Lucia Ristorante: True, fresh, good

MANILA, Philippines -What’s an Italian restaurant without pizza and pasta? Although these are the popular staples which you would naturally find in an Italian restaurant, there’s really much more to authentic Italian cuisine. 

“There are 21 regions in Italy with different specialties,” says chef Davide Lombardi at the opening of Lucia Ristorante at Hotel Celeste in Makati.

“At Lucia, we will feature regional cuisine, from both the northern and southern regions of Italy,” chef Davide remarked. “Our intention is to share the culture of our country in food. We want to share real Italian flavours, classic recipes prepared like in Italy.”

Chef Davide was born near the capital city of Milan, in a small town with a long name, Abbiategrasso, in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. Unlike the southern regions closer to the sea, which are better known for their Mediterranean fare, seafood, olive oil, vegetables  and pizzas,  northern cuisine is more rich, with more cream and butter, more meat, more rice, risottos and fresh pastas as well as cheeses, Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano.

At the press launch, chef Davide held a cooking demonstration where he showed how risotto — in this case, porcini risotto — is prepared. “With lots of patience,” he said. It takes from 17 to 20 minutes’ cooking time, depending on the quality of the rice. The stock and rice pan must both be hot. Use mushroom stock for more flavor, with a ratio of three times stock to rice. Mix with “passion and love.” 

Like pasta, risotto is best cooked al dente. “It is not only for fashion but also for digestion,” chef Davide remarks. “The more cooked, the more heavy it is in the tummy.”

When cooked, let the risotto rest. Then finish with butter and Parmesan. Done well, the dish is flavorful and satisfying in its simplicity.

Chef Davide grew up helping his mom and grandma in the kitchen. “On weekends, the family would get together and everybody helped in the kitchen to prepare different specialties,” he relates. He lived for many years in Paris where he opened a restaurant and where he met his wife, Janet, a Filipina from Bataan, with whom he has a nine-year-old daughter, Francesca.

He has been residing in the Philippines for the past five years. He feels safe here, he says. He feels at home. “Filipinos are nice, very social,” he says. “They should go out in the world and teach people how to live every day.”

Chef Davide was invited by the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA), where he was an instructor, to set up an authentic Italian restaurant that would bear his name, Lombardi.

The first one opened at the Robinsons Magnolia mall in Quezon City, followed by a second one at the new East Wing of the Shangri-La Plaza Mall. He chose to name his third restaurant after his mother, Lucia, which fits in perfectly with Hotel Celeste, a charming boutique hotel in Makati.

 â€œIt’s a ‘mom’ place,” says Tricia Sarabia, the young (only 26 years old) general manager of Hotel Celeste, as she explains that like the restaurant, the hotel’s name was also derived from her mom’s name, Cely. Tricia relates that the four-story boutique hotel is her mom’s “labor of love,”  as she had a direct hand in the interior design, giving it her personal touch, so that each of the 30 rooms has its own unique look. 

“Guests who keep coming back are excited about what kind of room they will get,” Tricia noted. “Our rooms have even become popular venues for photo shoots and bridal preps. With the opening of Lucia, our guests have more reason to keep coming back to Hotel Celeste.” 

Tricia’s personal favorite in Lucia’s menu is the Quattro Formaggi pizza with four kinds of cheese: provolone, fontina, gorgonzola, and mozzarella. A special pasta dish is the Spaghetti Lucia, a seafood pasta with clams, mussels, squid and prawns. “In Italy, pasta is an appetizer, unlike here where it is usually taken as a main dish,” chef Davide observed.

He likes to use only fresh ingredients, even produce them from scratch. At the cooking demo, he was assisted by his CCA student, chef Eden, who showed how fresh pasta is made for their Italian ravioli.  The square pasta should be 60 to 70 percent filling. Remove the air inside. Cooking time is seven minutes.

Lucia’s main entrees include the Bistecca Di Manzo Arrosto, fillet of roasted beef with truffle sauce; Tagliata Di Manzo, thinly sliced beef tenderloin baked with olive oil and rosemary; and Scallopine Alla Milanese, thinly sliced pork loin, breaded and served with fresh salad; as well as Dentice Alla Pugliese, roasted snapper with pancetta and broccoli; and Orato All’Ortolanal, roasted white fish served with pesto cream sauce.

Besides the items on the menu, there will also be specials of the day and “different recipes, depending on the available ingredients received from Italy,” chef Davide says, such as Bottarga, a Mediterranean delicacy much like caviar and served as an appetizer or used in pasta dishes. That should be worth looking forward to.     

Chef Davide would like Filipinos to “discover really authentic Italian flavor,” he says, “which is vero, fresco, bono (true, fresh, good).”

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For more information, call 887-8080 or check  https://www.facebook.com/luciaristoranteph.

Lucia Ristorante is in the Hotel Celeste at 2 San Lorenzo Drive cor. A. Arnaiz Ave., San Lorenzo Village, Makati City.