SHARED MEAL: We were served the family style Italian meal, which has dishes from the north, south and central regions of the country. The shared meal consists of multiple courses brought out in dishes and platters.
Dining with a large group at a restaurant can be an unwieldy experience. But the family-style set menu of Lucca Restaurant at Nairobi’s Villa Rosa Kempinski Hotel turned out be an easy-going affair.
We sat at a table on the balcony of Lucca, which overlooks the busy Chiromo Road through glass walls. Yet the noise of late evening traffic did not drown out our lively conversation.
Our candlelit table already had a basket of assorted breads to nibble on when we got there.
Instead of butter there was a spread of sun-dried tomatoes and green olives, pureed and piped into the butter bowls.
We were served the family style Italian meal, which has dishes from the north, south and central regions of the country.
The shared meal consists of multiple courses brought out in dishes and platters from which everyone serves themselves, and costs Ksh3,800 ($38) per person.
Soon after, the first starters were served—bruschetta bread topped with tomatoes, mushrooms and grilled vegetables. This was followed by large bowls of mixed salad greens tossed in a mild vegetable and lemon dressing.
The wooden antipasto platters had thin slices of cold ham, salami, prosciutto and cheese, accompanied by olives and pickled bell peppers.
Naturally there were slices of freshly-baked pizza cooked in the Napoli style of southern Italy. Neapolitan pizza typically has a thin crust and fluffy edges, while the toppings are simple and fresh.
"We make the dough the day before so it has less yeast and is easier on the digestion," said Lucca’s head chef Carmine de Fillipo. The long proving of the dough is also better for making thin crust pizzas.
The appetisers were rounded off with breaded rice balls filled with peas, Parmesan cheese and beef Bolognese sauce. The rice balls are substantial enough to make meal on their own.
Moving onto the main course, a grilled salmon fillet marinated in lemon was the first to arrive; it was cooked just right.
I don’t usually like chicken breast as the lean meat often gets too dry. But the Lucca chicken breast was surprisingly tender and moist, and was accompanied with a creamy puttanesca sauce of anchovies, olives and capers.
The thyme added a wonderful peppery taste to the grilled tenderloin steaks. A delectable dish of seafood risotto was filled with calamari, clams, cod fish and tomato concasse sauce.
For the vegetarian option, there was a dish of homemade ravioli pasta stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach, with a sage-butter sauce. It was soft and buttery in the mouth.
The wait staff were quick with service and employed the right etiquette for serving and clearing the tables.
Chief sommelier Silas Ndungu recommended the wines to pair with each course. We started off with a Tomassi Soavo Classico, a refreshing white wine with a crisp, dry taste that is ideal for appetisers and salads.
He recommended Valpolicella Superiore, a red wine from northern Italy that has a smooth and medium body flavour. He brought out the red wine quite early in the meal because of the assorted meats in the antipasto.
For dessert, we had freshly sliced fruit and miniature assorted pastries. And there was tiramisu.
There were also balls of strawberry mousse and small slices of cake drizzled in fruit coulis sauces. My favourite was the berry-topped cheesecake, which was soft and creamy. For this course, Ndungu served a Portuguese Muscatel, a sweet dessert wine.
A quote inside the menu read: “Tutto comincia del buon cibo,” (everything starts with good food.) Certainly our evening ended well because of the many tasty dishes.
