A day at the seaside with Stefano Ciotti: the cuisine of Pesaro's Nostrano restaurant between identity, memory, irony and awareness.
Photo Credits: @Marco Poderi Studio
The first recorded version of “Una giornata al mare” was by Equipe 84 in 1971. That version simply did not work. Perhaps the tone was too mournful, or the arrangement uncertain. It would have taken the interpretation of one of the song's two authors, namely Paolo Conte, who wrote it with his brother, to make it a hit. The main ingredients of his version? Irony, urgency, disenchantment, dragged along by a tango running downhill to the sea.
On the way out of Pesaro's Nostrano restaurant, overlooking the Adriatic Sea and next to Arnaldo Pomodoro's Sfera Grande, in one of the city's most memorable locations, we like to think that it is no coincidence that Stefano Ciotti, the restaurant's chef patron, called his tasting menu precisely “Una giornata al mare.” Paolo Conte described the song as “the story of an inland Ligurian boy who sets out to learn about another world, the world of the sea,” and in this we can think of traits in common with the chef's career path.
STEFANO CIOTTI
Ciotti was born in Rimini and grew up in Montefiore Conca, an inland village with his bottom in Le Marche, his hands in Romagna and his eyes to the sea. He learned the trade at the court of the tutelary deities of local cuisine Gino Angelini and Vincenzo Cammerucci, then he was at Taverna Righi with Luigi Sartini. He passed through the kitchens of Don Alfonso in Sant'Agata sui due Golfi and the Armani Café in Paris, until he returned to Romagna to the restaurant Diana in Riccione. He became executive chef in 2004, at Vicolo Santa Lucia at Hotel Carducci 76 in Cattolica, where he was awarded a Michelin star in 2010. In 2012 he directed the catering area at the Tenuta Santi Giacomo e Filipporesort near Urbino, and in 2013 he was awarded the Tre Spicchi in the Gambero Rosso guide dedicated to pizza.
Since 2015 his Ithaca has been Pesaro, where he opened Nostrano together with partner Giorgia Stocchi, and where they were awarded a Michelin star in 2017. Nostrano, which among the first inaugurated a personal way to fine dining, more informal in its approach and ambience, thanks to a direct and colorful cuisine, confidential service and happy grafts of local crafts and pop pieces in the dining room, in 2022 underwent a massive restyling in the furnishings, taking it to a higher level of elegance without losing a drop of warmth.
Crossing the threshold of Nostrano today offers the feeling of entering a particularly happy moment in the house: certainly the light, which has always been one of the highlights of the atmosphere; certainly the long wave of summer, which in the August Adriatic Riviera stirs the air. But the chef's gaze, the handshake of the very talented maître Ion Chelici and the smile of Stefany Piga, chef de rang, anticipate that there is probably more to it than that.
The ambiance is as we remembered it: the restyling has improved the seating level, now elegantly sumptuous; made the tables more precious and spacious; further elevated the brightness through greater use of glass and chrome. In the summer version then, the space increases thanks to the possibility of dining on an outdoor veranda, for an almost immersive experience in Pesaro's waterfront promenade.
THE TASTING
The tasting menu, as anticipated, has been called “Una giornata al mare” since last year and is a happy synthesis of the chef's past and present, seasoned with just the right amount of irony, right from the names of the dishes. The beginning is both programmatic and disruptive: ‘Il pomodoro al gratin nel XXI secolo’ (Tomato au gratin in the 21st century). Nothing less than a tomato gratin as grandmothers used to make it, embellished with granita of bear garlic. I doubt there is a person born within a 200-mile radius of here who does not have clear in his or her memory the flavor of tomato gratin, cooked with robust contributions of breadcrumbs and herbs. Here, in the hot-cold contrast, in the firm mellowing of garlic, in the placid aromatic comfort of oil, its fine dining version. The feeling of nostalgia quickly gives way to a smile. It continues with “Cucciolone and DiMare Spritz”: a Cucciolone-like (ice cream cookie), inspired by the original, enriched with verdicchio passito ice cream and smoked foie gras.
“DiMare” is a house seawater bitter, with which they make spritz. If your childhood summers don't taste like Cucciolone and your 20s don't taste like spritz we feel sorry for you. Ciotti mixes nostalgia, irony and homage to the region that welcomed him. It continues with the service of a bread kneaded with potatoes, as per ancient Marche tradition, and then butter “pizza”: buffalo mozzarella, oregano, tomato and oil, because at the seaside mid-morning snack with red pizzetta is religion. Seamlessly, the homages to Marche return to Romagna with the dish “Alici, piadina, arugula and onion.”
A steamed piadina (typical flatbread), with fresh marinated anchovies, onion broth, grilled arugula mayonnaise. It is subtle and navigated the balance with which one moves between known raw materials and bold flavors and the desire (fulfilled) to elevate them through haute cuisine technique and vision. “Oyster, tzatziki, cucumber” is the next step, lashing savoriness, acidity and freshness.
For many people, Romagna is synonymous with barbecued bluefish, so the chef steps up a gear (motorcycling is also a religion here) and serves a “barbecued mackerel, apple teriyaki, turnips and shallots.” Grilled fish, served on a spit, with apple teriyaki and on the plate slightly spicy red turnips and shallot mousse. Great feast on the palate, local opulence with an ethnic touch to degrease. It is in the dish to follow, however, that the surprise probably reaches its highest level: “Vegetable flag, iced celery, quinoa.”
Plant-based, seasonal, ultimately simple ingredients (no one begrudges us that). They may be simple, but this baked casserole of peppers, onions, and tomatoes, then served cold, with watermelon baked in the oven and rehydrated in seawater, enriched with celery and lovage vinaigrette granita, and laid on a bed of quinoa, warrants a life sentence in the gluttonous circle. For those wondering, the vegetable flag is known as an Umbrian recipe, of course, but it is also often found in Marche and Romagna. Then again, grandmothers were interested in happy grandchildren, not precise borders. The pace of service is high, cheerful, in these parts they would say danceable, and credit goes to Chelici's team, which never skimps a joke or a smile but at the same time does not miss a single detail of what is going on around. The tasting continues with a fresh pasta, “Bottoni filled with mullet, foie gras, green pepper.”
The diner is asked to play with a grain of pickled green peppercorn in the mouth, which will provide the aromatic palate complement throughout the dish. The buttons are stuffed with mullet and liquid foie gras, then served with mullet and shellfish guazzetto. To conclude paccasassi in brine and raw. Comes less, compared to the beginning, the stimulating element of memory flavors, remains a great dish, elegant and delicate. New passage, new hook to the chin: “Maccheroncini di Campofilone in potacchio, cedar and seaweed.” Maccheroncini cooked dry, all'assassina, or precisely “in potacchio,” in a roasted tomato water, served with seaweed, tomato confit and capers. It is a cold dish, iced citron is grated on top as if it were Parmesan. The aesthetic is punk, the substance symphonic. Good idea, very good result.
The only second course on the itinerary is a “Grilled Quail, Cherries, Cardamom, Glasswort.” A whole barbecued quail served with cherry and cardamom glaze, plus leg served au naturel. Perhaps the least surprising and personal dish of the tasting (and it fits), however an exact dish thanks to excellent raw material cooked to perfection. There would be much to be satisfied with, but a day at the beach cannot be said to have ended without a “Birretta.” This is nothing less than a shot of peach wine and basil syrup, served in a micro bucket and micro beer bottle. Refreshing and fun.
What about dessert? What can hold its own against a savory Cucciolone we started with? Nostrano's “Croccantino” is a frozen mousse of Cau&Spada yogurt, sour cherry wine gel and Cantiano black cherries at the base. Coffee is followed by the well-known (and highly photographed) small pastries served on a small illuminated stage and inspired by the operas of Gioachino Rossini. It is a fairly common topic among enthusiasts of how it often happens that the narrative about the dishes outweighs the dishes themselves, or how some dishes or courses often lack coherence and relevance in representing a chef's vision.
That is why when we are faced with a stable balance of these elements, it is a pleasure to point out. This is the case with the cuisine of Stefano Ciotti and Fabio Pellizzaro, the sous chef of Nostrano. It is a conscious and resolute cuisine, lucid and precise. Above all, perfectly taut and at ease in the present time it is living. One can sense well the desire to make the guest's palate enjoy, stimulating the memory and daring with sharp and decisive flavors. There is a sense of paying homage to one's history, that the past should always be a springboard to the future. One feels the urge to even tease a little, playing with irony, that after all, the ultimate goal of this craft is to give people two hours of happiness.
And “facing the sea, happiness is a simple idea,” as Jean-Claude Izzo wrote and as Ciotti reminds us, signing a drawing that guests can color as they wish before leaving the restaurant, as they did as children.
Contact
Nostrano Restaurant
Piazzale della Libertà, 7 - 61121 Pesaro
Phone. +39 0721 639813
https://www.nostranoristorante.it/it
Saturday, Sunday and Monday lunch and dinner.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday dinner.
Tuesday closing day.
