Page 15 - Dream of Italy - August / September 2021

the Michelin-starred restaurant at Feudi di San Gregorio because I’ve never experienced anything comparable. The
winery in nearby Irpinia. He brings with him Mario food, the wine and cocktail interludes, and the warm and
Stellato as sous chef. Barrale envisioned Aria as a stage for uber-capable staff are making me fall even harder for
a completely new concept of cuisine, which, like Naples, Naples.
is irreverent, sacred, profane, poor, rich, amusing and I fully bliss out and forget much of what happened
amazing. Aria tells this story, but with levity and humor. after a dish of risotto and oysters. Instead of the starch
Spiritoso is the word I think to describe it—playful—in a holding the rice together, it’s the juice of the oysters,
very Neapolitan way. kissed with lemon. It tastes like a love letter from the sea.
An early course is a tiny bunch of escarole, spattered The most spiritoso bite comes with dessert and an
with crushed walnuts and positioned at the end of a long homage to the nearby Cimitero delle Fontanelle. A tiny
bowl designed for you to scoop the escarole through a skull, polished and then filled with a pineapple cream, tells
small puddle of soy mayonnaise. The humble escarole, so the story of Neapolitan women who adopt the skulls that
delicately tied together at the bottom, speaks to the heart become unearthed in the cemetery in hopes that they’ll
of Neapolitans (and anyone from the Neapolitan diaspora) impart winning lottery numbers. It could only happen in
while the soy mayon- Naples.
naise nods at Japanese Aria
cuisine, the one foreign Via Loggia dei Pisani, 2
cuisine that proud and Naples
stubborn Neapolitans (39) 081 8430195
love and respect. www.ariarestaurant.it
Soon after, a bread A dinner for two averages
course includes crackers 180€ with wine.
made with strutto AUG/ SEPT 2021

Drea m of Ita ly

15

Focaccia with lardo Ramen alla norma

(lard), and in the shape of a pig. With it comes a cushion of There are other fine-dining restaurants in Naples, but
focaccia draped with veils of cured lardo, and butter made Aria is a singular dining experience that should be imme-
with milk from a breed of cow raised in organic pastures in diately added to any foodie bucket list. Yes, Naples is pizza
Campania. Next, I’m served a crudo of hamachi, followed by fritta and laundry-draped alleys, but it is also the capital
a long-simmered veal, compacted, breaded and deep fried. of southern Italy, a cultured city that isn’t ashamed of its
None of these things seem to follow or match, except they rougher edges, but is nonetheless tired of an excessive
do, brilliantly, because that’s what happens when creativity focus on them. Aria will no doubt turn the heads of the
meets skill at the highest levels. most seasoned and sophisticated travelers. 
Barrale’s own admiration for Japanese cuisine appears
in “ramen alla norma” pasta (also an ode to his native
Sicily) with eggplant broth and small white cubes of Danielle Oteri is an art history lecturer, writer and
co-founder of Feast On History tours in South Italy and
ricotta made with almond milk. I start giggling when Arthur Avenue Food Tours in the Bronx, NY. For more
the table captain tells me what we’re about to have next, information, visit www.feastonhistory.com