The quality of the ingredients and the enhancement of the products from Western Liguria are the starting point of my cuisine since I started my own restaurant.
The fish preferably comes from the local catch, where the unique Sanremo Red Prawn is the main speciality that I propose it in most of my dishes and particularly in my version of raw fish, that exploits the Mediterranean flavours.
The vegetables are the most important product of the local cuisine, just to mention a few: the “trombette” courgettes –a variety of zucchini typical of Western Liguria, the artichokes, the beefsteak tomatoes, the basil, the Pigna white beans.
All the produce that we use in our cuisine, comes from our farm San Sebastiano, that has two different cultivation areas: one by the sea in Ospedaletti, a small town near Sanremo, and one in the mountain in Castelvittorio, in the Maritime Alps above Sanremo, where we also have the olive grove and the vineyard.
For me, bread plays a very important role in the meal.
Along with the Ligurian focaccia and the sardenaira (the Sanremo “pizza” with anchovies, olives, and tomato sauce) that I prepare following the traditional recipes and serve with the aperitif, I daily bake several different varieties of bread like the tiny panini with the taggiasca olives (the local small black variety), the loaf and the grissini with extra virgin olive oil.
I strictly use a 10-years old natural yeast and the flours of ancient grains selected by Janas, a small producer in the Umbria region, in the heart of Italy, that are stone milled and absolutely organic.
As the morphology of our region is not suitable for the extensive cattle-farming, I get the meat from my favourite butcher who personally selects and slaughters the beef of the Piedmont breeds like the Fassona and the fat ox, all bred with natural feed.
Our cheese selection includes some rare local products like the Brigasca ewe’s ricotta and goat’s cheeses produced by a small farm in the Maritime Alps above Imperia; the Montèbore, a typical Ligurian cheese, and the Castelmagno from the adjacent Piedmont.
My contemporary Ligurian cuisine originates from these exceptional local products.
Paolo Masieri
Cuoco Contadino
Consistent with my husband’s cuisine, in the wine list I favour the natural wines of different areas of Italy and France, produced by wine makers who enhance the territory with their work. I propose these wines also by the glass pairing the dishes of the menu.
For the classic tastes, we also have the great wines of the world’s most renown wine makers.
Barbara Masieri
