ITALIAN cuisine is one of the most popular foreign cuisines in the country. Filipinos simply love pizza and pasta and have adopted these as their own. They’re also fast becoming more familiar with other Italian fares, such as risotto (rice dishes), bruschetta (toasted baguette slices with tomatoes, fresh basil leaves and cheese on top), panizza (rolled thin crust pizzas), calzone (stuffed pasta) and panini sandwiches (grill-pressed sandwiches). Caprese Salad (slices of tomatoes and mozzarella cheese with basil leaves), Osso Buco (braised veal shanks), Tiramisu (coffee flavored cake) and Cassata (layered ice cream dessert) have also become big favorites.
The problem is that despite all the Italian restaurants that have mushroomed in the country, especially in urban centers such as Metro Manila, most Italian restaurants have adjusted the flavor profiles of their food to the Filipino palate., Thus, they’re not quite fusion but not exactly authentic, either.
Caffe Puccini, located at The Fort Strip, Bonifacio Global City, in Taguig, is one of the few places where diners can enjoy an authentic taste of Italian cuisine because the person that created the brand—and the food—is a true-blooded Italian, Ettore Rossi. Rossi arrived in the Philippines more than 30 years ago and made it his new home. There were times, however, when he longed for his homeland because it was difficult to find restaurants that served authentic Italian food. So, in 2004, he decided to put up his own restaurant that specialized in just that—true Italian cuisine—and called it Caffe Puccini, naming it after the famous Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. To turn the restaurant into a little piece of Italian heaven in the metro, he had the place, including its interiors, patterned after Italian architectural design. He also had Puccini’s famous works, such as Tosca (1900) and Madame Butterfly (1904) made into murals on the wall.
The food, likewise, is as Italian as it can get, as it makes use of high quality Italian ingredients imported direct from Italy and the chefs prepare each dish the traditional Italian way. This also means that the pasta and the breads are made from scratch—no shortcuts.
The extensive menu covers everything from antipasti (appetizers), insalata (salads) and zuppe (soups) to pasta, risotto, pizza, panizza, bruschetta, panini and calzone to secondi (mains) of pesce (fish), pollo (poultry), agnello (lamb), manzo (beef) and vitello (veal) and dolce (desserts).
For those dining in groups, an order of Antipasto al Italiana (Php970) should be a good way to start an authentic Italian meal because it is a platter of assorted Italian cold cuts with black olives, tomatoes, artichokes, anchovy and cheeses. Pair this with light and airy Gnocco Fritto with Parma Ham (Php360), a special bread topped with thin slices of Parma ham that puffs up when cooked. You can also opt to keep your taste buds focused on thin slices of a special Parma ham from Friuli, Italy, with the San Daniele Platter (Php600 per 100 grams).
Follow through with a salad choice of Caprese (Php395), which is a salad of tomato and mozzarella cheese slices with basil and oregano; Insalata di Capra (Php375), which is salad greens with tomato, stringbeans, goat cheese, roasted red onion, mushrooms and Parmesan shavings; or Insalata Rucola Mango (Php365), which combines arugula and Lollo Rosso lettuce with mango, pepper, cinnamon, Parmesan cheese and balsamic vinegar.
Dining like a true Italian, the pasta or risotto course should come next, and the best choices are Ravioli Lobster (Php445), black ravioli stuffed with lobster and ricotta cheese and served with tomato sauce; Spaghetti Truffle and Parma (Php485), black truffle, butter, olive oil, mushroom bits, Parmesan cheese and Parma ham; and Risotto Spinachi Gamberetti (Php435), Italian rice with shrimps, spinach and Mascarpone cheese. The risotto at Caffe Puccini is cooked to perfect al dente, which is a cross between the “rare” al dente that Italians prefer and the “done” al dente that Filipinos would enjoy more.
For the main meal, it really is a tough choice because a lot of dishes come highly recommended. One is the Osso Buco (Php1,350), which is veal shank braised in white wine with vegetables—carrots, French beans, broccoli and cauliflower florets—and served in a ring of risotto Milanese. The veal shank is so tender and flavorful and goes perfectly with the risotto. Another good choice would be Stinco Brasato (Php1,295), a whole lamb shank braised to flavorful perfection, served on a bed of mashed potato with spinach and julienned carrots. For those who prefer beef, Chianina (Php375 per 100 grams) should be the perfect choice. It’s a huge 1.2 to 2kg. special steak from Florence, Italy, that has very tender and tasty meat and is perfect for sharing because the 1.2kg. steak is already good for three to four persons. It is cooked for an average of 22 minutes for medium to medium well doneness and is served with fried potato wedges and cherry tomatoes.
Finally, for dessert, Caffe Puccini offers Cassata (Php260), which is sabayon, chocolate and cream semifreddo ice cream and candied fruits served with whipped cream; and introduces the dome-shaped Tartufo in three exciting variants—Tartufo Classico (Php250), sabayon semifreddo ice cream and chocolate ice cream coated with crushed hazelnuts and cocoa; Tartufo Caffe (Php225), coffee semifreddo ice cream with a liquid coffee core, coated with crushed meringue; and Tartufo al Limoncello (Php250), lemon semifreddo ice cream with a liquid limoncello core, coated with crushed meringue.
(Caffe Puccini is located at Unit 12, The Fort Strip, 28th St., Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City; with telephone number 816-3055.)
