One menu for just under and one for just over 60 euros to tell the story of his Abruzzo region in a contemporary way: with only territorial ingredients and centered flavors, Gianluca Durillo stages a cuisine to be discovered in Giulianova.
Abruzzo is a wonderful land, rich in beauty and goodness ranging from the coast, to the hinterland, to its mountains, high and wild. Gastronomically speaking, there is a small, steady progression taking place in this region to integrate something new to a great tradition.
The chef and the restaurant
Among the protagonists of the Abruzzo movement is undoubtedly Gianluca Durillo in Giulianova. We met him as a winner of Emergente, Luigi Cremona and Lorenza Vitali 's historic competition that consecrates the greats of the future, in 2019, finally finding him today in his homeland with Rotta Cucina e Ristoro. The name Gianluca wanted to give to the first restaurant whose reins he holds has to do both with breaking the mold of a changing restaurant industry and with a course, a direction to follow and keep firmly in mind.
At the end of April, Rotta, with its own entrance but inside the Hotel 900, an early 20th century Art Nouveau villa, will celebrate its one-year anniversary. Cooking for him has been at home (and in the home) for as long as he can remember: “I come from a family of grandmothers who are very strong in the kitchen, mom is even stronger than me, that's why I've always liked this world.” After school and early experiences in and around Giulianova, Gianluca moved to Rome: here he worked with Marco Martini, both at Stazione di Posta and at The Corner.
Another milestone, which leaves a deep professional mark on him, so much so that his eyes light up when he talks about Mariella Organi and Moreno Cedroni,'their human depth is incredible', is at La Madonnina del Pescatore in Senigallia. There is no shortage of three months of internship at Osteria Francescana: “I was lucky enough to go there thanks to Davide Di Fabio: to see what they do in there is a crazy thing, you arrive on the first day and you feel like you've been there for 10 years; you don't feel like the last to arrive but one of the group. right away.” Gianluca Gorini in San Piero in Bagno for Durillo is the last stop before returning to Abruzzo, and in his dishes there is still some trace of the master's style: “Impressive what he can do up there.”
He is one with a head on his shoulders, Durillo, the kind who leaves flights of fancy out the door. His is a healthy awareness, which includes both an awareness of his own capabilities and the lucidity of being able to carefully read the context in which he is operating. Thus, he tells us, “We have tried a to give a simple and very concrete slant with 2 low-priced menus (58 and 68 euros for 5 or 6 courses, ed.) because in Abruzzo it takes longer to get to certain results and in order not to die sooner we need a lot of people coming here to eat. Our line has been to tell immediately where we come from. It's all raw materials from here: lamb, sheep, herbs, all super recognizable. It hasn't been a year yet, but for what we expected we've done well, also helped by 10 a la carte dishes: people come for lunch, eat a couple of dishes and in the evening sooner or later come back to have their way.”
Of course, Gianluca talks about simplicity, but his dishes, more than simple, are immediate and easily readable, original, with the flavors very well centered. Very good, no doubt. Gianluca explains that the idea is to propose a kind of uncaged informality, so the room also works accordingly, with that smiling professionalism that puts everyone at ease. As for his philosophy, the phrase that tells the character of this young chef is, "The future is not the Instagrammable dish, beauty will never surpass taste. Everything comes naturally, I am not able to make a beautiful design, everything goes in its place, it must have a logic."
The dishes
The Orizzonte menu, includes 6 courses 'in the dark:“We change every round and this helps us so much not to have to move the menu all the time, it allows us to give space for daily creativity.” We start with a mouthwatering R-shaped meringue with brown butter and miso. The appetizer starts with a potato soffiata, bitter herb pesto and ponzu sauce: “We make it by processing a potato extract as if it were a puff pastry, then we go and cook it in the classic Romagna tigelliera.” Inevitable is the cacio e uovo pallotta with lemon and tomato; then a crispy waffle with paprika and beans and fried cheese with vinegar powder. “The traditional dishes are lightened, so the pallotta comes from a dough put in a siphon and then cooked in takoyaki, while the cheese is a soffiata batter.” Elegant and incisive is the salad of seasonal fruits and vegetables: at the base an emulsion of affumicata ricotta cheese, on top a stunning sorrel sorbet.
Delicious is the sheep tartare, with a perfect serving temperature, seasoned after being diluted by a honey-ginger soy-based sauce: at the base of the dish, gentian gel, raw chicory and fish stock sauce. The artichoke is braised in wine and then barbecued, finally served with lemon paste and salt cod tripe marinara style: another masterstroke. Also notable are the green sea snails, served with extracts of sage, fennel, bay leaf, and a seaweed pesto. “The lumachine are cooked with garlic, oil, chili and white wine, shucked and tossed marinara style. They are then whipped with parsley and basil butter and served alongside maltagliati with sour butter and fennel.". Full flavor for the barbecued cappelletti stuffed with callara sheep, citron, rosemary and Pecorino to enrich this “union of Abruzzo and Emilia, serving the cappelletti in a napkin as if they were piadine”.
Taste not to be missed is the rice, cooked in clam and allspice water: at the base a cuttlefish tartare topped with grilled lemon, shallots and chives and a pumpkin seed sauce. Gourmet passages include the barbecued eel, lacquered with its soy balsamic vinegar and bay leaf sauce, served with bitter almond cream, marinated radicchio and barbecued parsley oil. Not to be outdone are the green tagliolini al verde, with white garlic and chives: "We make a completely vegetable eggnog by bringing different vegetable extracts to 80°C; in this case we used turnips, chard , kale, chicory and wild mustard. We drain the pasta and cream it, never letting it catch the flame." The barbecued pigeon with juniper extract, rosemary powder and honey mayonnaise, with barbecued escarole and anchovies, was perfect. Last savory dish an unfailing, succulent barbecued lamb, simply with thyme and sea fennel.
The sweet part lives up to a great meal, both with the mantecato goat cheese, wilted apricots and peanut ice cream, and the custard, caffè and anise gel and cauliflower ice cream. Way to go, Gianluca Durillo: you will hear a lot about it.
Contact
Via Galileo Galilei, 226, 64021 Giulianova TE
Phone: 334 986 7521
