JOIN CLUB MED

It’s usually chaotic when worlds collide, but Anthony Huckstep discovers a parallel universe where two cultures blend in harmony.

WHEN I WAS IN MY early twenties I took the Eurail from France to Italy via Spain as part of a European endeavour to enrich my exuberance for eating and bend the arm a bit too much. From pâté en

croûte, to paella and pappardelle, it was the perfect crash course in the cultural significance of food. And although I’d venture to France in a heartbeat, the latter two have tugged on my heartstrings since.

When I discovered Ormeggio, one of our finest Italian stallions, had handed over the reigns to Spanish head chef Victor Moya to deliver a convergence of Italian and Spanish with co-owner Alessandro Pavoni, I wasn’t convinced it would work.

Now, I don’t want to put the cart before the horse here, but Ormeggio’s Italian trip via Spain is an absolute triumph where different cultures combine, rather than clash. Not much has changed with Ormeggio’s fitout. Essentially a fishbowl on the D’Albora Marinas at The Spit, it’s surrounded by bobbing boats, gentle ripples of blue, and mansions jutting out from the lush green shoreline. It’s invitingly elegant and doesn’t demand you suit up in your Sunday best. Much like the food.

Spawned from a sense of the precise, it cleverly balances an alluring artfulness and big flavours that have you yearning for more. Parmigiano Reggiano chips and creamed manchego-filled iterations start things off, then polenta taco houses eggplant, red capsicum and creamy goat’s cheese ( escalivada).

A ramekin of romesco (capsicum) sauce partners confit pencil leek that’s flamelicked over charcoal, given a light batter and deep-fried. Leek may be my favourite vegetable, and I’m hard pressed to remember a better expression of its beauty. Jewels of ocean trout roe, dill and slivers of baby cucumber top sweet, creamy cubes of ocean trout tossed in tomato mayonnaise ‘ alla catalana’, while silky Skull Island tiger prawn wades in a spiced, peanut ajo blanco (traditionally almond) – discs of red grape add a refreshing element.

Then comes a mouthful to remember – Pavoni’s signature bottini (button pasta) with liquid aged Parmigiano Reggiano. Pop the whole thing in your mouth and let the cheese ooze around in rich revelry. We end with the sharp, sweet and savoury meeting of pimientos del piquillo and black garlic under a puck of slow-cooked wagyu that’s still pink on the inside and blackened by charcoal on its outer.

Ormeggio’s experiment of Italy via Spain is not overplayed. There are no elements, ingredients or techniques trying to impose themselves on others. Instead, it’s a harmonious merging of two cuisines that demand food be central to their very culture. It’s a trip worth taking, and one you’ll re-visit time and again.