There are various factors that contribute to the savouriness of a dish. For me, it is the palate of the chef.
Ciao Terrazza's chef de cuisine Dario Busnelli definitely has that quality.
The half-Thai half-Italian chef, whose career profile includes Michelin-star restaurants in Europe and 5-star dining establishments in Thailand and the United States, was appointed to direct the kitchen of the open-air Italian trattoria at the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok in 2020.
Busnelli was brought up in Italy by his aunt. Years of accompanying her in the ever-animated Milanese family kitchen has shaped his passion for cooking. It has also inspired him to often depict the culinary comfort from his childhood through his dishes.
However, what I found fascinating during my dinner at Ciao Terrazza last week was his keenness to explore Italian cooking heritage and experiment with new techniques in order to offer diners a greater experience. Obviously, that requires not only good inspiration but also a trustworthy palate.
Busnelli's cooking at Ciao blends upscale trattoria cuisine with home-style touches.
Following Lombard culinary tradition, dishes are prepared with lots of butter (instead of olive oil) and an abundance of meat, dairy products and pasta. However, as Lombardy's capital city Milan is the wealthiest in Italy, fine seafood imported from Sicily is also common in meals.
Homemade agnolotti pasta with wild mushroom and truffle mascarpone; slow-braised veal ossobuco with saffron risotto and gremolata; fishmonger's seafood risotto; and grain-fed rib-eye tagliata with green pepper sauce are some of Ciao's bestsellers.
Yet, during my visit, seven special dishes were introduced. All proved a good reason for one to become a repeat guest.
A lovely plate of passion fruit-and-citrus-marinated kingfish crudo with fennel crudite and Kaviari caviar (1,190 baht) is the chef's rendition of Sicilian ceviche.
Neat raw slices of the supple-meat hamachi (yellowtail kingfish) were cured in a fresh mixture of orange, lime, lemon and passion fruit juice, and then dressed with paper-thin ribbons of fennel, a dollop of French caviar and a sprinkle of green herb oil that provided a contrast to the fruity citrus taste.
Classic frittino di mare (720 baht) was a scrumptious platter of Atlantic sea bream fillets, Argentinian wild red prawns and calamari, lightly battered and deep-fried -- the Tuscan way -- in butter. The seafood, which retained its crispiness, was complemented by a thick and creamy basil mayo.
Another starter, polpo (890 baht), was also a crowd-pleaser. It featured pleasingly gummy cubes of slow-cooked giant octopus tossed with saffron potato, needle beans and thyme-poached cannellini in a lemon-parsley fragrant Arneis dressing.
Chef Busnelli is a true master of risotto dishes.
Other than the popular saffron risotto and fisherman risotto, his newly-added creation of Champagne risotto "mantecato" with crustacean "ristretto", Mazara red prawn, burrata and lemon zest (1,390 baht) was said to have recently made the bestselling list.
The risotto rice was cooked in reduced crustacean stock with lots of Prosecco wine. The starch from the rice contributes to the creaminess of the dish while the bisque-like stock lent it a rich-flavour piquancy. Highlighted also was the honey-sweet red prawn from the southwestern coast of Sicily. The prawn is best served raw and should never be cooked for more than just a few seconds. Still, Busnelli cured them with citrus dressing to give the translucent crustaceans a slight degree of "being cooked". Helping to add multi-layers of tastes to the dish were luscious whipped burrata cream and dill florets.
For Busnelli, no one makes a more delicious lasagna than his aunt. But he's been trying to beat that.
Following her recipe and technique, his version of Zia Pina's (Aunt Pina) baked lasagna with shank ragout and aged Parmesan cheese fondue (680 baht) comes with a touch of specially-concocted high hills herb pesto.
Forty egg yolks were used per kilogramme of flour to make the pasta sheets. The Bolognese ragout was prepared with freshly minced beef or pork slow-cooked with tomatoes, onion, celery, carrots, thyme and rosemary, while the white bechamel sauce was given a lovely hint of nutmeg.
Chef Busnelli gave a Ligurian flaire to the family recipe by garnishing the dish with herb pesto, a unification of parsley, cep mushrooms and basil. The pesto lent to the heavenly meaty cheesy dish a nice herbal complement.
The special menu also has Tuscan fishmonger's seafood casserole (1,980 baht). Bathed in the soothing seafood soup -- similar to bouillabaisse but minus the saffron -- were Manila clams, Dutch mussels, tiger prawn, Mediterranean sea bass and octopus.
Our dinner wrapped up with the trattoria's much-loved port wine-cured apple strudel, also common in northern Italy, with caramelised walnut and fresh berries on a bed of "crema inglese" vanilla custard accompanied by a silky smooth cinnamon gelato (390 baht).
Being a riverside alfresco trattoria, Ciao Terrazza operates seasonally during the cooler months. Currently, the last day it is to open is March 31. It will open again in November when the wintry air officially arrives in the city. Hence, fans of Italian food better hurry and book a table.
- Ciao Terrazza
- Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok
- 48 Oriental Avenue
- Call 02-659-9000
- Opens for dinner Friday to Tuesday, until March 31
- Most credit cards accepted
