The secret of the Lido 84? It's the vision, not the kitchen – Italian Cuisine

There is talk all over the world of the Camanini brothers' restaurant that has climbed the charts in less than five years. But the real reason for success has not yet been understood: an Italian story, unique and complicated, which goes far beyond dishes

Talk about Lido 84, the Camanini brothers' restaurant in Gardone Riviera it is very easy: beautiful for position and environment, it boasts a kitchen among the best in Italy (for critics and gourmets) and records a full constant of public, even in winter, when the Garda is practically closed. A place firmly at the top of Italian guides: one Michelin star (everyone is convinced that the second arrives in November), five Cappelli dell'Espresso (the only one to boast that it doesn't have three Stars) and Tre Forchette for Gambero Rosso. Not enough, in February he was honored at The World Restaurant Award in Paris for the signature dish of the year (the famous Cacio e Pepe in bladder) and looks forward to receiving in Singapore Honey One To Watch, recognition that the famous company assigns in the context of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants: a sort of pass to see it (probably) in the highly coveted ranking in a year. One has to lose one's head and partly one's sleep.

The Camanini method

But this is the point of arrival, the final result of a unique system in our country that has transformed a valid local restaurant in a real laboratory of ideas, bringing boys from all over Italy to Garda West. Apart from two foreigners "adopted" for some time, there are no Brescians in brigades, but on the other hand in the halls resonate accents of Puglia, Liguria, Sardinia, Mantua, Bergamo and so on. Everyone in Gardone Riviera to see if the Camanini method functions as they have heard or read. And if the Lido 84 is the middle ground between a convent (serene) and a social center (anything but anarchic) that we first defined. Where is the law? total interchangeability in the kitchen and obsessive attention to savings. Riccardo, in particular, is a very careful controller: from the lights in the bathrooms to the use of detergents and the expense for the raw material even if in the last case he is happy with the results achieved. "The boys weigh everything and have a beastly ability to calculate the food cost of the dishes, including VAT", emphasizes the chef from Lovere.

An assorted brigade

"When Giancarlo and I opened in the spring of 2014, we only had six employees," recalls Riccardo, "now they are twenty-two, all hired on a permanent basis, with their own holidays, permits and contributions. Obviously with food and lodging at our expense. It is truly the result that makes us most proud, given that we started with the goal to be completely sustainable without external help, which made everything slower and more difficult. I do not forget that he and I did not earn a salary for two seasons . The brigade is made up of veterans of the first hour, an important nucleus that comes from Alma (the highly rated Parmia cooking school, ed.) And from boys chosen according to the curriculum. "150 arrive a year, 95 percent concerns the kitchen. A precise choice for our project that has paid and continues to pay, for example a sous chef, Gilles Fornoni, started from scratch, "he explains Giancarlo Camanini, fundamental in the development of Lido 84. When Riccardo was the soul of Villa Fiordaliso, he was the manager at the Fondital of Vobarno: he became so good at managing the hall (and not only) that in 2017 he was awarded by Gambero Rosso as number one in Italy.

Non-separated roles

Already the hall: a tourbillon of boys, a "kaos" in the original sense of the word because the disorder is only apparent, the cooks at the tables that change with each dish follow a specific order. On the pass there is Riccardo who dictates the times and controls the work in the kitchen, in the Giancarlo room that looks at everything, communicates the situation and in the case solves the (small) problem of the tarantiniano Mr. Wolf. And there are many peculiarities. «In January, with Riccardo we establish a dozen projects, at the reopening they introduce themselves to the brigade and try to bring them to the end. They can be on new dishes or on a card of herbal teas. But also on the savings in this or that sector: the important one it is assigning tasks beyond the normal routine. Every day we do a couple of briefings, very executive and on Saturday for an hour each one reads a book chosen by us ", explains Giancarlo, the man who arranged about 300 recipes in a database from the day of opening. Like it Spaghettone with butter and brewer's yeast that bewitched Ducasse and is part of the menu of the restaurant inside the MoMa in San Francisco, the one that replicates the most famous dishes of the top international chefs.

Research and tradition

If the menu path Classic already gives considerable emotions, that of Oscillations – seven courses freehand, you can see some of them in our gallery realized in May – it's incredible as it is the result of the inspiration of the moment, of the research on a product that hit Camanini (now it's the turn of tomato concentrate), of a technique introduced by curiosity and not as an exercise in style. The last is the smoking with the Josper that puts dishes that taste like scorched on the table, including bread and vegetable ones. Pasta is the magnificent obsession, today served – with explanation on paper – after cooking for 84 hours and 11 minutes, with a process of crystallization of the starches that makes it nutty, perfectly al dente and very digestible. And in all this "mess of ideas" – visible in a crazy card where you go from imperial purple shrimps, bitters, oranges and marigold to the press, according to the Apicius recipe – you have not forgotten the tradition and territory. The Torta di Rose with the zabione al Vov is easily the best in Italian catering; the spit of sardines – lacquered with bergamot honey and helichrysum – recalls absolute brescianità replacing the little birds forbidden with freshwater fish; the pike del Garda is cooked au bleu and seasoned with almonds, parsley, capers and lemon

The Marquis example

Last peculiarity: the Lido 84 is one of the restaurants most talked about in the world among cooks. Impossible not to see at least one sitting at each service. «Friends and curious, want to understand how we do to hold the tasting at 80 and 90 euros respectively for the Classic and Oscillations. It is that we are sustainable, we have always done business with our money, a small step at a time . And, without rhetoric, it is a place where you can breathe passion and ethics. «Because, if I am correct with my employees, the possibility of them doing the same with me becomes high. And then if on the one hand I demand a lot from them, on the other I am always here: I open the restaurant at dawn preparing the bread and cleaning the fish. Activities that relax me so much and make you think. Then remember what Marchesi said? The highest form of teaching is the example: the Master was right in this too ".

Noodles and his cousins … Soba, udon, somen, ramen or shirataki – Italian Cuisine

It's easy to say Noodles
Remember C’era's once-American gangster David Aaronson was called Noodles, like noodles, spaghetti. But apart from the decidedly evocative shape, Japanese noodles are conceptually very different from our own. First difference: the pasta is made of durum wheat flour and is drawn, while the noodles do not use durum wheat flour and are cut directly from the pastry dough with little humidity.

175114 THE Soba in particular they are made of buckwheat, have a brown color and can be served hot or cold (for example with hard-boiled eggs, pickled radish, seaweed, cucumbers, Korean pears or tomatoes as in Korean Bibim-guksu). The Udon they are made of wheat flour and are offered in the same way as Soba, while i Somen they are usually eaten cold. THE ramen they are the ones that stand out better, yellow because of the egg, they are more full-bodied. Finally, Shirataki they are the finest and also the lightest.

Fast and adaptable food
The first merit of noodles is to be a very food versatile, suitable to be proposed with meat, fish vegetables, it lends itself particularly to be created with the noble leftovers of our fridge. The second merit is instead that of being a fast food ante litteram, precisely because the preparation time is a few minutes. And in a rope company, where time is the real resource, preparation speed is almost a pre-requisite.

Fried or boiled?
Noodles can indeed be boiled in salted water, or fried or scalded in boiling water and then jumped into a wok. But in all cases the preparation times are fast. Furthermore, the fact of blending well with any ingredient also means that they can be remedied without an ad hoc expense.

Benefits
Their history is very ancient and it seems that their chronological age is around 4000 years, when in the distant China already full of property were born. The last (but not least) reason that leads us to appreciate and consume noodles lies in their nutritional properties. Depending on the sub-category to which they belong they can benefit our body on many fronts. They range from fibers and minerals such as iron, potassium, phosphorus, zinc and calcium (which we find especially in soba), to antioxidant properties and to the prevention of heart disease. They promote intestinal motility, are light and digestible, but at the same time they can enter into all the effects of comfort food. Ramen in particular then normally associate in the soup with ingredients that are particularly beneficial: kombu seaweed, rich in iodine (which stimulates the metabolism and burn more calories) and katsuobushi (tuna fillets that are left to ferment with a laborious and ancient technique), decidedly generous in benefits of all kinds (especially for the intestine).

A photo full of joy
Finally, like the Italian spaghetti, they are photogenic and aesthetically cheerful. Which for food is no small thing. Not by chance in this edition of the Pink Lady Food Photographer, also dedicated to food, this year wins just one shot dedicated to noodles, with an image of a party that sees them as protagonists in China.

Emanuela Di Pasqua
May 20, 2019

Credits images:

Edward Guk / Unsplash

The Creative Exchange / Unsplash

Miguel Maldonado / Unsplash

How to make Ringo cookies at home – Italian Cuisine

It would be easier to buy them, but doing them is much more fun! We prepare the most famous cookies that children like so much: the Ringo

A disk of vanilla shortbread and one of cocoa shortbread with a layer of white cream inside them: i Ringo!
This is perhaps one of the biscuits most loved by the little ones and preparing it at home is very easy.
The base is a crunchy and crumbly short pastry, while the cream can be made in many ways according to taste. If you are curious to try, follow our advice.

Short pastry for Ringo

For the biscuit base you have to prepare two shortbread different, one white and one with cocoa. It is not enough to add cocoa to the white part.
So for the vanilla pastry mix 130 g of 00 flour with 80 g of not too soft butter and 50 g of sugar. Then add an egg yolk and a teaspoon of vanilla extract and mix.
The cocoa pastry, on the other hand, is prepared with 100 g of 00 flour, 30 g of bitter cocoa, 60 g of sugar, an egg yolk and 80 g of butter. Always remember to add a pinch of salt to the pastry which enhances the taste counteracting the sweetness.
Let the two dough rest in the refrigerator wrapped in the film until they have become very compact and solid because the pastry should always be worked cold and never too long.

The Ringo Cream

The white creamy sauce is a chocolate ganache and is prepared simply by dissolving in 60 ml of hot liquid cream 100 g of excellent quality white chocolate. Let the mixture rest at room temperature and then pass it in the refrigerator for an hour.
If you don't like white chocolate you can use a classic hazelnut spread, either white or black, a butter cream or even a mascarpone cream.

How to make the biscuit

After spreading the two doughs not too thinly with a rolling pin, cut them with small round biscuit molds and bake them at 180 ° for 10 minutes.
You can also use pastry stamps to decorate the shortbreads with the designs or letters you prefer just like the real Ringo.
Let the biscuits cool once cooked and then fill them with the cream.
Homemade Ringo can be kept for a couple of days at room temperature or for 5 days in the fridge having a cream prepared with fresh cream inside. If instead you use the classic Nutella, you can keep them longer.