, like the wind that blows from the land to the sea, with its 5 runs of fish and Maestrale, which moves in the opposite direction, ringing up 7 runs of fish and non-fish, at 160 and 200 euros respectively.
The Antipasto Portofino in its generous conviviality fully represents the restaurant. It includes 9 super-tastes, seafood or vegetable: steamed langoustine with candied lemon, tuna spaghetti with bagna cauda and Monterosso anchovies (signature of the house), tomato salad, mullet candy, mustard and honey, raw Santa Margherita purple shrimp, snapper carpaccio with broccoli, creamed cod with Ligurian focaccia, candied eggplant, tomato with stracciatella and marinated anchovy.
Delicious then is the linguina alle vongole with cream of trombetta zucchini and caviar, designed to vary the classic Italian pasta dish with a territorial twist. But around the tables also goes the mortar for the pesto of the trofie, which is finished at the table, excellent thanks to the calibration of Pra basil, Anfosso taggiasco oil, Pisan pine nuts, Parmigiano Gennari.
The same pesto is whisked in a risotto finished with tomato emulsion, bisque of purple shrimp heads, salmon roe for flavor, raw shrimp and Taggiasca olive powder. "Our ode to our host region."
It is an important main course the grilled tuna belly, "veined" by the katsuobushi-infused bottom, prepared like a classic steak and served with the ritual toppings: polenta, bitter preboggion composed of sautéed promontory herbs, and béarnaise sauce.
Very fresh desserts by pastry chef Giorgia Compagnoni. For example , the Frutteto, modeled after the fruit at the end of the meal with its first fruits and varieties of the day in different elaborations, raw and cooked, plus a very natural herb sorbet that recreates the defatiguing feeling of a fruit salad.
Address
Da V Mare
c/o Hotel Splendido Mare A Belmond Hotel Portofino
Martiri dell'Olivetta Square - Portofino
Phone: +39 0185 267 8531
Reservations.davmare@belmond.com
Website
