Harry's Dolci...Life is Sweet--A Caconti Journal Entry
Written: Jun 15 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Elegant and Spectacular Dinner With a View
Cons: Expensive
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| caconti's Full Review: Venice |
Every person, if he's lucky, has a few meals in his life which transcend the normal eating experience, where the culinary and the religious blend for a short window of time over a restaurant somewhere in the world. I had one of those moments of gastronomic bliss last night, at Harry's Dolci on the Giudecca.
The meal was the closing banquet of the Wake Forest sponsored Argumentation Conference, for which I've been serving as concierge and assistant for the past week. One of my duties included preparing the menu and negotiating the prices for the dinner in Italian, so I already had an idea how great an experience this was going to be($65 a person!) We all arrived, 26 of us in all, to find that the manager had managed to prepare our banquet out on the front porch of the restaurant, which directly overlooks the Giudecca Canal.
The feast started simply with fresh bread and the trademark Harry's aperitif, the Bellini, a drink which is made from fresh white peach nectar and champagne. The first course was the antipasto, a double-header of great tastes. The first was a small puff pastry, baked with fresh ricotta cheese and a bit of what I believe to be thyme. The second antipasto was prosciutto and melon, Parma prosciutto of course and the melons were in the peak of their season.
The pasta course was simply the most delicious raviolis I have ever eaten in my life. Extremely thin and delicate, they were stuffed with a touch of fresh spinach and ricotta cheese. The sauce, almost painted on with a brush it was so light, was a butter/cream sauce accentuated with fresh sage. The dish was so subtle and elegant, bringing out the strength of the fresh ingredients and letting the ingredients' quality be the star of the show.
Embarrassing story time- The manager Antonio, now a friend of mine through the bond of speaking Italian in an American group, came over to ask me how the ravioli tasted. I raved to him, in Italian of course, about how exquisite they were and he asked me "Could you eat another two?" Thinking he was offering me another small refill I agreed. What did the waiters bring me? Two entire plates of raviolis! Far be it from me to insult a host, so I ate all of them, to be told by Antonio in Italian, "My compliments Signor Conti. I have never in this restaurant seen anyone eat raviolis like you." I guess that's a good thing...
After the raviolis came the main course, with a choice of fish or chicken. The fish was San Piero, lightly fried, then sautéed in a bit of butter, tomato, basil and broccoli flowers(or that's at least how my mind reproduced the recipe). The dish was served on a bed of rice with an accompanying bitter green salad, picked fresh from the islands. The chicken was a simple roasted leg, done perfectly with a crisp skin and a tender, delicately rosemary flavored inside. The dish was served with fresh roasted vegetables.
Then came dessert, the coup de grace of this performance. The dish was a crepe stuffed with some fresh cream, and served flambee in Cointreau, then served with homemade vanilla ice cream. Need I say more?
The service? When you're at Harry's, you are royalty. Water or wine glass empty? Not for long. Butter dish running low? Expect more butter and fresh bread any second now. Not sure what to order or need a special request? Not a problem. As polite as they are knowledgeable and skilled, Harry's waiters also speak perfect English and love to answer any questions you might have about the food you're being served.
While I have a moment, I must mention the available shopping for Harry's obsesses like myself. Except for the fantastic cookbook, all of the Harry's bar books, featuring the history of the bar and Venice, have gone out of print in the United States. Not so at Harry's Dolci, which sells all of the books as well as a full line of Cipriani culinary products: pasta sauces, olive oil, herbs, pasta, wine, cake.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
caconti
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 - Top 500 |
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Member: Christian Conti
Location: Washington, DC
Reviews written: 636
Trusted by: 481 members
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