A restaurant and a museum in Bergamo

I have been complaining about the lack of good things of all sorts in Bergamo.  I found a restaurant wandering in the area after going to the Accademia Carrara.  The Accademia Carrara is a museum focusing on artists that visited or lived in Bergamo from the Renaissance through the 19th century.

Gerbrandt van den Eeckhout, 1659, self-portrait

It sounds pretty restrictive, but means that you'll see good to great artists that are not normally seen in musea (or museums, depending on your Latin).  There are some that look like a Dutch master, like the self-portrait of van den Eeckhout that looks vaguely like a Rembrandt.

Or another that looks like a Frans Hals (something about the angle of that light...).

Matthias Stomer, 1640-1650?, Man with lighted Candle and Wine Carafe

But then there are some like this one, as poignant as any...

Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo, 1889, Memory of Sorrow (Portrait of Santina Negri)

And at least one that is somewhat intriguing...

Piccio (Giovanni Carnovali), 1849 circa, Portrait of Countess Anastasia Spini

Is it the countess or the count?  Only a dresser know for sure!

Anyway, this post is also about a restaurant, in addition to the pictures in an exhibition.  The restaurant is Lio Pellegrini, and it's within walking distance of my Airbnb stay.  When I got there, I found that they had a white truffle menu!  So, of course!  Here's a collage of pictures...



So as you can see, the menu tartufo bianco consists of four courses and coffee.

1. Parisian egg (like a fried egg) in butter with tartufo bianco
2. Tagliolini (like Piemontese tajarin) with butter, sage, and tartufo bianco
3. Valdostana (in this case, a thin slice of goat from the Valdostana region of Valle d'Aosta) with prosciutto di Parma, mushrooms, and tartufo bianco
4. Gelato, chestnut cream, with chocolate sauce, and, yes, tartufo bianco

Of course, this all started with an amuse bouche, not on the menu, of beef carpaccio with tartufo bianco...

 

I think putting tartufo bianco on gelato is pretty much over-the-top.  But hey!  So here's what it looked like (except the gelato, which I ate before I remembered to take a picture--if you want a picture of an empty glass, I have that :-).  And finally the wine.  Ah!  Il vino! A Falletto, 2003, Barbaresco, made by the famous vintner Bruno Giacosa.  This wine was amazing, and it went extremely well with all the dishes on the menu.

When I arrived at 8:00pm, I was the only person in the restaurant, and it remained that way until around 9:00pm.  I had made a reservation via email, in Italian (I didn't want to trust my Italian on the phone--I often know enough to say what I need to, but am challenged trying to understand their responses).  I had asked if Lio Pellegrini was related to Seattle's Angelo Pellegrini, who was an author of several books on the art of living and eating well (in the Italian style).

Signore Pellegrini was the host at his eponymous restaurant.  He informed me (with a sparkle in his eye) that, unfortunately, he was not related to Signor Angelo Pellegrini.  Later, he came to discuss the wine selection.  I had already settled on two that would be appropriate and wanted his opinion (the other was Gaja Barbaresco, but much younger).  I don't think he was expecting that someone might know that the dishes were Piemontese and should pair with Piemontese wine.  He agreed that my selections were appropriate and waxed eloquent about the Falletto.  I asked if the fruit had diminished with age, and he argued it was still quite delicious, even as some of the secondary and tertiary flavors come through.  After that, I think I got extra tartufo bianco on all the dishes (yum!).

A couple came in mid-way through my dinner.  She was dressed appropriately; he had on ripped jeans, a t-shirt, and wore his baseball cap through the whole of dinner (which somehow took much less time than mine).  It sort of felt like Seattle.

So in the end I had one fabulous meal and found a remarkable bottle of wine. Bergamo wasn't the loss I was thinking it to be.