Jacopo Romagnoli’s lobster

With a brigade of cheerful, talented cooks at his side, chef Jacopo Romagnoli seems to be letting go of the gustatory bridles in favor of a cuisine to marvel at and identify with. The creative metronome intensifies, unleashing new ideas and associations. Continuing his entrepreneurial journey alongside front-of-house tandem Tania Valenzuela Suárez and Louis Sauzay, the chef – recently joined by Tom Hutrel from Café de la Plage – dares to compose a menu rich in Franco-Italian suggestions.

During a playful tasting session in sharing mode, it’s hard not to succumb to the lobster served on a magnificent porcelain dish. The lobster is cooked whole between two grates – specially designed in the Basque country – which the chef turns regularly over the embers. Still burning, Jacopo Romagnoli brushes the shellfish with a mixture of white wine, oil, garlic and vinegar called “Agua de Lourdes”. He prepares thin slices of cecina de wagyu (dried rib-eye steak), which he places on each piece of lobster whose flesh is still translucent. To top it all off, the chef changes the sauce according to his inspiration. On our visit, we were treated to a crustacean jus deglazed with white wine and enhanced with a hint of smoked oil, butter, parsley and wild mushrooms. Divine, my epicureans!