Another day, another outing ticking off my list of Michelin stars, and today this takes me to a restaurant called Materia. (It has one star.) Well, where do I start with this one! Firstly, the dining room to be frank was not nice at all, imagine that you have just moved into a new home with no furniture, the walls a murky shade of beige and you discover that your walk-in wardrobe needs a serious update, it hasn’t been changed in years. As I looked around the room this is exactly the vibe here. I am not denying that there are challenges opening a restaurant, but please make it nice for us to sit in at the very least. My solo lunch was a dreary one, I couldn’t imagine putting up with this for a dinner. More needs to be done.
As always, the food reigns supreme, but the whole concept and ideas were not working. The chef was experimenting yet forgetting that the basics exist for a reason, you can’t start playing with the sous vide machine until you know how to cook a piece of fish properly in a normal pan. (Just what I think) And even so, style over substance has no place in my culinary repertoire. Trying to be brave and daring to put unusual flavour combinations together doesn’t mean you are delivering quality dishes and doing something amazing that you should just forget about everything else. And when on top of this it doesn’t taste nice, we are in trouble. Technique is there to learn for a reason. It is the very backbone of cookery and should come before all else. Chef unfortunately missed the mark here, some brushing and polishing up of the basics and reaching a higher standard in the cookery is mandatory first, if they want to survive and thrive in such a competitive world. I am not saying that the chef can’t cook, there was some technique, but I found his flavour pairings extremely off. They need to go back to the drawing board.
I found the food to be one of the weakest for Italy, for a one star, I would not award it. I don’t like to say this, but the truth needs to be said as I look out for other fellow diners parting with their hard-earned cash and precious time. The Michelin Guide has some explaining to do… And so do the others protecting this establishment in one way or another.
The waiter told me to eat the snacks from right to left, which I did, but I found the first one extremely strong, bitter, and unpleasant on the palate and this was lingering for a good five minutes. The next one was totally lost because of this, which made no sense to eat in this order. The last was the best out of the bunch, not bad, but not good either. The bread and butter were the best things on the table today, Italy never lets you down with that.
So here we go with the first starter of teriyaki mackerel, oyster emulsion and pickles. I found it a little bit outdated, basic, but not in a good old school kind of way. I wasn’t jumping from my chair with joy I’m sorry to say. I suddenly felt that my journey here had been pointless as I stared again around the room at the bare prison like walls. This might be a case of you win some, you lose some. This one was definitely ‘lost.’
The main course of pike perch from Como Lake, fennel variation, and bergamot, this was a whopping 43 euros… Had I gone mad? This dish eerily resembled the exact same one I had at Kitchen yesterday. Who copied who? The sauce was almost the same. I felt like I was sat there just for the sake of eating, and this is not a nice feeling, going through the motions and thinking, please hurry up and get me out of here fast… “Should I order another lunch elsewhere”? I said to myself. I knew I was going to be unsatisfied today. The fennel I found uninspired, and the fish was under, at this point I just couldn’t be bothered, pushing the food to the side, I didn’t finish the dish.
“Would you like a dessert menu?” The waiter cheerily asked. “I will take a look, but I can’t promise anything” I joked. I took a brief glance but judging by the trend of my meal the answer was a big fat no. Then the petit fours came out and I took a tea to cleanse my mind of this disappointment, and even these I found to be missing the mark, technically and taste wise. I had given up with this place and wanted to leave. The waiter ordered me a taxi and I gladly left.
