Aperitif from the kitchen
With an aperitif (Sontia brut, Ducal) aperitif from the kitchen: grissini seasoned with thyme, candied lemon and black garlic and “Negroni salad”, fennel foam (with vermouth herbs), a sphere of herbs used for gin (juniper, bay leaf, citrus peels, pepper, rosemary), blood orange granita, fresh orange, kalamata olive, grapefruit dressing with campari herbs and chips made from leftover castelfranco chicory.
Chef
Vila Podvin with chef Matija Lelas is offering an experience, from an aperitif cocktail eaten with a spoon to baked ice cream made from black garlic.
Amuse-bouche
Fried ravioli (classic dough with black cumin essence) filled with blue (invasive) crab mousse, topped with guacamole, beetroot and smoked apple; and a beetroot powder tart filled with tartar of ripened beetroot, dressing of walnut oil, miso and cocoa nibs, topped with a fake egg yolk made from corn cream.
Scallop
Scallop, chamomile, green apple, spruce. Raw scallop in a sauce of chamomile and charred spruce needles, in the mini company of green apple granita, trumpet flower, thin slices of black radish and a gentle whiff of cayenne pepper.
Tuna
Tuna, green pepper, oyster mushroom, arugula. In a jus-sauce made from black tea, green pepper and arugula infusion, raw tuna is coated with an emulsion of arugula juice and olive oil, accompanied by oyster mushroom and charred broccoli stems.
Chef's bread
Bun with poppy seeds, semolina baguette, crackers and homemade butter from the Tolmin Agricultural Cooperative, chips made from the remains of oyster mushroom (previous dish!), topped with pickled trumpet candy, and virgin olive oil from Parecag,
Black trumpet
Black trumpets, mushroom consommé, spelt rice. Podvin’s mushroom soup, which finally confirms that something important (culinary) is happening here again.
Tagliolini
Tagliolini, walnut sour milk, raspberry. Wide noodles, hand-cut, no sauce, very ‘dry’, just coated with the creamy fat of walnut sour milk (fermented for 72 hours at room temperature), and sprinkled with raspberry powder on top.
Trout
Trout, almonds, grapefruit. Pink, thick and firm fillets are brought to you ‘by the sea’ as confirmation long before. In this way, the thermal transformation (in steam) tastes even better. The fish was not killed and dried out again, it remained firm in its soft tenderness and melting, which was not only an end in itself. The fish was only an ‘excuse’ for the diversity and bounce of all the layers of flavors that covered it. It was not just the fish, it was not just the beurre blanc butter sauce, it was not just the almond cream on the bottom, it was not just the parsnip and fermented celery for accompaniment, it was not just the trout roe for a repentant saltiness and the grapefruit for lightness and freshness.
Podvin's sgroppino
Parsnip sorbet, sake vinegar, Sontia sparkling wine, grated lemon zest on top. Podvin’s version of the digestive-purifying drink that was long in vogue in fine restaurants of the last century.
Deer
Deer, daikon, sour milk, hibiscus. Deer fillet, sour milk puree, pickled daikon radish, hibiscus vinegar reduction, charred Castelfranco chicory, mizuna leaves, Japanese mustard, a cross between arugula and mustard. Dark sauce with cocoa and merlot reduction added at the table.
Nettles
Predessert: vegan nettle ice cream made from soy milk, pomegranate and persimmon sauce. Effective!
Aljaska
Baked Alaska: meringue, black garlic, cherries. Italian meringue with hibiscus, inside chocolate sponge cake, cherries and black garlic ice cream, hibiscus reduction and burnt lemon essence, hibiscus powder.
After
Truffle with passion fruit, dark chocolate and salted caramel and dark chocolate praline filled with foie gras ganache, rum and cherries.
Accompanying wines
Aperitif: sparkling wine Sontia brut, Ducal (chardonnay and Rhine Riesling)
Scallop: sparkling wine Mario rose, brut nature, Keltis
Tuna: Laški Riesling 2022, Ducal
Mushroom consomme: Pinot noir 2022, Tilia
Tagliolini: Chardonnay, 2021, Sutor
Trout: Sauvignon opoka 2021, Marjan Simčič
Deer: Renero 2019, Uroš Rojac
Baked Alaska: Porto, 30 years, Kopke
