In northern Abruzzo, a gourmet hub that will get people talking: Villa Corallo brings together cuisine, hospitality and farm. Discovering a micro-universe of beauty with Gianni Dezio's dishes.
The Structure
In Sant'Omero in northern Abruzzo there is a jewel, it is the Relais Villa Corallo until now little known. Until today, that is. The wonderful country residence in the hands of the Di Serafino family , has in fact just bet on the gastronomic offer to give an important added value to the already high quality of its proposal.
“The backyard that used to be a farm machinery shed yesterday now houses Zunica 1880 Restaurant with chef Gianni Dezio at the helm,” says Mascia Moretti, who expertly directs the entire project. It is an ambitious project: gastronomically reinvigorating Villa Corallo along with a major conservative restyling of the structure, which has long been carried out by in-house architect Maria Rosita, aiming to become the first Relais Chateaux in Abruzzo and to win the much-coveted Michelin star. No small ambitions, but the cards are there and they are all more than in order.
"The welcome is discreet and mitigates the impact with the imposing structure of the mansion, immersed in a lush park, where silence reigns supreme. The renovation has allowed us to rediscover the elegance of the rooms of the past, enriching them with new design elements and the most advanced technologies, to make the place comfortable and functional. Class and beauty are features you will find in every corner, in the eleven suites as well as in the multiple small rooms used as relaxation areas or to be used for business meetings and cultural events. The 80 hectares of the estate are all to be discovered, hiding paths through the fields that can also be traversed with the property's horses or by bicycle, and an organic farm that assures us of the healthiest and tastiest local cuisine, among cows and a myriad of vegetables and cultivated fruits,", says the director.
It is not unusual to meet artists at work or seeking inspiration in the century-old park, because Villa Corallo is also an artist's residence, a place of inspiration and creativity. But of the permanent artist you can always meet there is only one, chef Gianni Dezio.
The chef
Sensitive, affable, technical, creative, and with a hand as delicate as it is firm on the flavors of his Abruzzo, which he can tell like very few in the region. "I imagine Villa Corallo as a film with a big production. A choral project where every actor has a great responsibility. From the kitchen to the hospitality to the farm we source from, all tangible as soon as you set foot in this micro-universe of beauty, “ says the chef born in Atri (Te) but with a childhood spent in Venezuela, his family's country of origin. After completing his university studies in Tourism Sciences in Teramo, he decided to follow his passion for cooking by working in his family's trattoria in the South American country.
In 2013 Gianni returned to Italy to attend the Professional Italian Cuisine course at Niko Romito Formazione in Castel di Sangro (in baggage also an important training experience at the famous Mugaritz restaurant of chef Andoni Luis Aduriz) and in 2014, together with his wife Daniela, opened the Tosto restaurant in Atri, a hilarious sign that combined Abruzzese tradition and Venezuelan influences, a completely personal and successful concept that, however, due to the pandemic, they decided to transform into “+Tosto Gastro Bottega”, a format that combines bottega, gastronomy and street food. An exceptional chef to yours truly, Gianni Dezio has talent and head to spare, able to create, reshape and fully engage those who decide to sit at his table, with humility and boldness.
“This that I have decided to undertake with Daniele Zunica in Villa Corallo is an ambitious job, and all our ideas must converge toward a single goal: to grow and give the best for our clients. The cuisine will be constantly evolving and above all will follow the rhythm of the seasons. Not only because of the sustainability aspect but precisely because each season allows you to experience the villa in a different way. I always try to adapt my dishes according to the territorial and structural context of a restaurant; often then by a kind of osmosis an exchange takes place that influences its choices or modifications. The saffron guitar, seaweed gnocchi, or pavlova, for example, are the same dishes from a few years ago but specially revisited,", Dezio explains.
And so you arrive at this bucolic paradise in the Abruzzo countryside and admire the beauty of the restaurant shrouded by the grass bushes, the sumptuous pool, the soft colors, the right lighting, the outdoor fires in the evening. Enter and take notice of the open kitchen, the discreet elegance of the furnishings, the meticulous attention to detail; after all, it could not be otherwise to consecrate the association with the Zunica 1880 restaurant, which has always been synonymous with excellence in the wonderful village of Civitella del Tronto (currently closed for post-earthquake “restoration”). Those who know Chef Dezio's hand will recognize the crisp composition of the interplay of flavors and textures; those who have never had the pleasure will enjoy that pleasant surprise the first time around.
The dishes
Among the most prominent dishes appears the mock chitarra with gelled saffron broth. “We found the right mix of thickening agents to give the texture of a fresh pasta, the gelled threshold is still cut into the traditional chitarra and inside the spaghetto: shrimp in cooking oil and rehydrated almonds. To cover almond mousse and saffron pistils."
Then there are the superlative gnocchi of seaweed, cannolicchi and pine nuts, which he calls a “fetish dish,” a mixture of clam water, seaweed and flour made of chewiness, texture (gnocchi and cannolicchi are cut the same way and differ only in color), savory and resinous taste; “my memory of the Adriatic pine forest that embraces almost every sea on the Teramo coast”. Cauliflower, “yet another, perhaps, cooked over coals,” he smiles.
Perhaps yet another but definitely with an edge even over those signed by more famous colleagues: balsamic boost given by juniper berry extract, leccino olives from Abruzzo that bring it back to a more classic taste, all supported by the smoky note of the embers. The ever-present timbale baked then plated with meat, spinach and fiordilatte, complemented by a tomato-preserved sauce with datterini tomatoes and Abruzzo pears grown in the property's own garden.
And finally also indulge in his pigeon lacquered with cooked must and served with raw spinach salad and barbecued onion, so just to remind you that cooking a pigeon is the measure of a cook's skill. And there is plenty of that here.
Contact
Relais Villa Corallo
Address: Via Metella Nuova, 37, 64027 Sant'Omero TE
Phone: 0861 887002
Email: info@villacorallo.it
