Maybe it was the stress of the holiday season; Christmas, New Year’s, La Befana. Maybe I needed a break from studying for my up coming sommelier exam.
Maybe it was the wind and the rain.
Maybe. Whatever it was, I just wasn't smiling that day.
A friend of mine wanted to cheer me up, help me take my mind off things with an invitation to dinner. An invitation to Veritas Restaurant on Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Naples. I’d been there a couple of times…it might just be what I needed. Just the ticket.
A friend of mine wanted to cheer me up, help me take my mind off things with an invitation to dinner. An invitation to Veritas Restaurant on Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Naples. I’d been there a couple of times…it might just be what I needed. Just the ticket.
Veritas, for me, is a place where I can relax and feel at ease with a staff of professionals like Maitre d Pasquale Marzano and sommelier Salvatore Maresca. Always there with a smile, suggestions, and a new wine for me to try. Veritas,for me, is a place where I can explore the Campania region with specialties prepared by Chef Gianluca D’Agostino. This time, a recent renovation which took out the wine bar and expanded the dining room gave the restaurant only improved the ambiance. Enormous photographs on the wall displayed scenes of the bay of Naples and Vesuvius. My eye went straight to a piece of art by Carla Giusti…a black and white painting of a woman whose frown was painted red. Maybe she needed a break as well.
Benvenuto from the chef…a little something to get the evening started….
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| snapper with mayonnaise and tomato confit |
Followed by a series of appetizers…
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| Calamari with spinach and ricotta |
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| Marinated amberjack on a bed of creamed beans and sweet and sour red onions |
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| Crisp saltimbocca by Michelel Leo, Mediterranean salad, marinated mackeral and baked ricotta |
First courses….
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| Pasta with cream of celery, tripe cod and mullet botargo |
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| Pasta with squid, broccoli, and guanciale |
And the main dishes…
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| Poached octopus with fregola and turmeric |
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| Fillet of cod with a creamy bean sauce |
We chose a wine from Corona in the Fruili Isonzo DOC region of Italy, I Ferretti Desiderium 2010. A white wine which is a blend chardonnay, fruliano, and sauvignion.
Time for dessert, I was feeling much better…how could I not be?
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| White chocolate and yogurt with berries and cooked Aglianico must |
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| Crêpe with chestnut cream, reduced red wine and cream |
The evening was over…time to go. I couldn’t help but smile as I grabbed a bite of a piccoli pasticceria, hmmm chocolate…I couldn’t help but smile as I stopped by the kitchen for a chat with the chef. And as Marzano helped me with my coat, I glanced over at the woman on the wall.
Wait…did I see a slight smile on her face?
No, I thought…then I went back out into the wind and rain…
smiling.
80121 Napoli
081 66 05 85
www.veritasrestaurant.it
Italian Version
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