MEAT
It's what's for dinner
Located high on the hill of Locarnese at the mouth of the village of Contra sits a restaurant that is at it's essence an authentic gastronomic experience.
Operated since 1993 by it's current owner and namesake, Antonio Ferriroli, Osteria Ferriroli offers simple rustic homemade dishes and grilled specialties (said grilled specialties are cooked personally by Mr. Antonio). This place, however, has very humble beginnings dating back to 1870 when it was a simple meeting/shopping place for local peasants and woodsmen.
Now, it's a mecca for meat
Yet Man cannot live on meat alone.... (that's probably not true) but we certainly cannot order meat alone, and we're thirsty as well, so let's get the party started.
A wonderful bottle of wine was selected by the Master of Ceremonies himself, and an offering of homemade bread for the table.
They called this a salad but it was s chiffonade of lettuce within a ring of tomato wedges.
Not impressive visually nor tastually.... so let's move on.
Risotto with seared foie gras.
Although I had a better version of this at the home of a friend a few nights previously this risotto was easily the second best I've ever had in Ticino.
The foie was soft and super flavorful and the rice was creamy but not gummy, if you know what I mean. I believe that I ate 3-4 slices of bread at the end just to ensure that not even the smallest tid bit was left behind..
Sides arrive
I'm not excited, but I'm not a side guy really (not their fault)....
BAM!
OK, there were 6 of us at dinner and instead of each one of us ordering a different meat from a different country (they had multiple cuts from multiple countries) we opted to get 2 whole tenderloins to share. One from Italy and one from France.
An international taste test if you will.
This was France
And this was Italy.
Both cooked with only salt, finished with melted butter drizzled at the end.
My favorite was the Italian. While the texture for both was great, soft and easy, the flavor of the Italian meat was richer and deeper.
And we weren't shy. No meat left behind.
Really though, a terrific steak, cooked by the owner, in a quaintly amazing setting, with a nice group of compatriots.
Dessert? Why not!
Grape ice cream, I heard it was nice....and seasonal too!
Semifreddo
It's like a semi frozen custard. I heard this was good too.
And the king.
I don't remember the name of this but it was a meringue ball that was not very sweet, covered with very sweet whipped cream and a vanilla cream over that. When eaten with all elements in one bite it worked perfectly. The sweetness balanced itself out and was not at all heavy, as I thought it would be when it was placed in front of me. You could ask the others at the table what they thought but they wouldn't have any idea as I shared with them as much as they shared with me.....!
The best part of this meal though, was the company. It was a great night after a long day. But when that's spent with people you truly enjoy being around, time flys.
Knee-how Joe/Andrew/Johnson!
You too Alf and Luis.
DVA
