CAAA by Pietro Catalano

Welcome to our world of culinary art," writes Pietro Catalano, promising "Revolutioning Dining." Well, the revolution is taking its time. Lucerne is not a major city, the guests are not overly willing to spend money, and the "CAAA" on Haldenstrasse is rarely fully booked. Quite a shame, really. Pietro, a career changer, is a talented, passionate cook and an experimental lab technician. He knows how to do the math too: because success is slow to arrive, he has halved his staff. The "CAAA team" is purely a family affair: sister Stefania runs the service and works part-time as a mixologist at the ambitious bar, wife Elena is a partner at the stove, newly also responsible for desserts and friandises; she handles it perfectly. Not even pasta is safe from Pietro Catalano's boundless imagination. It too is fermented at the "CAAA". Here's roughly how it works: a liter of Cabernet Franc is reduced to 6 cl in a rotary evaporator. Juice from cherries and beets is added, along with wine yeast, black pepper, and bay leaf. The lab target is a pH of 4.0, "so it doesn't get too sour." The raw pasta is then "fused" for two days, finally blanched in salted water for 30 seconds. Clear as day? Not entirely to us either, so we focus on the result: the rigatoni have a good bite, and red wine, beetroot, and Dallenwil goat cheese in the sauce provide nice accents. Well done – but does the guest realize how much effort lies behind this pasta course? Pietro Catalano, coolly: "We chefs enjoy it, and that's worth something too. We tested and worked on this dish for three weeks." The five amuse-bouches were also quite something. Gougère (choux pastry) with "Cacio e Pepe" components. Chicken skin with egg yolk cream and summer truffles from the Marche. A steamed bread with pickled sardines and 25-year-old (!) balsamic vinegar. Kohlrabi and kalamansi. And a starter called "Back to Childhood": cotton candy with caviar. We had cotton candy in our childhood, not oscietra. "Cucina povera" is currently hugely trendy in Italian restaurants. Catalano bets on passatelli, a noodle dish from Emilia-Romagna. Floating in the light broth are a couple of mini morels, refined with spruce and parsley oil. The vacuum-sealed halibut comes with a bergamot essence and an elaborate, quite sophisticated pesto. The most clarity prevails with the main course: back fillet of herb-fed lamb from Bianchi, classically roasted, with a really excellent jus. Friarielli and broccoli from the Lucerne weekly market ("Buuregarte Boog"). Flawless. Two more pluses for the "CAAA": the hidden garden behind the house, an oasis of calm, is fantastic. We truly appreciate that the "Pichon Comtesse 2028 Réserve de la Comtesse" is also available by the glass (32 francs).