The best Italian chefs: Niko Romito, Reale restaurant review
We return, after two years, to Reale da Niko Romito one of the most stimulating restaurants on the Italian scene and it is a great confirmation.
As great fans of Abruzzo cuisine, wine and products, we can only congratulate the immense talent of Niko Romito, a young chef who in a few years managed to win 3 Michelin stars. Let’s start by saying what our impression is: the feeling is that Niko Romito is an enlightened man with great inventiveness, but who starts from the intense and uncompromising flavors of Abruzzo. The colors, flavors and scents of the sea and rock of this land are his palettes but never limit.
Each dish, each invention is a brilliant intuition that starts from the roots of the earth with a product, transforms it alchemically to overturn it, but in reality, it is a circle that closes perfectly. At first, it would seem like a game of mirrors: the watermelon is always watermelon, but in reality, it is quite the opposite, but the taste is consistent and the artifice is instrumental to the gustatory experience, which is always in the foreground and never leaves. weigh down by Pindaric flights ends in themselves.
Let’s say that each dish is a journey, made up of alternating flavors, changing in the space of a few bites to tell a story. We are not maniacs, but let’s go back to watermelon. It is not just a question of sweetness, but of various aromatic levels that intersect, to create a symphony that flickers on the palate.
We choose the “Ideal” tasting menu consisting of eleven courses plus a welcome and a small pastry.
Great dishes apparently simple but of great complexity such as Watermelon and Tomato, an icy game of contrasts and aromas, a stroke of genius of epic proportions between dream and reality. We report the words of chef Romito to understand the genesis of the dish: “To make this dish it takes between cooking the tomato, the rosemary gel, the olive concentrate, the candying of the lemon, the marinating with thyme, tarragon and oregano. watermelon and its change of structure with low pressure about 5 hours starting from the ingredients alone…”
The onion absolute, a triumph of umami nuances that dance on the onion’s aromatic razor.
The irresistible and impeccable sea bass, capers and parsley.
The licorice and wine vinegar granita with white chocolate and balsamic, a daring surprise that is not afraid to play between the sacred and the profane, playing down a noble but overly plastered ingredient, such as balsamic vinegar.
The bread is amazing, crunchy in the crust and moist inside, not for the taste, very good, but for the surprise that the consistency arouses: two planets colliding.
Three truly deserved stars: each dish underlies research that might seem stylistic, but we don’t just reduce Niko Romito’s creativity to the Apollonian, there is also a lot of Dionysian, passion, desire to take a different position and point of view on great flavors of Abruzzo. Take the ability to create artificial paradises of a Benedictine monk, add the care of an Abruzzo cook who plays the guitar every Sunday and knows how to turn potatoes into masterpieces, add a pinch of madness to Dalì, shake and you will have Niko Romito’s cuisine of the Reale restaurant.
We drank an excellent Ulysse Collin champagne, sold at a nice price.
Niko Romito’s Reale restaurant wine list
The wine list is good, extensive, but it can be improved, it lacks the depth of vintages if we want to be honest.
When did we visit Niko Romito’s Reale restaurant?
November 27th, 2017. We will be back very soon, it was one of the most exciting dinners in recent years.