Rome’s best carbonara comes to Manila
Though already considered to be among the most beloved restaurants in the country, a mano is not one to rest on their laurels.
Last year, they flew in the chefs from Pizza Massilia, considered the first gourmet and top pizzeria in Thailand, not only to teach them the tricks of the trade but also to host a pizza party. Two months ago, they collaborated with chef Bjorn Shen of Small’s from Singapore who showed them how to play around with pizza dough. And, just recently, they invited celebrated chef Luciano Monosilio, one of the youngest Italian chefs to be awarded a Michelin star, this time to enhance their pasta program.
Food hero
“We invited him because he is one of our Italian food heroes,” a mano owner Amado Forés says. “We asked him to help us improve our pasta dishes and he very generously did. We also wanted our guests to enjoy his famous carbonara and the other Roman classic dishes that made him famous.”
Amado and his mom, Cibo founder Margarita Forés, have long been following this man many call the “king of carbonara.” Back in 2016,
Amado visited Monosilio’s Ristorante Pipero Al Rex in Rome where he had Monosilio’s signature dish. Margarita, on the other hand, not only got to sample the same dish but also featured the prized pasta in her food and travel
show for a lifestyle channel.
In awe of Monosilio’s talent and congeniality, the Foréses asked if he would be game to come over for a couple of days. He agreed on a whim.
On Aug. 4, along with his sous chef Luca Medei and the formidable team at a mano in Bonifacio Global City, Monosilio prepared an eight-course menu, matched with selected wines from the Artisan Cellar Door as poured by Christopher Birt, for a sold-out dinner.
“I requested some of the signatures from his restaurant, as well as a dish inspired by his grandmother,” says Amado. “We wanted to highlight three different kinds of pasta, too—using semolina, egg and tipo 0 flour— as well as showcase different shapes.”
La Carbonara
The carb-loaded meal kicked off with a pasta lollipop. Small tubes of ridged pasta were bound together, crumbed and fried much like a fist-sized croquette, then laid on a pool of truffle bechamel.
It was followed by a tiny mound of chilled Karamiso beef tartare, simply seasoned with soy sauce, then adorned with cured egg yolk and hazelnuts, and glossed with olive oil.
And then the pastas came—a plate of pici cacio e pepe, long, thick Tuscan noodles with a
chewy texture bathed in cheese and pepper, and the tortellini Margherita, ricotta-filled egg pasta with three sauces: ricotta, spinach and pomodoro.
Stoking the anticipation of the Italian chef’s carbonara was his nonna’s roast lamb, sliced and glazed with a sauce then nestled on top of potatoes, along with a green salad.
By this time, the guests were already feeling like the tortellini, very much stuffed, but once the bowl of Monosilio’s La Carbonara came, appetites got all revved up once again and savored every bit of the luscious dish. His version uses egg yolks and a balanced combination of two cheeses, Grana Padano and Pecorino Romano.
Capping the meal were a Sicilian cannoli studded with chopped pistachios, and a reimagined tiramisu, which had a chocolate disc that had to be smashed by a spoon to get to the loose filling.
To the many guests, this writer included, not only were we schooled on pasta, but we got to indulge on it, too.
Amado Forés flies in ‘king of carbonara’ and Michelin-starred chef Luciano Monosilio to enhance a mano’s pasta program
a mano is at Lopez Drive, Power Plant Mall in Makati and One Bonifacio High Street, Taguig City. A third branch, in Araneta City, Gateway Mall, is soon to open.