BY
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 13 November 2018)
Stephano
Rusticali is passionate about all things Italian. From the wines, antipastos
and pastas to the cheeses, chocolates and prosecco
valdo bbiadene, Stephano has
brought them all from his homeland in order to open Nairobi’s newest Italian
restaurant.
La Terrazza has a similar ambience, menu and
tip-top service as his first Italian eatery, La Salumeria, which was located just behind Valley Arcade. But when
the opportunity arose for him to relocate to the top floor terrace of the Green
House Mall on Ngong Road, he couldn’t resist switching spaces.
Now at La
Terrazza, one will find a similar savory menu to what Stephano served at La
Salumeria. One will still find the most remarkable array of fresh pastas being
served, from the fettuccini tricolore
to the spaghetti, ravioli, lasagna and risotto. He will still be counting on
his Italian chef Claudio Panico and his well-trained Kenyan staff, all of whom
have been taught to prepare pizzas, antipastos, cocktail prawns and profitterole pastry just as well as any
expert Italian could do.
But the most
important feature that distinguishes La Terrazza is that all his key ingredients
are flown in every fortnight from Milan.
Naturally,
his fish is flown in regularly from the Kenyan coast; his vegetable are also brought
in even more frequently from local farmers. But otherwise, his wide array of salamis
are flown in from Italy and kept at just the right temperature. So are his
cheeses, (including his buffalo milk), chocolates and coffees.
Stephano
says that bringing authentic Italian culture and cuisine was his central
purpose for coming to Kenya and opening his restaurant. “There are five
components to creating a successful restaurant,” he says.
“There must
be the ambience [or convivial atmosphere], the quality food, superlative
service, unique and personalized style, and most importantly, the authenticity,”
he explains.
Stephano
admits he is not a chef himself. He leaves that to Claudio and to his matre d’ Murielle Minchella who he says
keeps a close eye on every detail of every dish to ensure the quality of
presentation as well as preparation remains high.
Stepano’s
expertise is nonetheless multifaceted. For he is not only trained in financial
management. He is also a wine aficionado, having been specially trained for
three years in the fine art and history of Italian wines. His wine cabinet
reveals the range of his cultivated taste for red and white wines coming from
all over Italy.
But just as
passionate as he is about wine, Stephano takes tremendous pleasure in seeing
his guests enjoy their meals. For starters, we tried the Caponata de Melanze, sweet and sour which was a delicious blend of
vegetables and the Arancine Siciliane, which were four fried rolls filled with
meats, mushrooms and vegetables.
Selecting a
main course was a major challenge since the menu (composed of both Italian and
English explanations) is diverse. Not only are there multiple kinds of pizzas
and pastas to try. There are also fish, chicken, beef and pork dishes to choose
from as well. We finally settled on a baked Red Snapper served with exquisitely
steamed vegetables and the fish ravioli. We both devoured our meal, although we
nearly spoiled our appetite tasting the amazing Foccear bread which Stephano serves with two different creamy
spreads, one made with avocado, the other with zucchini.
I was
thoroughly satisfied with my delicious entrée, but Stephano insisted we try to Proffitole since it was made with
Italian chocolate specially prepared in his kitchen and a bigne pastry that his Kenyan chef Tunje baked just as well as
Claudio does. We could hardly protest since by now, we knew Stephano was true
to his word.
The Proffitole was ‘to die for’. The pastry
was super-light and filled with a fluffy whipped cream, all of which was
covered in hot dark chocolate that was unspeakable divine.
But if that
wasn’t enough, I requested a macciato (espresso with foamy cream), little
knowing that our host wasn’t going to allow us to leave without tasting the
Tiramasu. Oh my!
Who knew we
weren’t full already? As if one dessert (split between us) wasn’t sufficient,
the Tiramasu had to be tried. So one spoonful led to us finishing the whole
dish in no time flat.
With La Terrazza
upstairs from the Lounge and Art Gallery, the restaurant also has two cosy
conference rooms making Stephano’s new space a perfect place for gatherings of
two, twenty or even more. Currently, his
art gallery is filled with super-realistic photographs by an Italian artist.
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