At the start of the dinner we were offered butter, some excellent olive oil from Lazio and bread of four different kinds (we liked the butter-bread the best). But foremost we were offered to select salt from a wide variety of places, for instance from Peru, Iran, Hawaii, Norway and Australia (I do not remember all salts), and this was very interesting to sample.
Amberjack marinated in white balsamic vinegar with pomegranate snow:
A lovely looking dish (even more lovely prior to having the photo, though the dry ice underneath the dish created some “smog” when it has water poured over it, which cannot be seen though I did not want to take the photo when having the dish presented by the waiter), but unfortunately not as tasty as it looks. From my taste buds, it’s a little bit surprising that this dish is on the 20 years menu (its also on present on the Gourmet Menu). However, I know of people enjoying this dish a lot and the subtle sweetness of the pomegranate married well with the amberjack Carpaccio, which had a nice aroma and slight touch of acidity from the balsamic vinegar, overall resulting in a balanced dish.
“Frisella” with croûtons and red shrimps:
It seems like the kitchen has invested in a freeze-dryer and maybe used it a notch too much, when the texture of those dry/semi-dry ingredients occurred in several dishes during our menu. I think this dish was good but far from outstanding.
Smoked scallop tartare and red beef shell:
A nice tasting scallop but I did not like the texture of the red beef shell since it was soft and almost rubbery.
Water garden…
A beautiful dish with tapioca pearls cooked with an herb consommé with clams, scampi and avocado. That said, I am not that keen of tapioca pearls and its texture.
Fagottelli “La Pergola”:
Fagottelli “La Pergola” is the most famous dish created by Heinz Beck and served at La Pergola. The fagotelli, which are little square parcels, are filled with a carbonara sauce (yolks, pecorino cheese, whipped cream, salt and white pepper), cooked and finished in the pan with some white wine, zucchini, veal stock and pecorino cheese. On the plate, some crispy bacon is added.
The pasta itself is made from the De Cecco brand (semolina flour) and rolled out so thin that you basically can see through it. It is an intriguing dish, nothing like ordinary spaghetti carbonara and is probably the best pasta I ever had.
Deep-fried zucchini flower with caviar on shellfish and saffron consommé:
A sweet, golden zucchini flower were coated with a zucchini-and-onion batter, deep-fried and served in a shellfish with saffron consommé. Garnished with tiny quail eggs and beluga caviar. One of the two “historical” dishes served this dinner and you could definitely understand why this is a classic!
