Italian Chef Rudy Casera
(left) and Bruno’s owner Fredi
Schaub address the gathering.
The Pattaya chapter of the Chaône des Rôtisseurs, under
the presidency of its “Bailli” Ranjith Chandrasiri, held another of its
gourmet dinners, this time at the Bruno’s Restaurant and Bar. For many of
the members and their guests, this was their first experience of the ‘new’
Bruno’s after its spectacular refurbish by owner Fredi Schaub.
The chef for the evening (and now ‘resident chef’) was
Italian Chef Rudy Casera, from Northern Italy, who grew up in a gastronomic
and tourist area called Valle Agordina. He has been developing new
techniques in Modern and Fine dining cuisine, and has worked under the great
chefs around Europe and trained to Fine dining standards in Italy.
Bailli Ranjith and I experienced Rudy’s cooking at the
official tasting for this dinner tonight, and we knew the guests were in for
a gastronomic experience. As is always the case with Cha๎ne des R๔tisseurs
dinners, there were no condiments on the table, the seasoning is done by the
chef in the kitchen.
At the reception, the sparkler was a Gancia Prosecco
Brut, and a great Italian start for the exciting Italian feast.
Guests
enjoy some of the delicious hors’ d’oeuvres.
The first course, the Antipasto, was a duo of seafood
Carpaccio made from salmon and cod, with crabmeat tartare with lumpfish roe,
wasabi caviar and lobster jelly. This carpaccio was spectacular, and met
with universal approval.
It was taken with a Torricella Barone Ricasoli 2009. This
wine is from Tuscany and made from Chardonnay grapes. Simple and
uncomplicated allowing the diners to really enjoy the carpaccio!
The next course was tomato consommô soup with canederli
and brunoise of vegetable. This had a delicate but ‘tangy’ taste and had
everyone ready for the next course.
This was a pumpkin-rabbit gnocchi with sage butter and
cheese fondue. A very Italian dish with the rabbit meat and taken with the
Bardolino “Frescaripa” Masi 2008. This wine is from the Veneto region of
Italy and scores around 86 points with most reviewers. A corvina blend
around 70 percent, it is similar in some respects to a Beaujolais, but good
drinking. For many, this was the dish of the evening.
It was then time for a breather which was a wonderful
Limoncello-orange concoction. A great palate reviver!
A roast is the main dish for any Chaône dinner, and Chef
Rudy served up a different roast, being a roast lamb tenderloin filled with
Parma ham, spinach and fig, served with truffle mash, baby vegetables,
porcini mushrooms and Barolo jus.
Dr. Iain Corness interviews
Bailli Ranjith Chandrasiri for PMTV.
The wine with the roast was a Barolo Valfieri 2006. This
is a Nebiolo based wine from the Piedmont region and Barolo sub-region. It
comes from vines that are 30-40 years old. After fermentation this wine is
held in oak barrels for 30 months. It had a very full body, soft and very
elegant.
And it was not over at that point. The next course was a
cheese-tomato tart with balsamic foam accompanied by a Tuscan wine, the
Borgo Cennina “Rocca Delle Macie” 2004. This is a typical Italian table
wine, but was an admirable accompaniment to the cheeses.
Finally came the dessert, a Tiramisu with orange mousse,
fresh raspberry on chocolate-coffee sauce. Very rich, very fattening and
very delicious!
The final wine was the Moscato D’Asti 2010. This was a
wine well known to the Chaône members. A sweet wine from the Moscato Bianco
grape, around 5 percent alcohol and one that went well with the rich
dessert.
The evening finished with the presentation of
certificates of appreciation to Chef Rudy and his kitchen brigade and to the
service staff who had coped so well with the full restaurant.
For those who would like to know more, contact Bailli
Ranjith via email ranjith@ royalcliff.com.
