Identità Golose was created by Paolo Marchi, an Italian journalist and all-around 'grande formaggio'. The idea being to showcase the best of Italian cuisine and the talents of various chefs. At the "Lunch of a lifetime", there were 7 chefs, with 13 Michelin stars between them - without doubt the most invisible stars I have ever been in a room with at any one time.
When I arrived, after battling through floods of tourists all the way up through each soulless floor of Harrods to floor 4, where the restaurant is (strangely you have to go through the children's clothes section to get to it) I wasn't even asked wether I was on the guest-list but instead was just offered a drink, which i was pretty happy about really. Disorganised at it was, I wasn't going to complain about free wine and beer.
So the introductory speeches took place, while I stood uncomfortably and pretended I knew who the hell the man talking was and then before I knew it we were being asked to sit down. I had no idea which of the numerous tables I was supposed to be sat on, so naturally I referred to the sign with a seating plan on. However at this point I had no idea this was incorrect. Great.
The Cerea Brothers demonstrating how they made their dish. |
As the first cookery demonstration was taking place (each chef showed how they prepared each course before it as brought out) I was ready to drink myself to death, just as something to do. So I was SO PLEASED when a nice lady appeared out of the alcohol induced mist and said "Are you Nigel Bardens guest? Come this way, you are meant to be on table 1". I have never heard a sentence so sweet.
At this point the event turned from a total Itastrophy (Italian Catastrophe) to a great time. I finally had some interesting company and some good conversation.
The first Starter came out - Saffron infused poached egg with courgettes and mussels, cooked by Carlo Cracco. This matched really nicely with the Vermentino DOC from Poggio al Tesoro, although I found the dish a little too clever for it's own good.
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Michelin starred Luciano Monosilio - the most Italian looking Italian chef in the world. |
By this time, it was already coming up to 3pm. The event started at 1pm and we were on course 2 of 7. I had a train to catch at 5, normally leaving yourself 4 hours for lunch would be enough but I was getting nervous.
Luciano Monosilio from Hotel Rex in Rome was responsible for the next course, an absolutely delicious take on Carbonara, using diced pigs cheek. This was the best Carbonara I have eaten by a long way, really delicious. This was paired with Birra Moretti, which Nigel Barden tried to assure everyone during his introduction was because of the beer's unique flavour and nothing to do with the fact that Moretti were one of the sponsors of the event...
To be honest, it did actually work pretty well though.
This worked really well, it was a nicely informal touch to the whole event and it tasted fantastic.
Pasta Shake! Notice the guy in the red shirt looking on, longingly. |
The Lunch of a Lifetime looked good, sounded good and mostly tasted good but lacked good organisation and order. I'll book a later train next time...
With any luck, Identità Golose will be returning to London again next year, so it's well worth keeping an eye out for tickets. This year tickets were going for £150, which works out at just over £21 per course, including wine and as much Moretti as you can handle. Not bad value and worth experiencing if you get the opportunity.
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