Osteria del Teatro
Cortona
Via Maffei 2
Cortona
0575-630-556
Owner/Chef: Emiliano Rosssi
Emiliano
Review copyright - Ginda Simpson
It was an ordinary Sunday
afternoon, but lunch at the Osteria del Teatro left us feeling like we had
just celebrated a grand occasion. Owner/Chef
Emiliano takes ordinary ingredients and transforms them into extraordinary
dishes.
A youthful, energetic,
well-trained chef, Emiliano made the leap to open his own restaurant in
1994 - a move that was wholly justified.
The enthusiastic guests that fill the three dining rooms are proof
- families, couples, groups of friends are all gathered for a leisurely
Sunday lunch of his Tuscan fare, served by an attentive wait staff, in
rooms that whisper of a long-ago past.
The 16th century building has a warm and inviting
atmosphere, each room with a particular charm and patina of old-world
hospitality. The heady aromas
that filter in from the kitchen only whet the appetite for Emiliano’s
offerings of Tuscan specialties revisited with flair and a deep respect
for and knowledge of the seasonal ingredients he uses.
We started with an antipasto of
a baked zucchini flower, stuffed with ricotta and bathed in a creamy
zucchini sauce delicately flavored with fresh mint.
A second antipasto was a lovely arrangement of Chianina beef carpaccio accompanied by a Millefoglie of eggplant, Parmesan
cheese, and tomato, drizzled with pesto.
Emiliano showed off his fanciful twist on a very traditional Tuscan
dish – pappa al pomodoro, a thick
tomato bread soup, by using it as a very flavorful stuffing for his
ravioli, then bathing them a buttery, basil-infused olive oil. Poof! With the
magic wand of his imagination he turned a typical poor man’s dish into a
rich and elegant first course. And
so his magic continued throughout our slowly-paced afternoon meal, leaving
us to linger between each savory course, relishing the incomparable food
and wine of Tuscany.
In Cortona, where there is a constellation of fine restaurants, Osteria del Teatro is surely one of this Tuscan city’s shining stars. Bravissimo!