Last night I went to dinner at the Ristorante I Templari in Brescia: excellent wines, promising cuisine, good service and very pleasant company were the ingredients of a very nice evening indeed! That's why I decided to start this article by introducing our table: on my left Carlos Mac Adden of the Corriere della Sera of Brescia, then Riccardo Fratus of Cantina Riccafana who looks with a winking and amused expression at the oenologist Angelo Divittini, who has an understandable concern for his 'salami' (I swear, it's a pork product!). Now, I won't bore you with our whole 'Angelo's salami' story, but let's just say that it was an innocent gaffe on my part for which Riccardo Fratus and Riccafana's winemaker Nicola Torazzi laughed quite a bit (what can I do if I'm not as mischievous as they are??!). 😀
This little room is really nice, small and cosy... with just one table that hosted many discussions of wine and food in an almost family-like intimacy ☺ (Angelo's salami, by the way, is also intimate, according to him...).
Come on, now let's get serious again and talk about the real stars of the evening: Alessandro Ferrera's food and Riccardo Fratus' wine!
I had already read and heard something of the vicissitudes of this restaurant, which for more than 20 years was witness to a high level of fish cuisine that delighted the palates of the well-to-do Brescia that populated it. Then, from what I understand, kitchens and managers took turns 'downsizing' its level until today, where the young and talented Chef Alessandro Ferrera (just 27 years old!) is trying to bring it back to its former glory.
Gourmet focaccia, stracciatella, rocket, mountain speck and walnuts,
Bruschetta with confit cherry tomatoes, pesto, burrata cheese and Cantabrian anchovies
Bread with sourdough, confit cherry tomatoes, pesto and culaccia
We started with a very tasty aperitif, although we had to be careful because the portions were not exactly small and for a big eater like me the risk of exaggeration was high! I didn't understand the reason for a land aperitif on a fish-only evening... however I really enjoyed it and it went perfectly with Riccardo Fratus's Franciacorta Satén Riccafana! In fact, I'd say you absolutely have to drop by Templari just to have this aperitif! 😉
The aperitif took place in a small room that I liked a lot, with a large central wooden table with stools and designer light bulbs that descended on the table, illuminating it with a warm and welcoming light. I want to compliment the location because it is really nice to start the evening, especially the atmosphere. In front of the table was a wall-mounted piano, a guitar and a mirror: I was almost tempted to play something, but my not being good at it (I had the piano at my grandparents' house and learnt a few pieces as an autodidact) held me back a bit. Nice, nice, nice! 
After the beautiful presentation of the Franciacorta Riccafana wines by Sommelier Ermes Fusari and oenologist Angelo Divittini, we started with the kitchen-wine pairing by Chef Alessandro Ferrera.
Crispy prawns in Kataifi dough, fennel salad, oranges with soya reduction and honey
Well, it may be that for a number of reasons I have eaten a lot of prawns in Kataifi paste over the years, but this dish is a little outdated... but really good and tasty! The fennel and celery salad marinated in honey was very good even for me, as I don't like fennel, but I must say that I felt the taste of celery (which I like very much!) prevailed. The idea then was very good to dilute the strong taste of these two vegetables. The black slate plate then looked great! The pairing with the Franciacorta DOCG Brut was more than right, and I must say that this wine of Riccardo's is getting better and better!
What's more, it was a really successful dish because the good quality of the prawns was supported by the right amount of Kataifi paste (neither too much nor too little) and the really perfect frying. Kudos to the kitchen in short!
Fried mochas
Here, if there's one thing I love, it's the fried mochas. Moeche are crabs in a particular biological state that happens twice a year, in spring and autumn, when they shed their shell during the moult and become soft and delicious. These crabs are typical of the Venice Lagoon and are fished with nets called nasse. It may be the proximity to Venice, but even in my homeland, Romagna, fried moeche are eaten and are considered a rare and prized dish. The traditional recipe calls for putting them alive in a mixture of milk, egg, and salt to soak them for a couple of hours, then dusting them with flour and frying them in hot oil.
I took this photo when I 'infiltrated' the kitchen! The moeche prepared by chef Alessandro Ferrera were perfect: they didn't taste too eggy and the frying was perfectly done, maybe there was just a pinch more salt. I really appreciated that when we pointed this out to the chef, he offered them back to us in a slightly less salty version (although in my opinion the salt was still a little too much, but I don't count because I use very little in cooking).
Sturgeon fondant ravioli, tarragon Liaison butter, grated Calvisius caviar
I found this dish really interesting, with a few small points for improvement. The sturgeon filling was very good, and the mint I found on top of a couple of the ravioli gave an extra touch. My trick is to serve them on a more collected plate and add some reduced vegetable broth (perhaps flavoured just with that mint) both to make them less 'dry' and to bring them up to temperature. In fact, the neatly arranged dish with confit cherry tomatoes took something away from the temperature of the ravioli, which instead of arriving hot, arrived lukewarm. The pastry, slightly coarse (I like it coarse!) almost at room temperature and without any liquid elements left a slight stickiness in the mouth. Overall, however, I found them good and the freshly grated caviar ingot gave the dish a very pleasant saltiness. If I may take a further piece of advice, I would use a less fine grater and make small slivers of caviar that would concentrate the flavours more (truffle effect, to be clear!).
The combination with the Franciacorta Rosé Brut Pinot Negher Riccafana was also very apt here because it enhanced the sturgeon without overpowering it and cleaned the mouth perfectly.
Soup in full view of the Mediterranean
Chef Alessandro Ferrera called it one of his signature dishes... and you can't blame him! This dish, despite its simplicity, is really tasty. Alessandro told me that he cooks everything separately and only assembles the dish in the final stage. The fish flavour for the velouté is extracted from the shells of the crustaceans like a bisque, but there are also other fish to flavour it! On top are various Mediterranean fish, all perfectly cooked: monkfish, mussels, prawns and squid. Paired with Riccafana Zero Zero, Franciacorta Dosaggio Zero with Zero sulphites. Small premise: I agree with Angelo and see Riccafana's Zero Zero as a wine more for meat, he with game, while I instead found it perfect for the orange duck my parents prepared a couple of evenings ago! The Zero Zero is, in my opinion, the best product of the Riccafana winery and I fell in love with it immediately, ever since that evening when I met Riccardo and we almost drank a bottle of it between chats about Franciacorta almost a year ago! (If you like, read the article on Riccafana) However, the pairing with this fish soup was very successful and this testifies to the ductility of this great Franciacorta.
Nitrogen ice cream
Nitrogen ice cream is part of molecular cuisine and is made by adding liquid nitrogen at a temperature of 196° below zero to the raw materials, which freeze instantly. This speed of production means that the structure of the ice cream is much finer and silkier, with micro-crystals up to 700 times smaller than those of traditional freezing. Another advantage of nitrogen is the enhancement of flavours: if the ingredients are good, nitrogen is able to 'concentrate' the flavours! And then you can make ice cream with anything, from wine to fruit juice! Chef Alessandro Ferrera prepared a traditional cream ice cream with the addition of macaroons and Countreau. Nitrogen ice cream is nothing new: 10 years ago in Italy, master ice-cream makers were already experimenting with this type of whisking... but to this day it is still rare to see it in restaurant kitchens, and this for me is a point in favour of the Templars of Brescia!
Chef Alessandro Ferrera executed an almost perfect mantecazione, perhaps a little 'liquidy'... but it is also part of the silkiness of nitrogen to perceive it as such for a palate accustomed to traditional ice cream. The only flaw in my opinion was the presentation: I would have paid more attention to the bowl and placed it with a little more care... but I understand that in a case like this the timing is very 'tight'. The taste however was a really delicious cream in which the egg was really enhanced by the nitrogen.
We finished with cannolini filled express with tasty custard that tasted so much like egg, just the way I like it! Filling them at the moment of serving is something I really appreciated because the pastry remained crispy! I would have eaten them endlessly... 😀 They accompanied the Amaro Braulio Riserva Speciale Millesimata beautifully. I didn't know this bitter from Valtellina, and I must say that I really liked its balsamic, mentholated... and as Carlos and Angelo defined it, 'Mediterranean scrub' notes. I found it a truly poetic and singular juxtaposition given that we are talking about an alpine bitter, but I find myself aligned with their impressions! 🙂 🙂
My impression of the kitchen was overall positive and I really see potential in this young man and his very young staff. Above all I see talent, technique, humility and passion, which are the key ingredients to make a difference in the world of Italian cuisine. None of us are born learning how to do anything, but everything that makes us unique and special is the fruit of much study and time dedicated to perfecting what we love. Having said that Alessandro Ferrera certainly has a good hand and a good technique, and despite a simple and not particularly original menu, I can say that I ate very well.
I also appreciated the owners being present without being intrusive and the simple mise en place that leaves the wooden table exposed with the placemats. Here, instead of placemats, which give me more of a 'breakfast' feeling, I prefer underplates, which I find more elegant... for this restaurant I find the python-effect gold vegetable leather ones by DAG Style... more refined and in keeping with the style of the venue than these plastic ones... then of course it's all taste 😉
The service was very punctual, precise and attentive. And it is wonderful that Alessandro gets the whole kitchen out to work under the customers' eyes, as happened with the ice cream and cream-filled cannoncini. You got it right, here in the north they call the cream-filled cannoli 'cannoncini'... ?
What can I say... thank you to Riccardo Fratus and Chef Alessandro Ferrera for the invitation, and to all the staff for giving me a wonderful evening! I really enjoyed talking about cooking with Carlos, whose views I shared almost entirely, and with Riccardo and Angelo. I'm waiting for them all at my place for a taste of Romagna cuisine... Riccardo will obviously bring the wine... I have a score to settle with Zero Zero and duck with orange! 😀
See you soon
Chiara
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