Spring is in the air for the dishes created by chef Paternollo at Pellico 3

Spring is here, and Pellico 3, the Park Hyatt Milano ’s fine dining restaurant, is celebrating the freshness and vitality of the season with a culinary journey that stimulates the senses. Orchestrating the nine courses of the à la carte menu is executive chef Guido Paternollo , who has captured the colours and flavours of Spring in his dishes in a kaleidoscope of tastes, like the bright green of asparagus or the delicacy of courgettes.

Vegetables are not the only protagonists here, however. In this menu more than his others, chef Paternollo plays with spices and herbs to add depth and complexity to his dishes. Curry, loomi (or black lime), the Moroccan ras el hanout blend and marjoram are just some of the aromatic notes that embellish and lend personality to each course, amidst sweet, spicy, earthy and citrus nuances.

Among the novelties in the appetisers is the meeting between the sea and the land in the asparagus with pistachio, salmon roe and bottarga and in the langoustine with sweetbreads, lovage, curry and fondant heart of lettuce. Among the first courses, the tortello with sheep’s milk ricotta, ‘nduja and pomegranate remains a guest favourite, while there is something new in the way the dish has been adapted to the season, with pomegranate giving way to plum to leave a sweet and sour touch and to keep the contrast fresh. The main courses include turbot marinated in miso with peas, seaweed, spring cassolette, mussels and sea snails, pigeon with dates, spring onion and tarragon, and finally blue lobster with a courgette carpaccio and a marjoram tapenade.

To cap it all, other dishes tell stories of tradition and yet go hand in hand with the contemporary, offering a refined reinterpretation of familiar flavours such as milk and cereals or rhubarb in a sugar, liquorice and sumac kefir crust. Guido Paternollo is a chef with a marvellous technique who respects the nature of each ingredient to the utmost: balance and precision in the service of a reassuring cuisine that uses simple, well-known ingredients to create a mouth-watering, insightful menu.

Accompanying the menu is a wine list designed by head sommelier Lorenzo Alberti that focuses on three territories – Champagne, Barolo and Brunello di Montalcino – and from there it branches out into a selection of Italian and non-Italian sparkling, white, red and dessert wines, all of which have been selected based on their region of origin, from world-famous wine producers to a quest to promote indigenous regional grape varieties.

Published on Claudia Chiari Blog