Sharing is the word we have relearned also thanks to social media. Never before has the verb that has as its premise the sharing of something has been used so frequently, and from the virtual it has moved into the real world, changing our approach to things. Sharing today is considered more efficient and comfortable than owning. Bike sharing, car sharing and even food sharing have become a trend that ranges from mobility to work to the pleasure of a table with friends.
At the Mandarin Oriental on Lake Como have recently adopted this philosophy for the starred restaurant The Air, entrusting it to Massimiliano Blasone, an eclectic chef who traveled the world and then returned to Italy to lead first the Japanese Zuma in Rome and now the restaurant of the luxurious resort. Tireless worker and very jealous of his set of knives, which he considers the key tool in his kitchen, Blazon has created a menu with many tastings to order, typical Italian dishes with many influences, techniques and even oriental ingredients.
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He does not use dry pasta, he makes it at home, including macaroni which remain soft and porous (not overcooked, he is keen to specify) and season them with lobster, tomato with thyme and almond pesto, then the more exotic dishes arrive, such as teriyaki salmon and wagyu with black truffle mayonnaise.
Fish is the protagonist in Blasone’s cuisine, who knows the sea, and knows where to find the best. At the Chioggia market he buys moeche, crabs, cuttlefish and canestrelli. The crustaceans come from the Tyrrhenian Sea, but also mullets, prawns, shrimps, baby squid, eels almost always come from Italian ports. For sushi, on the other hand, Pacific fish is more suitable, where the waters are colder and the fish has fatter meats and is of the highest quality.
For the Japanese ingredients – wagyu and wasabi, for example, but also yuzu, bamboo and cedar leaves, sesame paste – he has a trusted supplier while the vegetables come from a farm in Lomazzo, in the Como area. Between tempura, raw, pasta, rabata, side dishes and desserts, there are over fifty courses. With the shared formula, many are ordered to spice things up a bit. Without the ritual of fine dining, the evening flies to that lush garden on Lake Como, in front of one of the most beautiful settings in the world.