“Filippo is a creative, thoughtful person. I am the owner and chef of the Mater restaurant. I love these places, which are also rich in silences, great silences.”
Today we meet Filippo Baroni and Marta Bidi, respectively chef and front-of-house manager of the Mater Restaurant in Moggiona Arezzo, in the heart of the Casentino Forest National Park. A restaurant that interprets the heritage of an ancient land, offering a unique multi-sensory experience that revolves around nature.
The cuisine at the Mater is based on three aspects: first, the naturalistic aspect, in other words the desire is to use ingredients that come directly from the surrounding forest such as mosses, lichens, mushrooms and game; secondly, the cultural aspect, given that the forest where the restaurant is located holds 1000 years of history and was created by the Camaldolese monks in 1012; and thirdly, of course, the aspect of culinary traditions, with recipes from the monks’ past, rediscovered and reinterpreted to breathe new life into them.
Chef Baroni proposes a surprising dish to pair with Berlucchi Cuvée JRE n°6, the Franciacorta wine created by Berlucchi specifically for the chefs of the JRE association, to which he belongs.
His famous dish La Risina. Risina as an ingredient is made from broken grains of rice, considered waste because they no longer have the typical elongated shape of the grain, making them difficult to trade. In former centuries, they were even given as gifts to the monks. The chef’s idea is precisely to reclaim this simple and undervalued ingredient and give it new value, creating a dish that is tied to tradition but rediscovered from a modern perspective. The result is a dish in which the rice, cooked with water, is mixed with butter made with burnt lemon, along with fermented pine nuts and pine cone oil.
A perfect match with Berlucchi Cuvée JRE No. 6, a 2009 vintage Franciacorta Riserva, 100% Chardonnay with more than 10 years of ageing on the lees. The fine and persistent bubbles, as well as the characteristic creaminess of our Cuvée go perfectly with a dish that sings of the forest.
In the Chef’s words:
The accompanying song: “London Calling” by The Clash – A great punk classic, which sort of reflects the soul of our brigade behind the scenes.
My #Berlucchimoments is the moment we share together as a brigade after we finish serving, especially on a Monday evening, when the following day is closing day. Together we indulge in a glass of bubbly, reviewing the week behind us and above all relaxing together.