Let there be LUCE!

Tripping the light Italian culinary fantastic on Sathorn

LUCE — Italian for “light” — with the ‘e’ pronounced ‘é’ as in café — Italian Restaurant at 14 fl., Eastin Grand Hotel Sathorn Bangkok (Surasak BTS) is wellnamed in many ways.

Sunrays stream through its floor-to-ceiling window wall scoping the hotel’s vertiginous infinity-edge pool and the concrete canyons of river-end Sathorn, admired amid tasteful gold and wood tones complemented with modern Italian furnishings.

As only the world’s 4th LUCE, and the first in Asia, it shares a mission “to shed new light” on cuisine from Liguria to Umbria and Toscana to Veneto.

And in implementing that mission, its head chefs endeavour to make ‘lite’ of the carbs behind the big, familiar flavours of Italian cuisine, thus placing less strain on diners’ arteries and waistbands.

That LUCE Bangkok pulls it off with a flourish is confirmation of the all-hailed Michelin Guide’s assessment that at least one LUCE (Italy, Russia and the USA in addition to here), is currently worthy of its influential stars. And in Livorno, Tuscany, native Chef de Cuisine Edoardo Bonavolta, previously of the legendary Bed Supperclub, the concept found its ideal exponent.

“As people pay more attention to their health they desire dishes both healthy and delicious,” is how he summarises the ethos.

Also key to the experience is the close marriage between the cuisine and fine wines from the fabled cellars of the Marchesi de Frescobaldi family in Tuscany, originators of the whole LUCE phenomenon.

Whatever. Since opening its doors four years ago LUCE at the Eastin Grand Hotel Sathorn Bangkok has grown an outsize reputation for cooking some of the most indulgent — and least incapacitating — Italian fare in the city.

And now it’s time for it to present its exciting new dishes.

A new pizza — “The Eastin Grande” (420) — seamlessly blends prosciutto, artichokes, semi-dried tomatoes, avocado, spinach, mozzarella and feta cheese, the meanwhile embracing five essential nutrients. The unique combinations in Pad Krapaow Gai Pizza (380) bring a perfect mix of subtle Italian and spicy Thai flavours for those who like a kick to their slice.

For lovers of Italian sausage, Calzone Boscaiolo Pizza (420), with porcini, mascarpone, mozzarella and white truffle oil is recommended. Other health-conscious diners and vegetarians will resonate with flavoursome Vegetarian Calzone with chargrilled eggplant, mozzarella, ricotta cheese, semi-dried tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Risotto Pomodorini with Burrata (490) is an uncommon variation on a dish normally encountered with a pasta base. Built up from vegetable stock, the overall impact is as cheesy as it should be but still refreshing thanks to liberal cherry tomato, Parmesan-infused basil pesto and buratta, imported despite local availability for its special firmness and flavour.

Risotto lovers will also appreciate Frutti di Mare (440) packed with tiger prawns, clams, squid and zucchini.

Also new is Pici “Cacio e Pepe” (380) where the “pici” pasta looks like thick spaghetti but is a northern Tuscan type made without eggs using flour and semolina and rolled by hand. The authentic way to prepare this dish chimes with the modern preference for healthiness even without tweaking. The dish dismisses ladles of sauce by sautéing the pasta with grated Pecorino and Parmesan and very good extra-virgine olive oil, so that it clings to the pasta like seasoning –as sumptuous as sauce without the heaviness.

The restaurant’s consistently biggest hits include its plump cuts of beef and lamb, so that smaller portions stay juicy in the

middle, as well as its homemade pastas. The latter is again particularly evident in a dish that, by contrast, has been on the menu forever: Ravioli Carbonara/Crispy Pancetta (480). The velvety raviolis are stuffed with bacon and Grand Padano. Finished with an egg yolk you mix in yourself, it’s another definitively cheesy-creamy-al dente hit that won’t send you to sleep soon afterwards.

Onto the mains. Chicken Roll “Cacciatora” (540) refers to a way of cooking meat with tomato sauce, here seasoned with rosemary. The chicken is sous-vide cooked and pan-seared before serving. In a break with tradition, it’s rolled with capsicum and smoked Scamorza cheese, like aged mozzarella, for creaminess. Superfood quinoa on the side replaces the usual bread.

LUCE’s current desserts line-up includes “3 Mini Sweet Shots” (300), so you can visit tiramisu, panna cotta and mango passion in one. Or just the tiramisu (280), elegantly served in a martini glass with raspberry and white chocolate, alongside very good mascarpone, Marsala, Kahlua and Italian roast espresso, should do. Panna cotta (280) is all about an artistic arrangement of first-class Madagascan vanilla with firm raspberries. But Chocolate and Pistachio Delight (290) takes the biscuit with its chocolate mousse, green pistachio and almond tinged ice cream.