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LOVERS of Italian food are in for treat with the arrival of an all-day eating establishment at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay specialising in the cuisine and its glorious combinations.
A popular poolside retreat during the daytime, the inside of Vento’s is transformed into a traditional trattoria at night capturing the essence of a less formal dining environment down to the checkered tablecloths to the wax-covered bottle candle-holders.
The look and feel of the place is perfect but would the food be as good or would the Szecowka family want to jump on a Vespa, like the one on the poster on the wall, and escape in a hurry? Not a chance, with Italian Sous Chef Francesco Cutino, and his team, conjuring up some Sicilian sensations in the open kitchen with a specially-devised menu at reasonable prices which make it affordable for the family to dine together.
Family matters in Italy and I was pleased to hear Italian voices in the background as a party of young and old started feasting on neighbouring tables at the same time. You always know you’re on to a good thing when the ‘expat locals’ are choosing the dining destination of their homeland.
My 12-year-old son, little Stan, made a valiant attempt to get into the swing of things by wearing his Juventus FC top to dinner and soon found out that the Italian champions were not to everyone’s taste, as Chef Francesco gave him a footballing lesson on the powers of Palermo, even if they happen to regularly languish mid-table in Serie A.
Sicilian-style cuisine, however, is in a class of its own as we were soon to discover.
Chef Francesco started young, looking after the pizza station at his father’s restaurant at the age of 14. He explained: “In Italy pizza is served only at dinner time so after school and homework I used to go to work – having fun actually from my side – until 10pm. No later than that because the next morning I had to get up for school.
“Of course, my family inspired me, because having grown-up in a family of chefs my only dream was to cook.”
Now the third generation working in the restaurant business, after graduating from school he set on a culinary adventure working home and abroad, taking in Germany, Tunisia, the US and Oman on the way to joining the start-up team at the new hotel resort in Bahrain.
“I have gained a wide range of experience which has helped shape my own personal style,” he explained. “Due to my Sicilian roots, I am an expert in the preparation of seafood and Mediterranean Italian cuisine in general. Nonetheless, my experience in the US familiarised me with the preparation of meat. All these experiences have resulted in true versatility I believe.”
Fortunately, he has not forgotten the tricks of the trade he learned at the very start of his career and it was impressive to watch him flip the dough around as he prepared our pizza. Not any old dough, I hasten to add. This had been allowed to ferment for 72 hours, of course.
A trattoria is an Italian-style eating establishment and less formal than a restaurant. There are generally no printed menus, the service is casual, prices are low, and the emphasis is on a steady clientele rather than on haute cuisine.
To keep in the theme, the Vento menu is actually the paper placemat, so I had to make sure I didn’t spill too much on it that I couldn’t refer to it later on when writing up this review … not easy when you’re a messy eater!
As our Funghi pizza with porcini mushrooms, truffle oil, basil pesto and tomato confit (BD9++) was being prepared, we tucked into a selection of Italian cold cuts (BD11.500++) presented on a board balanced on two unopened tins of tomato.
This choice is a favourite with the lunchtime crowd I’m told who like to chill at the outside tables and share the fare.
We also sampled some Gnocco fritto served with ‘Nduja di Spilinga’ (BD5.800++), fabulously fried bread with a spreadable sausage.
The pizza was perfect when it arrived, each slice oozing with flavour and as a fan of funghi you couldn’t ask for more.
But more came … in the shape of some artisanal pasta, bronze extruded, cooked to order and ‘al dente’, for the uninitiated, that’s cooked so as to be still firm when bitten.
The Butternut squash Ravioli contained sage cinnamon butter and amaretti biscuit (BD7++), the Potato Gnocchi was a powerful truffle-scented Wagyu beef concoction (BD8.500++) but my favourite was the healthy Buckwheat Troffie, featuring Sicilian pesto, tomato, ricotta and almond – absolutely masterful.
There was an array of main courses on the menu too from lamb chops, to tuna steaks and beef tenderloin temptations but we were already full to bursting.
Little Stan couldn’t even be tempted with a dessert so the good lady wife, Kathryn, and I, had to taste a small selection on our own. My top tip is the Ricotta cannoli, candied orange with shaved chocolate at BD3.500++.
If you love all things Italian, this neat comfortable, homely venue offering great views of the Manama coastline is well worth exploring.
