Monaco: when Marcel and Mauro go as a duo | Gilles Pudlowski’s blog
A “four hands” between two great chefs of the coast: our correspondent on the Riviera, Alain Angenost, is obviously there. I tell…
Like every month (except July-August), and since the end of May the Festival des Étoilés de Monte-Carlo has offered a dinner concocted by four hands between a starred chef from one of the restaurants of the Société des Bains de Mer Monaco and a renowned chef. The latest staged at Blue Bay, a flamboyant duo with Marcel Ravin, chef of Monte-Carlo Bay and Mauro Colagreco, his friend and three-star neighbor at Mirazur in Menton.
Watched like milk on the fire by Frédéric Nardello, the restaurant manager, the service was in tune and the moment was exceptionally greedy with a blaze of flavors coupled with a beautiful moment of brotherhood. It should be remembered that the first arrived in Monaco in 2005 as chef of the Monte-Carlo Bay kitchens and the second was established in 2006 in Menton. On the menu of their duo, creations with cheerful and colorful flavors.
Those of Marcel Ravin, signatures of his identity, subtly and daringly combine the products of his native land and those of the Mediterranean. It starts with a Madou, the iced tea of aromatic leaves in battery syrup, a drink that his grandparents enjoyed after well-watered feasts.
Next ? Piedmont veal, gomasio (roasted sesame seeds) peanut, hibiscus, caviar and sweet potato, flame scampi, puffed rice. On the Mauro side, a tart of squash and burnt chestnuts, tapioca chips, red tuna tartare, then a delicate pagre rose, radish, citrus broth and ravioli of red cabbage, wild boar and foie gras. And we say to ourselves: where are they going to look for all this?
Main course question, Marcel Ravin had chosen to play his traveling side with his feet on the ground with a can of sauvaki smoked with cassava, mabi juice (made from tropical tree bark) with fish roe. As for Mauro Colagreco, it is in the Mediterranean that he fished the fruit of his inspiration around a scallop, porcini mushrooms, Jerusalem artichokes and white truffle of Alba grated generously in front of the guests.
The head sommelier Gérard Veyrat had released excellent bottles to accompany the festivities, Champagne Charles Heidsieck Blanc de Blancs, white hermitage “Nobles Rives” 2017 from the cellar of Tain, châteauneuf du pape blanc 2016 from Château de Beaucastel and Sagrantino di Montefalco red 2015, Tenuta di Saragano. At the end of such a performance, we applaud and salute the maestros!
The Blue Bay at Monte-Carlo Bay
40, avenue Princesse Grace
98000 Monaco
Phone. +377 98 06 02 00
Menus: € 110, € 140, € 220 (Christmas dinner), € 480 (New Year’s Eve party), € 195 (New Year’s brunch)
Schedule : 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Weekly closing: from sunday to wednesday
Annual closure : from November 8 to December 15, 2021
To place: en.montecarlobay.com