Alert to all fine dining enthusiasts: the new format Dialogues inaugurated last April 30th by the chefs Andrea Casali (Kitchen *) e Davide Caranchini (Matter *) on Lake Como is simply exceptional. If four-handed dinner isn’t enough, Dialogues It’s the upgrade we deserve. This time, it’s not about cooking your best dishes in the company of an equally talented colleague, no. Dialogues it is the perfect contamination of the cuisine of two chefs who, taking inspiration from each other, create an exclusive menu one shot – the maximum of quiet luxurywhich is so suitable for the Como area.
In this debut, the cuisine of the protagonist chefs is mutually pulled, kneaded, manipulated, mixed, revisited, invented, until it is upset. In fact, everyone reworks a dish signature on the other: on the one hand Andrea Casali and his gourmet gastronomy with roots firmly rooted in tradition, on the other Davide Caranchini and his (never lost) research into plant-based sustainability. Casali tames Caranchini’s experiments, smooths out the edges and makes the rupture more understandable. Caranchini pushes Casali’s dishes out of their comfort zone, increases the kaleidoscope of flavors (especially the acidity) and thickens the techniques: the result is definitely a remarkable experience.
The idea disruptive was born precisely from Casali and Caranchini, when last autumn they found themselves cooking together with other starred chefs for an event held in Villa Erba and organized by the Stanza Blu association. The desire behind this unique experiment is the desire to meet in the kitchen, the ideal place for them to express themselves in an open dialogue through each other’s dishes. Starred chefs under 35, Casali and Caranchini start from a common basis of great respect for raw materials and a strong passion for vegetables. From here, they identified their signature dishes and reinterpreted them freehand in a game of creativity and contamination, attempt after attempt until a noteworthy result – worth remembering given that these are dishes served for the first time and not replicable.
The Dialogue menu #1
After the chefs’ welcome, the complete menu is 8 courseswhich takes the palate to an amusement park of elegant, delicious and interesting, and above all surprising, taste experiences. First courses that become desserts, second courses that are suitable as an opening, in short, a deck of cards reshuffled for new pokers of flavours. Any examples? Imagine it Mallard oyster and cashew stew by Davide Caranchini transformed into a fresh appetizer. In this case, Casali cooked the mallard marinated in salt, sugar and spices including sage and bay leaves, then washed and rinsed to be chopped into the form of tartare. Instead of the oyster, in its place only the flavor is found thanks to the leaves of a particular Canadian plant. The cashews were pureed and a BBQ sauce of mallard legs, honey and green apple was added.
