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Page 166 Brescia, Italy’s gastronomical gem Page 178 Neil Perry noodles around Page 180 The wine rules you need to know Quisine. Page 172 Licensed to thrill Bar, restaurant or both? Venues such as Melbourne’s Le Bon Ton are getting the mix just right. September 2015 | QANTAS 165 Quisine. 166 QANTAS | September 2015 Wild mushroom risotto, a seasonal dish served in the restaurant of the grand Hotel Vittoria; Via Beccaria (left), which leads to the centuries-old Piazza Paolo VI, one of Brescia’s central squares I’M LEANING against the are full of artisan produce – well-worn marble counter of cheeses, smallgoods and Garda’s an old-school tavern, the kind prized olive oil – as well as the of place with vaulted ceilings, acclaimed sparkling wines of wooden beams and checkered the Franciacorta DOCG (regional tablecloths where elderly men quality assurance designation). while away the afternoon “The region runs for 150 playing cards over a carafe of kilometres from north to south,” local wine. Across the counter, says chef Gianmario Portesani. a wiry barman is pouring a pirlo, “There are so many food the traditional pre-lunch tipple infuences.” His tasting menu at in the northern Italian city of the prestigious Hotel Vittoria (20 Brescia. It’s a practised slosh of Via X Giornate; hotelvittoria.com) white wine from a two-litre is a case in point: delicate lake bottle, a splash of Campari and fsh, grilled local sausage over a spray from the soda siphon. artisan polenta and the ravioli- “It’s like a spritz,” I say, referring like flled pasta known as to the ubiquitously fashionable casoncelli (casoncei in dialect). orange-red version made with VIVA Like many Italian cities, Aperol – sweeter and lower Brescia’s food traditions are in alcohol than Campari. The APERITIVO! anchored in a rustic past. Just barman fxes me with a stare. outside the centre, its weekly “None of that ‘spritz’ stuf here,” From pirlo and pasta to prosciutto farmers’ market (Wednesdays, he intones. “If you want one of and pastries, the food of Brescia rivals Via Crocifssa di Rosa; those, you’d better go elsewhere that of Italy’s most famed destinations. terrebresciane.it) abounds – Milan, maybe.” Ouch. Honorary local Joanna Savill eats with fresh produce, including Just an hour east of Milan and drinks her way around this an organic section. Although and another hour west of deliciously surprising city. better for cheap cotton T-shirts Verona, Brescia sufers from and underwear, the more something of a poor-cousin downscale Saturday market syndrome. But poor it’s not. This (around Piazza della Loggia, the is a post-industrial powerhouse main square) ofers rows of local at the foot of the Alps, best smallgoods and famed alpine known for heavy industry and, cheeses, some simply described somewhat grimly, successful I found it a strange place: to neighbouring Verona. “This as “nostrano” (homegrown). manufacturers such as the wealthy but a little dour, with whole place is just waiting to And who can resist the stall with Beretta frearms factory. a reserved northern-ness that, be explored.” the sign saying, “We have the The Romans, who established once cracked, reveals classic Not only is the Brescia region best-looking customers” (solo their frst northern colony Italian generosity, humour and home to some of Italy’s most noi abbiamo i clienti più belli)? here in 27BC, called it Brixia. warmth. And, yes, Brescia has scenic lakes and mountains, For full immersion into the I’ve been coming here for a bit of a complex. “We don’t as manufacturing declines it’s homegrown, venture beyond the many years, since meeting have a Romeo and Juliet,” also starting to play to other centre to Borgo Trento, a historic Giuliano, the Brescian who says local guidebook editor strengths. The hills and valleys village now swallowed up by is now my husband. At frst Adonella Palladino, referring around lakes Garda and Iseo the city suburbs. Raoul Porteri September 2015 | QANTAS 167 Quisine. is the fourth-generation owner of Borgo Trento’s 140-year-old wine store and delicatessen, Salumeria Gastronomia Porteri (52 Via Trento; trattoriaporteri. it). The low-ceilinged shop is crammed with local cheeses, cotechino (rich pork sausage) and carefully cured prosciutto and salami – “not too aged, medium cut, not too fatty”, he dictates, cutting a slice for me to try. A dark cellar restaurant is hung with fags, memorabilia and tributes to yesteryear. “My father died 40 years ago,” says Porteri, “but I know he’s still around here somewhere.” By contrast, nearby Pasticceria (Clockwise from top) Veneto is a gleaming, almost Locally cured meats blandly modern, pastry shop hang in the cellar of and café (8 Via Salvo D’Acquisto; Osteria al Bianchi; iginiomassari.it). Chatting with Brescia from above; owner Iginio Massari, it soon Lombard-era San becomes clear – as children and Salvatore’s church their parents clamour for selfes in the Santa Giulia with “the Maestro” – that he is museum complex quite a star. Acclaimed as one osteriaalbianchi.it), another of Europe’s great pastry chefs, local landmark dating back to he has presided over everything the late 1800s. Sipping my from serious competitions to (rather potent) aperitivo at the baking challenges on MasterChef bar, I graze on tiny meatballs – Italia. He once made a cake for the customary with-pirlo snack. David Bowie. Just saying. Inside, lunch starts with fat, “People want to see tradition buttery spinach and breadcrumb blossoming again,” he explains. balls (like giant gnocchi) or Apart from a lavish array of casoncelli – both with butter and fancy cakes, Massari has sage. Main course is salt cod or reworked Brescian specialties fettine di cavallo marinate: slices such as persicata (sugar-coated of horsemeat cooked in red wine. peach jellies) and bossolà, a ring- It’s another local delicacy and shaped yeast cake. At Christmas, – don’t hate me – delicious. customers fock there for his Afternoons here, as in any panettone. “We sell around 800 Italian town or city, are sleepy, a day in the season,” he says, empty-street afairs. If not at Al with no hint of false modesty. Bianchi, well-dressed Brescians From beside the cash register, he might linger over meat-flled pulls out a drawer crowded with casoncelli and snails – or maybe gold medals – 54 at last count. just antipasti, local cheeses and In keeping with Italian cured meats – at the sweetly breakfast tradition, I’m served cave-like Osteria la Grotta a cappuccino and brioche. (10 Vicolo del Prezzemolo; The pastry is Massari’s famous osterialagrotta.it). An artier veneziana, an airy crumbed crowd opts for pasta, salads bun with a light but luxurious and burgers with a craft beer custard. The secret, I’m told, or next-gen local wine, at is 12,000 rotations a minute Bar Torre d’Ercole, in a tiny in a special machine. piazza under a medieval tower After breakfast, it’s back to (29b Via Carlo Cattaneo). the city centre for that pre-lunch Brescia is full of pretty pirlo. The tavern is Osteria al corners. The Romans, Bianchi (32 Via Gasparo da Salò; Lombards, Venetians and, September 2015 | QANTAS 169 Quisine. La dolce vita: Award-winning gelateria Bedussi (right); the stone exterior of chic eatery, Nineteen and all the labels along Via But do leave room for one Mazzini, Via Gramsci and Corso more Italian ritual. Here, this Palestro, as well as smaller, dedicated ice-cream eater quirkier one-ofs along the side confesses, Brescia truly excels. streets. By 7pm it’s aperitivo Some of Italy’s best gelato can time: a high point of the day. be found at the ultra-modern and Join the throngs at Dolcevite painstakingly artisanal Bedussi (Piazza Paolo VI), Cafè del (113 Via Crocifssa di Rosa; Teatro Grande (9a Corso bedussi.it), winner of Gambero Zanardelli), Arnold’s (2 Via Rosso’s 2015 café of the year. Arnaldo da Brescia) or anywhere So spoiled are the Brescians for in the lively Carmine area, choice that the city divides along around Contrada del Carmine. gelateria lines. “It’s worse than There’s also Lanzani Bottega & football teams,” says one local. I’ll Bistrot (41 Via Albertano da sit on the fence and recommend Brescia; gastronomialanzani.it), Bedussi; Bedont (18b Via Trento later, Mussolini’s Fascists all a smart bistro/deli on the way or 20a Via dei Musei); Ribera left their mark. Centuries out of town that was awarded (64g Via XX Settembre; of contrasting architecture Aperitivo of the Year in 2012 gelateriaribera.it); and Gelateria intertwine in a string of central and, this year, “three bottles” by del Biondo (115 Via Vittorio squares – Loggia, Vittoria and the prestigious Gambero Rosso Emanuele II; gelateriadelbiondo. Paolo VI – and twisting alleys. FLIGHT PATH food and wine guide. The it), which is famous for its On the higher side of town, the mandatory bollicine (bubbles chocolate-coated ice-cream bars. evocative Via dei Musei leads to from Franciacorta) come with All that’s left to do before the beautifully restored Roman LIN complimentary snacks, such bed, in true Brescian (and Capitolium and World Heritage- as beef tartare with artichokes Italian) tradition, is plan where listed Santa Giulia Museum or crumbed cod nuggets. to go for breakfast. That bakery (bresciamusei.com). You can Qantas and partner airlines Dinner might be at the on Via dei Musei, perhaps... even explore the ancient offer flights to Milan from tranquil Osteria del Savio (1 Via waterways that still fow beneath Australia. qantas.com Giovanni Piamarta; osteria- the city centre, where four mills delsavio.com), the wine-centric and tanneries once operated Osteria i Capitelli (92 Via Fabio (bresciaunderground.com).

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