Restaurateurs and food writers Giancarlo and Katie Caldesi have good reason to raise a glass. They have just scooped the Lifetime Achievement Award in this year’s Italian Awards. Luisa goes to meet and eat
A national event which has been rewarding and recognising Italian businesses across the UK since 2012, the Italian Awards picked Giancarlo and Katie for their commitment and enthusiasm in bringing a true regional Italian food experience to food lovers.
They also won Best Restaurant in London fortheir Marylebone restaurant Caldesi. Judges visit and experience every entrant to find the worthy winners. If this wasn’t enough, chef Gregorio Piazza, based at their sister restaurant Caldesi in Campagna in Maidenhead, was Highly Commended in the Best Chef Category.
How did this success come about? Giancarlo, restaurateur met Katie, artist in 1997. He loved her paintings, she loved his pasta. They now have two restaurants, a cookery school, 15 cookbooks to their name and two sons who are following them in the business.
It’s not difficult to see why Caldesi in Marylebone won Best London Restaurant. The menu offers some of the bests Tuscan and Italian dishes, and the wine list awakens the most jaded of palates.
Sitting in the elegant dining room, I raise a glass of Franciacorta with Katie Caldesi. Just like the restaurant, this is no ordinary Italian sparkling wine. This is Ca’ del Bosco Cuvée Prestige, from the Italian region of Lombardy, made exactly like champagne and using the same grapes, and tasting like a dream. Clean and delicate on the nose, creamy and elegant on the palate with a touch of hazelnut on the finish. A perfect way to toast Caldesi’s awards.
We are joined by eldest son Giorgio, who toasts with a glass of Cynar. This is a delicious alcoholic ‘bitter’ based on artichoke, which Italians love as an aperitif with ice before a meal to prepare the stomach for the food to come, or as a digestive, neat or with hot water, to help the digestion.
It’s totally addictive. What’s more, I find Timorasso on the wine list, from a rare Italian vine and Piedmont’s best kept white wine secret, available by the glass. A clever move, as not everyone would want to invest in buying a bottle of a wine you don’t know – before you get totally hooked on it.
The Italian experience which led to the Best Restaurant Award – London, starts right here. I notice many Italians ex-pats at the tables, which is always a good sign of quality and authenticity.
High quality ingredients from artisan producers are turned into tasty dishes with a lightness of touch in the cooking. There is Vitello Tonnato – slow cooked veal with a sauce of tuna mayo and capers. Seabass cooked in paper, white wine, tomato and thyme, whilst the classic Milanese veal chop with rocket and lemon is deliciously light. The colourful Grilled Seasonal Vegetables are a feast for the eyes and no meal at Caldesi would be complete without a spoonful of Tiramisu, the indulgent and irresistible concoction of espresso coffee, mascarpone, cream and chocolate which they do so well.
As Giancarlo and Katie would say: ‘Italian cookery is like an opera, the hard work is done well before the performance’.
Caldesi Italian Restaurant, 118 Marylebone Lane, London W1U 2QF www.caldesi.com