Casa Grugno
info@casagrugno.it
- Carpaccio de mero con camarones de red
- Tortelli con berenjena y ricotta gratinada
In the very touristic, beautiful town of Taormina, with its impressive panorama of the Mediterranean – albeit overrun and exploited with a depersonalized ambience of pure, hard business – this solid, cosmopolitan restaurant is hidden. To the town and, certainly, to the clientele, chef Andreas Zangerl, Austrian by birth and forged in kitchens from all over the world, is anything but a stranger. His training, character and taste make him a loyal advocate of Central European cuisine with a markedly French influence. His erudite, technical and refined style is what distinguishes him. That academic, methodical identity that characterizes Germans, Austrians and Belgians, combined with Italian recipes captures the meticulousness one might expect. Thus, the gnocchi with mollusks, ricotta cream and walnuts are delicious and very true to their Italian roots. The same can be said for another legendary formula here: the tortelli, stuffed with eggplant and ricotta, lightly infused with pesto over a rich tomato sauce is simply quintessential. This is again confirmed by the macaroni with suckling pig ragout and the tagliatelle with tomato and rosemary, as well as the crustaceans and fish.
Among the international dishes, the cream of potato and leek with wild fennel and smoked eel is beautiful and feisty in so much as it conveys a hot sharpness. The lobster terrine is impeccable, with vegetables – peppers, zucchini, tomato, etc. – thickened with a clear, subtle gelatin. The prawns in a crispy bed of pasta with tart fruit sauce, or the squid with a mousse of new potatoes and garden vegetables reaffirm the savoir-faire of the chef that demonstrates his unquestionably professionalism at every turn.
The honey-caramelized saddle of suckling pig with red chicory, the breaded lamb chop with olive oil-potatoes and pumpkin and the rack of beef with Pantelleria capers all testify to the painstaking selection of genres and the almost scientific preparation that take place here. The quail, juicy, succulent, caramelized, lacquered, with its egg and bacon, simply could not be more precise.
The desserts follow suit: the apple strudel with iced-blended red berries is very gratifying.
In summary, a refined establishment in which consistency stands out.