Colline Ciociare, the Opera 3.0 by Salvatore Tassa

As happens with our beloved world of wine, even in the gastronomic field we prefer cuisine that tries to maintain a direct link with the land and with the territory to which it belongs, therefore reserving our greatest attention to it.

For this reason, we have long appreciated Salvatore Tassa and his cooking philosophy, and finally, last Saturday we were able to have dinner at his restaurant "Le Colline Ciociare" in Acuto (a few kilometers away from the famous thermal town of Fiuggi) which also this year - among other awards - he was awarded the Michelin Star.

Salvatore, who likes to define himself as a "cooker" rather than a chef (unlike many improvised people who even before learning to cook boast this "title") has been offering for years a particular and in some ways provocative cuisine, which like himself he writes on his website “walk along the paths traced by nature, cross its essentiality, its colors, its sounds”. His dishes are therefore nothing more than "the expression of what remains on me while walking along these paths ..."

At the same time, in his dishes the connection with the territory and with the places he comes from is always very strong. In fact he decided to open his restaurant in Acuto (his birthblace) contributing – with his great work – to put this litle town inside national gastronomic attention.

Finally, another important aspect is the concept of home, which the chef highlights right from the doorbell (to ring to enter) at the restaurant entrance, as well as in the themes that compose the interior furnishings.

This important link with land, territory and home, could make us think (clearly wrongly) of a simple (almost home-made) cuisine, while in reality his is a modern, visionary cuisine made of great technique, which the chef puts "wisely available" of the raw material, the protagonist of all his creations.

Coming to our direct experience, we chose the menu called OPERA 3.0, in reality the only "complete" path that the restaurant offers in this very particular period of life for all of us.

 A path that marks "the evolution of the chef", and which, more than a gastronomic journey, we have understood and interpreted as a real message: man's belonging - or rather his return - to the elements of nature.

First of all, the Earth, the mother of everything, the element without which there would be no raw materials, and therefore without which this path couldn’t have existed, but more generally any form of cuisine.

Land that the Chef places at the center of each course, declining it in all its forms, and which ideally associates with the other elements (Water, Air and Fire) through the various cooking methods, which as tools or faithful vassals "accompany and enhance” the main element.

A path without baubles, essential in many aspects, which in no way seeks to seduce using baroque trappings (which a chef of his level could and would be able to add without any effort) but which, like any artistic opera returns the essence on which it is based.

Explaining with words it’s not easy, but once you find yourself with the plates in front of you everything appears clearer and more evident, almost obvious.

 A path that begins with a welcome course (porcini mushroom mousse on a bed of pumpkin and ginger cream) which - paradoxically - provides a deviant idea of ​​what it will be, enchanting us with a great pleasantness, destined to disappear in the rest of the tastings.

Dishes that - in different shapes and in some cases even with important edges - have been able to best represent and highlight the concept behind the path.

 We, for our personal taste, were struck by "Frutti del Mare che non c'e", fantastic ravioli stuffed with eel accompanied by an apple-based broth, in which the contrast between the flavor of the filling and the sweetness of the broth was simply sublime, but we still appreciated the menu in its entirety, like a film in which each scene - even the most apparently boring and meaningless ones - at the end of it take on a different meaning, functional to the development of the entire plot.

Probably, if we had had the opportunity to choose from all the menus that the restaurant generally offers, we would have oriented ourselves towards the one that offers the Chef's "great classics".

In this case, we are convinced that we would have come out with an even more satisfying taste experience, but almost certainly we would not have been able to understand - at least a little - the Man Salvatore Tassa, his concept of cooking but more likely of life.