Food & Drinks

Stephano Brings a Classic Taste of Italy to Nairobi

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La Salumeria, situated just behind Valley Arcade in the Dhanjay Flats. PHOTO | MARGARETTA WA GACHERU | NMG

La Salumeria, situated just behind Valley Arcade in the Dhanjay Flats, serves everything from the wines and cheeses to the cured meats and porcini mushrooms which are regularly flown in from that high-heel shoe-shaped country.

“Even our olive oil comes from Tuscany, our Balsamic vinegar’s from Modena and our salt from Sicily,” says Stephano Rusticali, the owner of La Salumeria .

But ever since he came to Kenya in 2013 and opened his first restaurant, the Geko Resort, he’s made it his mission “to bring the authentic Italian dishes” to the country.

It isn’t only the vast array of pizzas, pastas and pesto that Stephano serves fresh at La Salumeria that makes his menu authentic. It’s also that his top Chef Murielle Minchella has trained the kitchen staff in the finer points of Italian cooking.

What’s more, just last month Stephano flew in a top chef from Sicily to help him launch his new Sicilian menu, featuring several new fish and pasta recipes.

“He even taught our pastry chef Margaret Kasude how to make a Caprese cake with chocolate and almonds which also come from Italy,” says Stephano, who insists we try a bit of everything on the menu.

I was tempted to try either the vegetarian lasagna, parmigiana (made with eggplant) or lobster spaghetti.

Then again, the range of pizza made my head spin. There was the classic margherita (with tomato, mozzarella and oregano), capricciosa (with mushrooms, artichokes and parma ham added), bresaola, funghi, formaggi and diavola to name a few more.

I settled for a delicious grilled red snapper garnished with a garden-full of fresh vegetables. My friend Robert had the chicken scaloppina (chicken breast sauted in lemon sauce) although he too was tempted to be more adventurous and try either the beef tangliata, grilled lamb chops with honey or mixed seafood platter, including crab, calamari, prawns and fish fillet.

Stephano himself had a sumptuous serving of fresh burrata cheese dressed with leafy lettuce and tomatoes.

owner

Stephano Rusticali’s special soft cheese platter at La Salumeria in Nairobi. PHOTO | MARGARETTA WA GACHERU | NMG

“Our cheeses are flown in every fortnight. They arrive from Milan on Saturday and we serve them from Sunday through Friday. By then, there usually all gone; otherwise, since we add no preservatives, they’re only served that week,” says this cheese connoisseur.

Hazelnut parfait

After that, he has a platter-full of assorted salamis. The bread, accompanied by whipped garlic butter, is made fresh every day, says Stephano who has only owned the restaurant since 2016.

Wines are also flown in from his mother land. But wine is not my weakness. Chocolate is. So when he tempted me with tiramisu, chocolate mousse or gelato, I didn’t hesitate to comply: mousse was my favourite. Meanwhile, my friend tried both the tiramisu and the hazelnut parfait which are both Margaret’s specialties.

And as no Italian meal is complete without an espresso, macchiato or cappuccino, I was happy to have a macchiato freshly made with Stephano’s Buscaguone espresso-making machine. But there was one more surprise. Limoncello. It sounded innocent enough for a teetotaller like me, especially when Stephano explained it was made with lemon rind.

Like an espresso, a sip or two of limoncello at the end of every meal is the test of its truly Italian authenticity. So I took a sip of this delicious liqueur which he served in a short-stemmed goblet. And our meal was complete.

Did I mention that throughout our meal, the Italian tenors, Il Volo gently crooned in the background?