Welcome to the North, better yet the South

For years I had wanted to enjoy meal prepared by Andrea Aprea and I finally I got the chance when I was in Milan for the presentation of the second edition of the Ultimate Guide to Italian Wine 2016. Some years ago I could have done this a little closer to home since Aprea was working his culinary magic in his native Naples and I was living in Bari. But for some reason or another it never happened.

The restaurant Vun is in the luxury Park Hyatt Hotel in Milan, practically inside the Galleria. Aprea has been the executive chef there for some years now and was brought in as part of an ambitious project to unite the luxury of the American hotel with this creative and very southern rising culinary star in order to lift the level of the hotel’s restaurant, a pairing that has always been difficult in Italy. The initiative was a success and Aprea quickly earned the hotel’s restaurant a Michelin Star.

In order to better comprehend the talent of this chef, I opted for one of the two fixed menus offered: ‘Travelling from North to South’, nine servings for 150 euros or 240 euros with paired wines. It turned out to be a joyful and alternating parade of northern and southern specialties that were reinterpreted by Aprea in an original way. What he basically did was to use different ingredients from those called for in traditional recipes with consistencies and shapes one would not expect. For example, the real coup de theatre came at the end of the meal with his Pastiera Sferica, a round sphere with all the ingredients of the famous Neapolitan cake both inside and out.

The menu I chose was composed of three starters, two first courses, two second sources and two desserts. It began with Gambero Rosso, Pioppini, Nocciole and Radicchi (red shrimp with pioppini mushrooms, hazelnuts and radicchio) followed by a Caprese… Dolce Salato (Sweet and Salty) and then Quail, corvino rice, saba syrup and fiolaro broccoli. The first courses were a ‘Selezione Gentile’ semolina rice with saffron, licorice and celery water, along with a Tortelli Cacio, Pepe and caramelized onions. The two second courses were Baccalà Pizzaiola (cod in tomato sauce) with green olives and a chicken ficatum (liver from a fig diet) cacciatore. For dessert there was an Intensità di Limone (Lemon Intensity) and the above-mentioned Pastiera Sferica. Rather than describe each dish, it is sufficient to say that everything lived up to expectations, including the service that was perfectly orchestrated by Nicola Ultimo, who with savoir-faire directed the floor staff in an elegant and even warm way without being intrusive. Hats off.

The wine list is very vast with the right selections for a restaurant of this level.