Chinappi, the seasonality of fish

by Iolanda Maggio 02/02/17
1125 |
|
Ristorante Chinappi Roma, la stagionalità del pesce

Despite being a “food explorer” and an avid fish lover – due to my Taranto roots – I must shamefully admit that I had even been to Stefano Chinappi’s restaurant, a stone’s throw from Piazza Fiume in Rome. I had, of course, read a lot about this place known to the capital’s gourmets and famous also thanks to its ‘mother’ restaurant in Formia. This is a family affair that benefits from having a fish monger in the family, Stefano’s brother-in-law, who supplies both restaurants with fresh fish from Formia and Gaeta.


My dinner at Chinappi’s went far beyond expectations thanks to the exceptional food, the wines paired with a master’s skill and the company of those around me, above all Stefano Chinappi and his wife Elena, who gives the restaurant its feminine and elegant touch that makes it such a special place.

The décor is measured, in no way extravagant and reflects the simple elegance of hosts who have good taste and love to be surrounded by beautiful things in order to offer their guests a warm, welcoming and family ambience, a trait common to people from the south. The tables are carefully set with white, linen tablecloths and lovely ceramics. There is also a private dining room seating ten and nothing is out of place.

Stefano has irresistible charm and an exuberant personality and when he read the menu of the day’s catch it was like a blast to the past. It reminded me of when I was still very young and my grandfather, without my parents knowing, would let me taste the fish and raw sea food that has just been caught. “When the fish is fresh you must do as little as possible or you will ruin it. Those who cook it must always remember this”. In other words, a flavor of the sea so intense that only those who grew up by the sea can recognize and appreciate.


The meal began with a rich serving of raw sea urchins and whoever coined the phrase food porn must have had something similar. They were big, black and shiny on the outside and intensely orange and meaty on the inside with that slightly sweet and slightly salty flavor one never grows tired of. This was perfectly paired with a Gallimard Cuvée Millesime 2011 Champagne.

Stefano has a weakness for bubbly which have a special place on his wine list and he is always on the lookout for some new gems to add his cellar of almost 500 different wines. “It is only during this period that you can find such big and lovely urchins,” Stefano explained to us, thus introducing the theme of the evening: the seasonality of fish. What this refers to is that there is a time and a season for every variety of fish, a period when it is the best and this also has to do with the environmental sustainability of the seas and the economic benefit of the sector. “Even seafood, like fruits and vegetables, has its seasons,” Chinappi told us.


In order to give greater value and draw attention to this concept, last November Stefano began to organize a series of dinners linked to a Calendar of Fish and aimed at educating his clients on a proper and seasonal consumption of fish. One Thursday every month, in fact, it is possible to take part in a dinner centered on the fish of the season. Thus there are 12 dinners over 12 months with 12 different menus offered on a Thursday night at 9pm all rigorously focused on the sea and what it produces best at that moment and paired with the right wine.

The theme of the next diner is ‘Baccalà (cod) meets Pinot Noir’ and will take place on February 9 and we were lucky to have Stefano give us a preview of that menu.

The first serving was a baccalà carpaccio with baby spinach and a compote of tangerine and lavender.



This was followed by a cod millefeuille layered with limoncello-flavored mixed salad greens, some superb baccalà, cabbage and hazelnuts seasoned with black curry. We then had something off the special menu and one of Chinappi’s fortes: wild octopus Formia-style, a dish worthy of a standing ovation. We ended by following an unusual but spot-on restaurant practice: serving the first course last in order to best savor the excellent flavor of the fish without it being too heavy. Thus we had a soup of small ditalini pasta, chickpeas, baccalà and rosemary, followed by another thing off the special menu, a risotto with squid ink and juniper. This is not an easy dish and its intense flavor may not be to everyone’s liking but for me it was one of the evening’s most interesting dishes.


Thus we had a soup of small ditalini pasta, chickpeas, baccalà and rosemary, followed by another thing off the special menu, a risotto with squid ink and juniper. This is not an easy dish and its intense flavor may not be to everyone’s liking but for me it was one of the evening’s most interesting dishes.

For dessert we had a sweet that was not sweet: Rosso Passione, an ice cream with raspberry vinegar, a lychee sauce and thin slices of pink apple. Neither Stefano nor Chef Federico Delmonte like to alter the flavor of the ingredients and thus are very frugal in the use of salt with the fish and sugar with the desserts, preferring to exalt the flavor of the prime ingredients by using the acidity and bitterness of citrus, aromatized vinegar, spices and flowers.


The professional skill of the chef, who has been at Chinappi since March 2016, is evident in every dish. A native of the Marche region, he is also a man of the sea and it is fun to watch the undisguised rivalry between him and Stefano over which fish is better, the fish from the Adriatic or the Tyrrhenian Sea. Each of his dishes has a strong, distinct personality dominated by the prime ingredient with a razor-edge paring of unusual and original components which underscore the great skill of this young chef. Every dish is light and so full of flavor that you want to return as soon as you step out the door.

This is a restaurant for those who love ‘real fish’, light years away from anything you may find at the many trendy spots in the capital.

 






Editorial of the week

Events

March 2024
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
·
·
·
·
·
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
·
·
·
·
·
·

Newsletter

Subscribe to the "DoctorWine" newsletter to receive updates and being kept informed.
Update Privacy Permissions (GDPR)

YOUTUBE CHANNEL

OUR SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNEL