Celebrate Christmas with Anzani

Everyone has his/her Christmas memories to cherish and family reunions to celebrate. In the past, many of these festivities were held in one’s own home for the simple reason that restaurants were few and household helps were plentiful. Today, the restaurant industry has flourished and these institutions have become the alternative destination in celebrating the Pinoy Christmas, one of the richest and longest in the world.

One of these new dining establishments is called ANZANI (New Mediterranean Cuisine) and Bellini Champagne and Cocktail Bar, Nivel Hills, Lahug, Cebu City (phone 233-4679, fax 233-4054), owned and managed by a couple, Italian Chef Marco Anzani and Kate Dychangco-Anzani.

Chef Marco hails from Erba, a comune (town) of about 20,000 residents in the Province of Como in the Italian region of Lombardy. My beloved followers know that Italian Cuisine is regional   and each region has its own food culture, unique and distinct from each other.

In Lombardy, rice reigns supreme and its cuisine can be classified into three groups; Lake Cuisine with local fishes, Mountain Cuisine with polenta, game and organic chicken and Valley Cuisine with intensive animal farming making it a land of milk, cream, cheese and butter. All these are mere childhood experiences for Chef Marco.

At present, Chef Marco has 25 years of culinary experience gathered from 30 cities and 18 countries. As a Guest Chef in the Kerry Center Hotel Beijing’s Coffee Garden, he dazzled residents with a menu “that would match the capital city—modern and exciting.” Appetizer was lobster salad on crisp asparagus, dotted with Beluga caviar and the main course was rosemary- marinated Angus beef tenderloin, with charcoal roasted tomato and rich mushroom ragout drizzled in a wine reduction.

Your favorite food columnist has had several occasions in the past to sample Chef Marco’s culinary expertise at Aqua Italian restaurant, Shangri-La Mactan. This includes very special events like an intimate dinner for two on Valentine’s Day, one of the very few occasions your columnist got to pay for the restaurant’s bill. Ouch!

Chef Marco has finally decided to take roots in Cebu, raise a family and open Anzani. Its mission is to “change and bring innovation to the entire dining experience” by awakening “the epicurean in everyone through textures and flavors.” Very exciting, this mission!

After a short tour of its elegant ambiance (furniture by Carlo Cordaro, lighting design by Butch Carunggay, underground wine cellar with 1,250 choices of wine), I was served three types of breads: Tomato, Moroccan and Olive, baked on mini clay pots. A Defile of appetizers which are selections of Mediterranean dips and amuse bouche like chickpea hummus (mixture of mashed peas with oil, tahini lemon juice, garlic) baba ghanoush (minced eggplant), beetroot hummus, feta cheese, carrot raita (salad with yogurt), etc. accompanied the breads. So many to taste but be very careful, chances are you like one particular type of bread and one dip, eat so much and forget that dinner is yet to be served!

First on the surprise menu was the Roma Tomato confit with Zola Cornmeal & Foie gras caramelized on marsala reduction. The taste of this dish will persuade vegetarians to abandon their meatless existence. Second course was the Crisp Spinach Canneloni stuffed with winter truffle paste and organic chicken on sweet tomato and buffalo mozzarella. Truffles and the cheese were the dominant flavors of the dish tempered by the richness of the tomatoes, very delicious pasta indeed.

Main event was the Margaret de Canard (Duck) on Farro Wheat and Goat cheese mash potato tortilla tart, Grilled Green Asparagus, reduction of Cabernet Sauvignon. Farro is a type of wheat in which the husk sticks to the grain and provides bulk. I usually love the taste of duck meat and the dish simply confirmed my preference for this meat as compared to chicken.

Closing this taste of new Mediterranean cuisine was the Collabao chocolate tahini fondue with sesame oil served with brownie squares, large grapes, marshmallow and fresh pineapple chunk. Tahini is a kind of paste from ground sesame seeds (lightly roasted) while the Chinese version of sesame paste consists of whole seeds with the cover or hull, making it slightly more bitter. The chocolate with the sesame seeds imparts a very fragrant smell to each piece dipped into the melting goodness.

Definitely, Anzani is a place to visit this Christmas season. A very merry Christmas to everyone!