Thursday 26 October the nikkei restaurant-cocktail bar in Turin Azotea will host the cocktail bar with Milanese cuisine – 416th bar in the world in the Top 500 Bars 2022 ranking – for Buonissima Torino, the five-day international event dedicated to food, art and beauty in which he already participated last year, in the company of the Milanese restaurant Gong.
The protagonist of the evening will be a six-course menu, created by chefs Alexander Robles (Azotea) and Paolo Bertin (Nik's & Co), respectively together with bar manager Matteo Fornaro (Azotea) and to bartender Veronica Spinelli (Nik's & Co), who will design small portion cocktails (sips) for the occasion to best accompany the dishes.
“Participating in Buonissima again is an enormous satisfaction for us. Like last year, we decided to host a company from Milan, which we have been following with interest for some time, because it is very similar to our idea of mixing” he has declared Matteo Fornaro. “Welcoming other chefs into my kitchen” Alexander Robles said “It's always an opportunity for growth. You taste new flavours, you become contaminated and you grow. Paolo will bring dishes that are the story of territories very distant from us, as Peru and Japan are for me. I believe that this parallelism is the common thread of the dinner and also the main ingredient to explain the harmony that was immediately created between us”.
“We welcomed Azotea's invitation to participate in Buonissima with great enthusiasm – declares Paolo Bertin – Our two realities have very different personalities, but also many similarities, which is why it will certainly be a stimulating exchange.
With the dishes I thought of for this evening I would like to take guests on a long journey through the ports of the Mediterranean thanks to delicious and creative combinations that bring to mind the country of reference.”
“The paired cocktails are layers designed ad hoc with Marco Garavaglia, bar manager of Nik's Co. Each of them has an element in common with the dishes offered. In mixology the declination of ingredients is often different than in cooking and this is the demonstration of how two creative worlds can work in tandem" he concluded Veronica Spinelli.
THE MENU OF THE EVENING
The dishes and cocktails of the tasting itinerary will travel on a single track: that of travel, and of the many flavors that characterize it, all over the world. If for Azotea this word rhymes with Peru and Japan, albeit with influences from all over the world, for Nik's & Co there are no borders, as demonstrated by the names chosen for the dishes.
We will start from Welcome of Azotea, a taste of the restaurant's specialties in tapas format: from the iconic acevichada oyster seasoned like a ceviche, with soy, lime, red Tropea onion and passion fruit, to the Japanese Katsu sando, a sandwich stuffed with breaded veal tongue, huacatay (Andean herb) mayonnaise and chipotle sauce, with smoked chili pepper. The match will be Nami, a fresh and light drink, based on sake and extra dry lavender vermouth, with homemade green tea liqueur, yuzu and celery leaf soda.
The first course by Nik's & Co will be Beirut, a revisitation of the typical Lebanese recipe of aubergines in oil with walnuts, cumin and the acidic note of vinegar to give freshness. It will be offered in combination Cholo, a cocktail with character, clarified with yogurt through a milk whashing: the vegetal notes of the dish will be recalled by the chilli and green pepper present in the drink.
Locro de zapallo it is a traditional Peruvian dish, based on overcooked pumpkin, huacatay (Andean mint), potatoes and primo sale. Chef Alexander Robles inserted the pumpkin inside a dumpling, and used the other ingredients of the original recipe in the seasoning, together with choclo corn, marinated red Tropea onions and blue lard. In combination, Matteo Fornaro prepared the sip Milk Boy with rye whiskey and an orange syrup, butter and muscovado sugar, flambéed with a Grand Marnier and "washed" with hot milk (milk washing), a process that serves to eliminate all the impurities, softens it and blends it on a flavor level, giving it a lactic acidity, perfect to accompany pumpkin.
Paolo Bertin will continue the journey with Tunis: amberjack marinated with cocoa and chickpea miso, harissa, the typical Tunisian sauce, and hummus enriched by miso. To close the dish, a South American chocolate-based sauce. In pairing the Mi-To Ni-Az (a parallel with Nik's & Co and Azotea): reinterpretation of the classic Milan-Turin, a rounded, very aromatic and enveloping cocktail. A perfect support for the spicy taste of Tunis also thanks to the return of cocoa in the glass.
The Fishing sweat is another traditional Peruvian dish, revised by chef Alexander Robles with the use of just one fish, Black Cod, marinated in miso and ginger, and then seasoned with salsa sudado, based on achiote, tomato, aji amarillo, chicha de jora, a fermented corn product, and coriander emulsion. In combination, Matteo Fornaro opted for Peru Sangria, a Spanish classic revisited with the use of Cocchi Dopo Teatro vermouth and chicha morada, a typical Peruvian drink made from purple corn cooked with spices, and in this case also chamomile flowers and vanilla, to recall the sensation of wine. The citrus flavors of the original recipe are in this case taken up by dry curaçao, an orange liqueur, and combined with those of raicilla, an artisanal agave distillate.
To close the menu, Athens, a dish born from Chef Paolo Bertin's desire to transform Tzaziki into a dessert. The dessert is characterized by freshness and lightness: black garlic and sugar gel, yogurt mousse, cucumber sorbet, pistachio dacquoise and a pinch of ginger.
It will be served in combination Angourì, a cocktail based on Gin Nik's (house-produced). The protagonist is the cucumber, in perfect pairing with the dish, to which a touch of green Chartreuse, apple and lime is added, to give the cocktail a green and crunchy note.
The menu will be served at a price of €65, with sips pairing at €40. For info and reservations, you can call 328 634 2213 or book through the Azotea website.
