More than just carpaccio

MILLIE: My greatest passion is enjoying good food! I’m glad to be sharing it with two of the most important people in my life, my dad Joe Reyes and daughter Karla Marina. Together, we make a threesome, discovering new dining places as well as rediscovering old ones. Karla and I are more adventurous and like to try new stuff while Dad is more of the conservative foodie. His primary concern is that the food must excel and that it should not be too pricey. One understands, of course, since Dad was born in 1922 and whenever he asks how much it costs, we tell him half the price! But at his age, he is blessed with not only a sharp mind and a fantastic sense of humor but also, good health and a hearty appetite. Thank God for that!

One of our favorite dining places is Ristorante Carpaccio where meals are always consistently delicious. How could things go wrong when Werner Berger is the man behind it? He is the man behind the successful Santis’ Delicatessen. Werner and I go back a long way — 34 years, to my recollection — when he was the executive chef of Philippine Airlines. He was responsible for recruiting two expat chefs for me: Siegi Weber who was my executive chef at The Plaza at the P.I.C.C., and Christoph Locher who was my chef when I was running the food services at the Asian Development Bank.

Werner’s new restaurant on Yakal st. in Makati is bigger and the interiors more avant-garde. There is a private room for meetings and small parties and one thoughtfully designed and reserved for smokers. A pass-through counter shows part of a bustling kitchen, seen as you enter the restaurant. New interiors, a new look, and a new feel.

The servers are all female and they always wear a smile and remember our names, which I feel is an excellent trait among service staff. One that caught my eye the first time we visited was Xyla, as she effortlessly opened a bottle of wine for us, without positioning the bottle on the table. She held the neck of the bottle between two fingers and turned the tire-bouchon with the other hand. That was quite impressive!

The appointments and dining utensils are very modern. While most of the items on the menu are new, we found some of our old favorites. For that we had reason to rejoice.  

KARLA: Carpaccio is an Italian term for thin slices of raw beef or fish, usually marinated in olive oil and fresh herbs and spices. I first learned how to make beef carpaccio when I was 13 years old, playing in the kitchen of a medieval castle in Germany owned by my Mom’s friend Karl Isenberg.

Werner Berger’s restaurant serves the traditional beef carpaccio, which he calls Carpaccio Piemontese, prepared with extra virgin olive oil, Parmesan shavings, forest mushrooms and a porcini salad. Something new and gorgeous is the Salmon and Seabass Carpaccio composed of thin slices of fresh, chilled Norwegian salmon and Chilean seabass, marinated in olive oil, and finely chopped fresh herbs and spices, tomato, garlic, basil, capers, onions, and freshly milled peppercorns.

There are days when we find ourselves craving their awesome-awesome Crema di Pomodoro — a classic tomato soup with a mild tang. On other days, just to satisfy our hunger, we order a Pizza con Funghi e Prosciutto with tomato, mushrooms, parma ham, mozzarella and oregano or a simple spaghetti carbonara. Usually, Mom and Lolo split his favorite pasta Siciliana which isn’t even on the menu, but the chef willingly obliges each time my lolo orders it. The dish is made of capellini or angel hair pasta with plump, crunchy shrimp in a mildly spiced-up tomato-based sauce.

The Insalata De Mare Siciliana is an interesting seafood salad with prawns, squid, scallop, mussels, clams, cod filet in extra virgin olive oil flavored with peporoncini, oregano and garlic, sprinkled with chopped parsley in a light and very refreshing dressing.

The risotto dishes are likewise excellent and we recommend the Risotto Al Funghi Porcini (with porcini mushrooms). It was a perfect accompaniment to yet another Italian favorite, Osso Buco, which has been deleted from the menu as of our last visit. We would actually place it at the center of our table, family style, for everyone to partake of and enjoy. Oh well, there’s always the Saltimbocca or the Costolette di Maiale alla Pizzaoila or the lamb chops, which are great!

By the way, the restaurant has quite an extensive and very impressive wine selection. I recommend the Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Reserva Vino Ventisquero. 

There was a time when we’d be having dinner there almost every week. It would be our meeting point when I was still studying at De La Salle University-Manila (DLSU-M) as it was close to Mom’s office and halfway to school. En route, I’d sometimes text my Mom to order one of my personal favorites: Gnocchi al Gorgonzola. Gnocchi (I know, the word looks weird, right? But it’s a silent “G” and is pronounced “nyoh-kee”) is one of my favorites but very few restaurants in Manila serve it while Carpaccio has perfected it. But, sad to say, it’s been deleted from the menu. It’s made from potatoes, egg and flour. Some people don’t like gnocchi because it’s starchy and heavy. But I love it and learned how to make it from scratch! I’m happy to share my favorite gnocchi recipe with you.

Karla’s Gnocchi With Cream And Herbs

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 lbs. potatoes

2 eggs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 to 2 cups all-purpose flour

2 oz. butter

2 tbsp. each of basil, thyme, sage and parsley

1 cup heavy cream

Additional Parmesan for serving

Procedure:

1. Rinse the potatoes. Prick the potatoes using a knife and then place them on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until potatoes are easily pierced by a knife.

2. Set them aside until cool enough for the skin to be peeled then mash using a potato masher.

3. Flour the work table. Put the mashed potatoes on the work table and make a well in the middle.

4. Sprinkle some flour in the well, then pour the beaten eggs in the well and start mixing in a circular motion. Keep adding flour until dough is soft enough and not too moist. Do not over-mix.

5. Cut the dough (with a dough scraper) into manageable pieces. Begin to roll out eat piece into a long cylinder about 1/2-inch thick then cut into 1/2-inch-long pieces and place on a lightly floured pan.

6. Place the cream in a saucepan over low heat and reduce until thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

7. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop gnocchi pillows into the boiling water to cook them. You’ll know if they’re done when the pillows start floating to the top of the pot. Use a wire strainer to take out the gnocchi.

8. Melt the butter in a skillet large enough to accommodate the gnocchi. Add the herbs and sauté for a minute. Add the reduced cream, then finally the gnocchi. Toss and coat lightly then transfer to place and platter.

9. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve and add basil leaves on top and chopped parsley for garnish.

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Ristorante Carpaccio is located at 7431 Yakal street, San Antonio Village, Makati. Call 843-7286, 867-3164 or 843-7286 for reservations and inquiries.

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Send e-mail to 08,46,99,111,109)+’?’” milliereyes.foodforthought@gmail.com and karla@swizzlemobilebar.com. Find us on facebook: Food for Thought by Millie & Karla Reyes.