Vanilla Restaurants and Fine Dining

ByIl Crucco2023–07–29

I think I found one of the best Restaurants in my life in Calasetta, Sardegna.. I have been at Uliassi in Senigallia, which has 3 stars Michelin. But the experience with 4 fresh raw Scampi’ that I was served at the “Perla .da Donatello”, was unique. It could not have been done better, there could nothing be better.

…….and the Oysters were on the same level as the scampi……

In my head I divide Restaurants in “vanilla restaurants” and “fine dining” places. The vanlla restaurants are those, where often after having finished your meal, the comment is: I could have done this better at home. My point of quality control is “Pasta alla Carbonara”, which seems easy, but it isn’t.

Fine dining places are such, where the chefs compete in inventing new dishes, which are normally presented in “tasting menus”, of which the single dish is so small, that you don’t succeed in having a third bite, which you needed to judge the dish. Unfortunately they become inflationary .

They can represent the top of the profession as Uliassi in Senigallia, But then you pay 500 Euros in a couple drinking also a bottle of wine with the meal. They can also be annoying as a place in Perugia, where we got enough to eat only because of their (excellent) bread and olive oil.

Iin Pula, near Cagliari, we tried Cucina Machri’. We avoided the tasting menu and ordered 5 real dishes.

We started with “Crudi e fantansia”, a selection of raw fish and seafood, which was more than reasonably priced at 40 €

Everything was good. But the scampis could not touch the quality level of those in Calasetta. I have also my doubts if Muggine is really an apprporiate fish for Tartar.

I was equally sceptical towards the ice cream with seafood flavor, which topped the pasta, but hey, where are we going without experiments? 159.50 for cucina Machrì including 3 glasses of good wine and a dessert was more than appropriate.

Vanilla wise, we had many “taglieri” (plates with cheese and salami) in Sardegna, the best at Mamoiarda nella cantina Sedilesu. The pancetta was so good, that even Nixy eat the fat part. To give credit to Sardegna: we did not have a really bad tagliere.

A bad experience was the only Restaurant we could walk to from our house in Chia. (“Sa Colonia”). The deep fried sea animones were still frozen in the core. La fregola allo scoglio was mainly salty, gli spaghetti alla bottarga a mini portion, I forgot about the “secondo”. Nevertheless: 140 €.

Back to “La Perla” di Calasetta. Obviously I was so enthusiastic about my food, that I forgot to make other pictures. We had “Capesante Gratinate”, “Carpaccio di Spada”. Ostriche, Tartar di gambero rosso, verdure alla griglia, 2 dessert e una bottiglia di Bessiu’ Nasco — and 450 g di Scampi crudi, woww! The bill? 132.50.

I wish for more such restaurants, where the creativity is directed of getting the best ingredients and prepare them in the best way, without inventing new dishes, which often cater more for the eye than for mouth and stomach.