The Charming Italian Chef (Chic) association gathered on the occasion of their annual congress on Sunday 5th and Monday 6th in Colico, at the end of lake Como, towards Valtellina. It’s no surprise Valtellina has been the ultimate protagonist of this event, which had as its star performer local chef Stefano Masanti who had the chance to present, in the best possible way, his new (it opened early this year) Masanti’s, the lake version of Cantinone in Madesimo – the latter is still the point of reference of the two.
Marco Sacco of Piccolo Lago in Mergozzo (Verbania), Chic's president
In the beach environment of the
Seven Park Hotel, where the restaurant is located, a gala dinner with dishes presented by the Chic chefs from the valley took place on Sunday. They were sided, on the occasion, by
Mauro Elli of
Il Cantuccio in Albavilla, +39.031.628736 and “intruder” (he’s not a member of the association but he’s nonetheless a historic starred chef)
Andrea Tonola of
Lanterna Verde in Villa di Chiavenna. Despite the terrible weather on the first day, with the wind whistling and getting into your bones and the low clouds that made this corner of Lombardy more hostile and similar to some spot in Transylvania, the evening had some very interesting moments thanks, most of all, to the dishes that were presented.
And the only red drink that was abundantly poured was certainly not Count Dracula’s favourite, but the more pleasant local Nebbiolo. Dishes, moreover, reserved some great surprises: from the photogenic
Porto Santo Spirito squid tagliatelle, breaded but not cooked, with lemon, fennel and squid ink cream (by Neapolitan emerging chef
Antonio Borruso of
Gimmy’s, in Passo dell’Aprica), to the unusual pairing proposed by the host with the
Prawns with goat from Madesimo. The latter is a dish full of character and with some very uncommon contrasts on the palate.
Masanti's location inside Seven Park Hotel in Colico (Sondrio), the new restaurant signed by Stefano Masanti, +39.0341.1653003
Praise, however needs also to be given to the delicious and extremely tender
Rabbit with two cooking methods, with foie gras Rougiè by
Mattias Peri, of the
Chalet Mattias restaurant in Livigno. After all, that the event would have been a success had already been preannounced thanks to the presence, during the aperitif, of lots of Cadoret oysters, which put everyone in a good mood. Having said this, and after reminding that some valid ambassadors of wine produced in Valtellina were also present (the funny and young producers of
Dirupi, among others), with precious bottles such as
Terrazzi Alti’s Superiore Sassella,
Boffalora’s “Pietrisco” and
Mamete Prevostini’s Sforzato Albareda, the two day event later included among its top moments a trip to Gerola Alta for the close observation of the mythical
Bitto Storico cheese produced by
Ciapparelli.
Finally, after lunch on Monday, again we were at
Stefano Masanti’s and followed the tradition of the valley with some
Pizzoccheri and Sciatt as the main protagonists – with lots of satisfaction for president
Marco Sacco (of
Piccolo Lago in Verbania) and of some chef from other regions who was also present. From
Luca Collami of
Baldin (in Genova Sestri) to
Riccardo Agostini of
Piastrino in Pennabilli.
