They’ve been active on Lake Garda just for over a year. But already they have distinguished themselves thanks to a creation that seems to have what it takes to become one of the “cult dishes” of the summer on Lake Garda. They are Manuel Garbellini and Paola Betta, partners in life as well as in work, and on March 20 in 2015 they have acquired the management of the restaurant Le Antiche Rive in Salò, reopening it to the public after a long period of closure. Recently, they have earned the headlines winning the contest “A Flower In The Dish” as part of Darfo In Flower, gastronomic contest in which the regulation provided the presentation of recipes using flowers and herbs. Le Antiche Rive team won with a “Pike in Coal” that has emerged out of five finalists in the category of main courses, winning the jury chaired by Edoardo Raspelli in blind tastings.
Quite an achievement for a still young restaurant, even if to tell the truth Le Antiche Rive has been was a trattoria that has been there for many years and has been closed for about a year when Manuel (who previously worked in Corte delle Rose, the family restaurant in Castiglione delle Stiviere) and Paola have decided that this was the right niche to realize their new project.
“We were looking for a place not too big – they explain -. 30 seats at most, in which to pursue a creative cuisine but linked to a very careful selection of raw materials, that we buy only from farms of the surroundings or Italian companies of excellence “.
Both active in the hall, the two restaurateurs have found in young chef Sokol Xibri, 28, of Albanian origins, but in Italy from the age of 14, the ideal interpreter for their insights.
“I graduated from the Institute of Hotel Gardone Riviera, and I have had several experiences between Brescia, the lake and Germany, I worked at the Grand Hotel Fasano, then I met Manuel and I decided to follow him in this adventure in which to give way to my creativity. I’m a big fusion cuisine fan: I like the idea of different traditions melting together in the name of gastronomy evolution, of a flavors fusion beyond local products”.
The Pike in Coal was one of Sokol’s ideas: originally the recipe was prepared with salt cod, then it was decided to switch to lake pike to make a version more closely linked to the Garda territory.
The “Coal” element is prepared with a fragmented home-made bread with squid ink and water, left 48 hours at rest and put in the oven at 70 degrees to obtain a very fine powder that is combined with the pike, pan-seared and then cooked baked, and topped off with its roe and ginger chips. The flowers? They are cultivated by Sokol, they are obviously edible, and are present in many of of the brightly colored plates of Le Antiche Rive like a Terrinella of Eggplant with Sicily seared Gambero Rosso and smoked burrata, a well-executed Fish Carbonara made with fantastic bucatini from Gragnano made by Moccia brothers, which provides the use of varieties of fresh water and sea fish, or a beef fillet in crust Fassona certified by the Consorzio Tutela Razza Piemontese.
At the end, do not miss the cheeses from Beppino Occelli proposed in tasting “clocks” which can even represent a whole dinner. The wine list currently includes no more than forty labels, mainly from the area (even by the glass) plus a dozen beers. Interesting value for money, considering that the average bill varies between 35 and 50 Euros.
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