Enrico Bartolini Al Mudec (*) Milan

Posted a few days ago but with a one word description ‘Flawless.’ Should have been a bit more detailed so new post.

Now maybe one word doesn’t really explain my experience but it’s as good a start as any. I thought the meal was flawless, not a bad bite, not a bad sip, and not a hitch in very warm service. Chef Enrico was in the house, came to say hello and was sweet as he said “I am in love with this food.” Suffice it to say, definitely felt the love.

We did the Mudec Experience for lunch on Nov 13th which lasted around 3.25 hours. We did their wine pairing as well which was fun, thoughtful and a great program to go with the meal.

We came in, sat down and were asked if we wanted a welcome drink, when we said yes our sommelier dealt 3 cards on the table which showed descriptions and pricing for different options on bubbles, then placed a 4th mystery card. We selected the fourth, and she brought out a wine bottle in basically a cozy/sock which obscured the label and we chatted as we sipped and she asked us to guess at what it might be. Was nice and stirred some conversation.

Welcome bites came out and you’ll see them pictured

1. Eggplant accompanied by scampi and caviar, finished with grapefruit juice.
2. Chickpea ball filled with snail and pepper.
3. King crab tacos with horseradish mayonnaise.
4. Onion chips with cherry and santolina inside.
5. Rochet consisting of Fassona beef tartare, foie gras and hazelnuts.

(I combined pic of rochet & onion chips to save room for the post but the rochet was presented in a beautiful black case and the onion chips came in a bed of Santolina)

All were fucking delicious. The eggplant was as wonderful a first bite as I’ve ever had. Velvet texture and just tremendous flavor. At any ** *** I’ve been I usually love the welcome the most. Probably little bit of extra enthusiasm on my part in the beginning and I like the small details and flavors.

The first course of bread was made with spelt flour, purple carrots and red seaweed, accompanied by French butter flavoured with citrus fruits. Just amazing visually and tremendously flavored.

From there into the Mains:

1. Broccoli, Truffle and Truffles. Clearly a little tongue in cheek going hard on the truffles. I wish I had snapped a pic before they shaved the truffles over top because it was really beautifully plated. Thought the use of the broccoli stem was killer, so full of flavor and a noble ingredient that maybe gets overlooked.

2. Marinated Pigeon breast with black currant, cauliflower ice cream and caviar. The pigeon had been marinated in honey and was a long contrast to the cool cauliflower ice cream, caviar and tart currants. Accompanied by a tart with pigeon prosciutto which was amazing. I found the image of a dried pigeon prosciutto leg amusing, but mainly delicious.

3. Seaweed Crusted Turbot, beetroot and sea snails. They brought this out in two parts first was kind of taco(ish) with the fish inside and was almost like a whitefish salad. Great texture and flavor. Then brought out the piece of fish with the snails on the side blanketed by beetroot. Beautiful presentation, impeccable fish of course and loved the snails as an accompaniment.

4. Sila Potato dumpling/gnocchi, prawn, nduja, and Avgotarago. This dish sticks in my mind. Beautiful colors, pork, potato, shrimp, bottarga finished with a beautiful creamy and bright sauce. Personally I love that combination of ingredients so I may say this was my favorite.

5. Spaghetti, burnt wheat, hare civet, chestnut and whiskey. This one may have been a close second…pasta boy reporting for duty. Rich and earthy and Smokey. Hard to say if I’ve ever had a finer twirl of spaghetti.

After this they brought out a second bread service. Made with wholemeal flour, star anise and fennel seeds, accompanied by a hemp and hazelnut emulsion topped with apple balsamic vinegar. The emulsion was absolutely insane. So good.

Believe it was also at this point (could’ve been a course later) they refreshed my napkin with a new one which was aromatic and smelled strongly of pepper. Was actually beautiful, relaxing and somehow not intrusive. Like a potpourri on my lap.

1. Duck, Hunchback and Miso, served in 3 parts. First was plated breast with kale, Brussels sprouts, hunchback/miso sauce with liver on the side. Followed by duck leg breaded and fried and some liberal gold leaf for show, a great bite. Finally a duck tortelli in broth that was the highlight of the course, unreal. With this series they also did a blind pairing, in an opaque glass which was ultimately a fine barolo, makes sense for Piedmontese wine with the hunchback bagna cauda. Definitely sparked some more conversation, and our sommelier continued to delight us with her knowledge and good spirits.

Pre-Dessert was a pumpkin… paste, jelly, blanket? I’m a little at a loss but like candy/pie filling over porcini mushrooms, topped with truffles. Big autumnal flavors and just delightful. Wish I had thought to take a picture after I actually dug into it. Almost laughably plain on the plate as it came out and the shaved truffles just kinda over top not especially dazzling visually but as you dug in it was like digging and foraging for mushrooms. Truffle pig simulator. Unexpectedly wonderful dish. Absolutely delicious.

1. Dessert was Banana served with ‘popcorn’ which they rolled out in a little popcorn cart like at the movies. The popcorn was frozen meringue and kind of stuck together with a kind of caramel. Was so light and tasty. Better than real caramel corn. The banana was tremendous and textured, layered, creamy, rich, cold and warm. It was one of the best desserts I have ever had. And just beautiful.

Mignardises:

1. Vanilla cream doughnut
2. A chocolate made with gianduja and nduja
3. Passionfruit Candy

We finished with a glass of Armagnac and a fantastic espresso. Finally a leisurely cigarette on their patio to bask a few minutes. We went down to the museum after to see the MC Escher exhibit which. Though it was unrelated to our meal, we were pretty mentally limber from the artistry of the meal (and the booze), so Escher’s beautifully precise, mathematical approach felt like a great complement to a flawless meal.

Was a great experience. I think as I’m getting to more *** locations I am gaining an appreciation for the effort it takes to do things flawlessly. Historically I have derided some places as “Food Church” when servers are more reserved and the atmosphere is so exacting but that’s kind of what it takes. The staff was good humored and we shared some laughs (especially after I scarpetta’d the shit out of every dish, I think they were equal parts flattered and amused). Just so specific and well executed. Beyond impressed and goddamn that potato dish, will haunt me forever.