Nerofico, Frescobaldi Wine and Erika Ribaldi

Nerofico, Frescobaldi wine and Erika Ribaldi

Last week we were invited to a special Frescobaldi wine dinner pairing session with Erika Ribaldi at Nerofico. It was our first time having Frescobaldi wine, meeting Erika Ribaldi and dining at Nerofico.

Many might have mistaken Nerofico as Neroteca or Nerovivo. Located at the ground floor of Wisma Perintis Jalan Dungun, Nerofico is KL’s newest jazz venue showcasing the best local, regional and international musical talent every Friday and Saturday nights (first set starts at 1000pm). Thus, the restaurant also offered a cozy dining experience in the middle of the busy commercial district of Damansara Heights.

Let us elaborate more on the Frescobaldi wine. For those who didn’t know, Frescobaldi wine came from the Frescobaldi family in Italy. The Frescobaldi family began producing Tuscan wine in 1308 and soon developed a notable client base. With more than 700 years of wine making Frescobaldi wine is considered as one of the best wines in Italy and it has strong presence in Malaysia for many years.

Who is Erika Ribaldi? Originated from a small provincial capital of Northern Italia, famous for its Middle Age “grandeur”, she joined Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi with the role of Area Manager Asia-Pacific, reporting to the Export Director Giuseppe A. Pariani. Based in Bangkok, she is now the proud representative in Asia for this historical house, and she will put her passion and knowledge at the service of our wide customer basis.

Even before the dinner, we have two Italians on the stage explaining the history of Frescobaldi wine. Michele is from Nerofico.

For the starter, we had tuna tartar served with oyster shot. It was our first time having tuna tartar with the fresh oyster.

It was best paired with Albizzia Chardonnay di Toscana IGT 2009

For the Entrée, we had Paccheri with lobster ragout and king prawn pop corn. It was the right portion for the entrée, interesting combination of Paccheri with fried king prawn pop corn.

For the Mains Course, we have Seared spring chicken with roasted pumpkin and honey and apricot sauce. The seared spring chicken was well marinated and it was tender. It went well with the sweetness of the roasted pumpkin and honey and apricot sauce.

What was the perfect wine to go with this? The Remole Toscana IGT 2009. Remole Toscana IGT 2009 is the “Britney Spears” according Erika, a wilder taste just like the actress.

We sat with Erika and she entertained us with stories of Italy and her life experiences in Thailand and Cambodia. Hence, she also showered us with the stories of the great Italian food. We can imagine it since we watched the movie, “Eat, Pray, Love”. Hence, we were also told about the great vineyards of Italy.

Interesting enough, we had Sorbet Interval of Mango sorbet with currant vodka. Rachel thought the Mango sorbet was punchy but I wouldn’t mind the extra currant vodka.

Next, we had Grilled lamb chop in crust of pistachios, grilled tomato & onion red wine sauce. As the spring chicken gave us the “awe”, the grilled lamb chop was equally good. The lamb chop was grilled to perfection, a slight pink on the inner area and it was still juicy. It was topped with onion red wine sauce.

It went well with Frescobaldi Tenuta di Castiglioni IGT 2008. Frescobaldi Tenuta di Castiglioni IGT 2008 is the “Sophie Marceau” according Erika, a smoother and beautiful taste.

For Dessert, we had Millesfoglie serve with caramelized banana. It has been a while since we had a good Millesfoglie. Millesfoglie is also known as mille-feuille which means “thousand sheets”. The puff pastry was thin and crispy so you have to be delicate to eat this.  It was too beautiful to be eaten.

It is always good to end the dinner with a coffee. We had coffee and it was the liquor coffee, Illyquore. It was slightly bitter but fragrant with the coffee scent and strong with alcohol.

Great food, great company, great wine and great stories, we couldn’t ask for more. Our first time dining at Nerofico gave us a very lasting impression.  We heard so much about Italy lately, from Erika and even from our friends. These great stories of Italy made us wonder if we could really go there in the near future.

Nerofico Restaurant Address and Contact:

Ground Floor Wisma Perintis,
47 Jalan Dungun,
Damansara Heights,
50490 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-20895312
Fax: 03-20110156
Email: [email protected]

Nerofico Opening hours:

8am to 11pm (week days)
5.45pm to 11pm (Sunday)

http://www.nerofico.com/

Wilson Ng