The Pattaya chapter of the Chaîne 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.
Italian Chef Rudy Casera (left) and Bruno’s owner Fredi Schaub address the gathering.
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 Chaîne des Rôtisseurs 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.
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!
Guests enjoy some of the delicious hors’ d’oeuvres.
The next course was tomato consommé 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.
Dr. Iain Corness interviews Bailli Ranjith Chandrasiri for PMTV.
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 Chaîne 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.
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 Chaîne 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 [email protected].
