Our last night on land was in Parma before we headed to board the ship here in Venezia(where we depart shortly). It was one of the best meals we had at the Michelin starred PARIZZI named for the chef Marco Parizzi. We arrived to a small space with an outdoor bar and a woman escorted in through an electronic door which opened into a series or larger (air conditioned) rooms with chic modern décor such as a gold leaf wall, grey walls and modern art. I loved the comfy tables and chairs with purse stands next to them and all the linens, silver and crystal were perfection.
Will & I ordered Campari and Tonics and Sam enjoyed his beer, a Peroni Grand Riserva Rossa. Amuses arrived with a plate of three parmigiana Reggiano waffles, which we wish we could have had for breakfast the next day as our hotel has a really lame buffet! For Sam and I (because we ordered meat) came an amuse of a "tomato" ball which was a doughy surprise with tomato flavor that I never really figured out, while Will had a nice amuse of marinated cuttlefish.
We ordered a bottle of local Albana 2015 from Villa Papiano called "Terra!" and our server Andrea, who was most informative and helpful explained it was very earthy and may have extra sediment. It was an intense, earthy biodynamic white that had 13% alcohol and was amazing with our starters. Will had the Raw & Marinated Fish Composition which Andrea explained had every kind of local fish you could wish for. My Grilled Quail with seasonal mushrooms included chanterelles and Sam had the Ravioli stuffed with Eggplant, Pine Nuts & Olives in a Tomato Concasse Sauce. The sauces were all rich and intense reductions giving amazing great flavor to every bite.
Next came pasta(Sam had two pasta courses) and Will stayed with fish with his Strichetti with Fish & Turnip Greens, while Sam and I both had the Conchiglione (huge snail shaped pasta) stuffed with Amatriciana sauce made of guanciale bacon and tomato and sprinkled with Pecorino cheese. They were all amazing, but Sam and I agreed that the Conchiglione had to win this round.
We moved on to an even more amazing red wine called "Nabucco" 2013 which Andrea said was one of his favorites in the restaurant and came from Monte delle Vigne(right in Parma); a blend of merlot and barbera it was surprisingly brilliant with the main courses of both fish and fowl. Despite the youth of both white and red wines, the legs on the glasses seemed to drag down forever!
Will had the superb fillet of Monkfish wrapped in potato with braised Artichoke and confit tomato, while both Sam and I moved onto fowl.
The Breast of Guinea Fowl was crusted with dry fruits and nuts and served with potatoes and spring onion in a sauce of passito wine and mushroom, and I had the Pigeon cooked two ways with confit and a breast with vegetables(dates, onion and radicchio) in papillote with olive sauce. I knew that this was the winner of our short week-long food competition!
When in Parma one must have cheese, but here it is not a regular cheese trolley or plate, it is a selection of three of the most amazing Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses on earth which were aged 18, 24 and 48 months respectively. They were all salty and crunchy to perfection and the maker were (respectively)Villa Curta, Boldini and Val Serena which makes the 48month using the Vaca Rossa or red cows that are so rare we almost never see this multi-star prize-winning cheese exported to our shores. A glass of Moscato Passito 2007 from Mario Sandri was golden hued and a gorgeous foil to the salty cheese...although we have learned to love the bubbly red Lambrusco from the region that everyone drinks with the Parmigiano and charcuterie.
The a/c was becoming a bit failed and the heat had mounted(my phone said 80degreesF) as the rooms had filled up with diners, although we were all so superbly spaced far from each other, so we decided to all share the Gelato di Nocciola which is prepared tableside. Chef Marco Parizzi appeared and in a flash when he saw how uncomfortable we were, whisked us to a cold room with stainless steel counter and prepared to make the gelato with his (apprentice)son, barely 9-10 years old. Father and son were adorable as the latter sprinkled a little liquid nitrogen on us to cool us off! The result was easily the best ice cream on earth with crunchy topping, sauce and that liquid gold hazelnut gelato we could not resist(hence my FB photo has a large chunk missing as I ate before I took the photo!).
What a wonderful way to end our stay in Emilia Romagna where the food, wine and people are all so wonderful!
