If the secret to French cuisine is butter, it is abundantly clear from the food at Botticino that the secret to Italian food is the olive oil.
Newly opened Botticino boasts traditional Italian cuisine with a contemporary twist, and comtemporary it was! The décor was warm (the usage of red on the tables) but yet tremendously airy with its glass walls and high ceilings. As we were welcomed by the cold fresh mogra scented towels in the blistering Mumbai heat, arrived the bread basket with white crusty sourdough-esque bread with zuccini dip (which tasted like goo). The lovely balsamic (which was just beautifully sweet) and olive oil were a more than adequate saviour for those (like myself) who would rather skip the zuccini dip.
To start with instead of the favourite caprese, we ordered the vendure alla griglia con parmigiano reggiano porcini e pecorino which is basically grilled vegetables with crisp parmesan, porcini mushrooms and pecorino which we shared between the two of us. The parmesan crisps could have been thinner (and hence crisper) and the musrooms were certainly not porcini (misrepresentation!). My friend being optionally ‘allergic’ to zuccini, we asked for the zuccini in the grilled vegetables to be replaced by bell peppers and asparagus. The staff was very helpful and got the antipasti bang on the spot. Another appitizer that read very promising was the green pea soup with mint oil, but we decided to skip on account of the heat outside, and decided instead to indulge in desert!
For the primi piatti (there is no concept of a ‘main course’ in Italian food) after much turmoil (so many choices, so little stomach space!) we settled for the gnocchi and the spinach and ricotta crepes. Presentation was nothing extraordinary, but up to the mark. Promptly arrived our sun-dried tomato gnocchi with grilled vegetables and asparagus puree and spinach and ricotta crepes with tomato sauce. Let me just state at the outset that the asparagus puree was just divine. Highly recommended! I fear I may just order the gnocchi (literally little parcels of deliciousness) every time I return to Botticino (and there is no doubt that I will, repeatedly!). The crepes were good, cheesy but not greasy, accompanied by a well prepared marinara-tomato sauce.
Dolci. I’m not essentially a desert person, but the selection just looked too good to pass off-everything from tiramisu to crème brulee. We went for a selection of home-made gelato (since we couldn’t decide on a single flavour, and to be fair, with food its always better to be polygamous!), served on a bed of white chocolate sprinkled with fine shreds of pistachio. Welcome the trio plate of mascarpone and vanilla, lychee and lavender and lastly, chocolate and pistachio. The mascarpone and vanilla was creamy, fresh with vanilla and heavy- but delish. The lychee and lavender tasted like a spa on a spoon, clean on the palate and definately unique. I may run the risk of sounding a bit odd here, but the lavender tantalised the taste-buds, and forced the spoon back to the scoop for another helping. The chocolate and pistachio was exactly that-chocolate with pistachio, sort of like the one thats been available at Rustom’s (for a fraction of the price!).
Lastly, my friend educated me on the phenomenon of ‘coffee complete’. He had an espresso, sprayed with grappa and accompanied by almond liquer mini-cookies.
Finito!
