While ‘Italian’ is rarely absent from the average diner’s list of top-five favourite cuisines, popular dishes like pasta and pizza often overshadow other examples of the many varieties of Italian cooking not commonly found outside the motherland.
But one Italian restaurant has created a sweeping dining itinerary that includes some of the most revered centres of regional Italian cookery, which Bangkok diners may sample at their leisure without having to cross a single time zone.
Casting aside accepted norms of menu curation in the most engaging and palate-dazzling way possible, Hilton Sukhumvit Bangkok's award-winning Scalini restaurant recently weighed anchor on its Quattro Regioni (Four Regions) promotion – a virtual culinary pub-crawl of Italy’s most renowned foodie hotspots.
Spanning four calendar quarters, the ambitious yearlong event offers a unique overview of some of the more localised styles that comprise the country’s diverse, centuries-old cooking heritage.
With Executive Chef Roberto Pinna in the captain’s chair, the first leg of this fascinating gourmand’s sojourn begins with Cucina Siciliana featuring an à la carte menu of Sicilian frutti di mare specialties made with premium seafood ingredients sourced from the Mediterranean waters surrounding this tradition-steeped southern island.
A starter of Seabass and Sicilian Prawn Carpaccio (640B+) is a refreshing opening act, the paper-thin pesce e gamberi slices served with a tangy Citrus Dressing, which pairs nicely with the seafood’s ocean-fresh flavour.
Also on the starter list, the Roast Mediterranean Octopus Tentacle (530) delights with a savoury seasoning and firm bite, while the accompanying Rocket Pesto and Couscous Salad grabs much of the spotlight, speaking eloquently to the diversity of influences at play.
With its quirky presentation and intense flavour palette, the
Baked Seabream Fillet (740) reveals a playful side to Chef Roberto’s plating approach, and gives diners the opportunity to visit one of the lesser-known recesses of his native country’s cuisine.
The dish is a literal grab bag of seafood goodness, with the succulent, alluringly flaky white fish arriving in a transparent sous vide cooking satchel along with Olives, Black Mussels and Manila Clams in Caper Sauce. And it is with cinema-grade timing that the house’s wait staff give the diner a moment to take in this thoroughly unexpected and somewhat perplexing sight before discretely stepping in to snip off the bag’s sealed top.
It is said that no Italian menu is complete with a touch of the al dente, and the Rustichella Spaghetti (480) duly enchants pasta lovers with a perfectly tuned bite and hearty garnishing of Sicilian Sardines, Eggplant and Tomato Sauce.
Scalini’s Cucina Siciliana promotion runs through the end of March, with three additional Quattro Regioni editions highlighting the gastronomic treasures of Italy’s Piedmont-Veneto, Tuscany and Sardinia regions debuting quarterly throughout 2018.
And as incredible as it may seem, Italian food fans can be a part of this geographically far-reaching epicurean journey without even once having to show their passport!
CUCINA SICILIANA AT SCALINI
Now through 31 March 2018
Served Daily, 6:00 to 10:30 p.m.
Hilton Sukhumvit Bangkok Hotel
11 Soi 24, Sukhumvit Road
Phone: 02 620-6666
Email: bkksu_scalini@hilton.com
www.sukhumvitbangkok.hilton.com
