See below for announcement of a special SJO Deal at K restaurant.
I spent an Evening in Piedmont the other night, part of Kevin Fonzo’s annual Truffle Dinner at his K restaurant. It was
a multi-course extravaganza, with each dish featuring white or black truffles and paired with wines of the Piedmont region of Italy. It was a wonderful dinner that once again showed why Fonzo is one of the area’s top culinary talents.
Guests were seated throughout the small restaurant, which is housed in an old house. Iit was, for the record, a packed house.) We started with a Kumomoto oyster on the half shell with Osetra caviar and a mignonette infused with truffle. Sharing space on the dish was a pan-seared diver scallop with Oregon black truffle and a celery root and apple salad with a truffle dressing. This course also featured pizza fungi, a wonderful bread with roasted chanterelle mushrooms and fontina cheese, topped with a touch of fried sage. Oh, and truffles, of course. My table companion and I agreed that the pizza was one of the best things we ate that night. The crust, which had a wonderful elasticity, is what made it a winner.
The second course brought beef carpaccio with truffle aioli and wild mushrooms, plus house-made papparadelle with black trumpet mushrooms and truffles. The pasta was perfect and the delicate broth was just right.
The third course (although some restaurants would have already numbered the courses at this point at six) had roasted stuffed guinea hen breast and truffle mousse stuffed thigh with whipped Yukon gold potatoes and truffle jus. It was accompanied by a small braised beef cheek with cauliflower-truffle puree.
Perhaps with all the truffling that had come before, the truffle honey on the vanilla bean panna cotta seemed too much, although the panna cotta itself was nicely done.
Wines for the evening included a 2009 Cortese Gavi from Christina Ascheri; an ’03 barbera from La Nunsio Ideale; Vietti 2007 nebbiolo Perbacco-Langhe (my favorite); and a 2009 moscato from Paolo Saracco. Restaurant manager Dan Francoforte, who served as host for the evening, supervised the able staff of servers in the dining room. It was one happy, well-truffled crowd.
SJO Deal at K
Fonzo and Francoforte have generously agreed to offer a special SJO Deal to readers of the flog. They are presenting a limited number of certificates for $50 of food and wine at K restaurant for only $25, a true bargain for you to enjoy yourself or give as a gift to a friend who loves fine food and wine. The SJO Deal will be opened sometime Thursday, December 16, and will be announced first to recipients of the SJO newsletter. The certificates will be available for 24 hours or until all are sold, so be watching your inbox for the announcement tomorrow.
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