Chef Roberto Zorzoli delves into the science of pigments to create a new menu that combines food with a special colour palette
Black squid ink ravioli
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The first time we met chef Roberto Zorzoli, he escorted us to his woodfire pizza station and showed us his flour. "What is so unique about my flour?" he asked, with childlike excitement, "I roast it. This makes my pizzas the best in town." This, we have to agree with. Last week, though, his invitation for a special menu, Color Palate, carried the promise of colour.'
Spinach gnocchi
"Over a special dinner, I had made gnocchi di spinach (Rs 1,100) for which I researched on how to extract chorophyll from the greens. That's when the idea struck me to try it with other vegetables too," Zorzoli tells us, starting us off with one of the most interesting dishes of the evening, the tortino di patate (Rs 950), purple potato cakes with a side of grape cheese fondue. The anthocynin that lends the purple hue has been extracted from drying grape skin and used in a powder form. Pretty to gaze at, the taste of grape cheese is delicious. Flakes of pecorino add a pungent punch, freshened by crunchy onions and micro greens.
Roberto Zorzoli
The gnocchi di spinach comes hickory smoked with parmigiano sauce and edamame beans. The bright green gnocchis are pillowy and we rely on the butter sauce with pine nuts for the flavours. The last dish, Ravioli di zucca al nero (Rs 1,750), extracts melanin from black squid ink, to create black ravioli stuffed with a butternut squash which could do with some herbs. This one is a known dish, and doesn't tantalise our taste buds as the predecessors do. Zorzoli follows simple extraction techniques to collect pigments, and at a time when visuals are as important as the taste, this will brighten up your social media feed. You will go home well fed too, rest assured.
Till February 15, 6.30 pm to 11.30 pm
At Romano's, JW Marriott Sahar, Andheri East.
Call 28538888
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