CONTRASTE MILANO

Since the opening of this restaurant, awarded this year with a Michelin star, I have always been attracted by the idea of seeing some spectacular and amazing dishes live.
I was also very curious about the way to let the Chef choose the entire menu, 'Reflection' precisely, a tasting menu with 11 courses, after having specified any intolerances or allergies.
And so the right moment has arrived, a warm Saturday evening in a (almost) desert city of Milan during the summer time.
 
I liked the place very much, decorated ceilings, white walls with red chandeliers ('Contraste'!) and paintings with decisive tones, a fireplace in the room (obviously not working..) and round tables, an elegant atmosphere, almost of other times but in a modern key.
 
My choice, after carefully observing my thoughtful look on the mirror that is inside the menu, has therefore fallen on the total confidence in the imagination of the uruguayan Chef Matias Perdomo, allowing him to drive me in the ‘voyage of discovery ' in blind of his kitchen.
 
The first dish was not a real dish in the strictest sense of the word.
The waiter leaned on the table a locked box with a padlock, he made me pick a key and I so found out what was hidden inside the black box. 
It was a beautiful and colourful Tris: a green bon-bon of ‘sared in saor’, a zucchini roll and a tartare of meat with peppers that had the appearance of a strawberry (1).
Decisive and delicate flavours to be tasted in three bites in total.

(1) A curious box

The second course was in fact another composition of three small dishes: shrimp tartare marinated in beetroot (a delight!), a potato on a green beans cream and, first true curiosity and a completely novelty for me, a tamales of smoked eel (2).
 
Tamales is an ancient dish of South American cuisine (it seems that some anthropologists attribute their preparation also to the Inca, Maya and Aztec populations; in Peruvian cuisine you can find various types of them: vegetarian, corn-based or with chicken and beef, steamed, grilled or with the procedure of Pachamanca (ground-to-reverb firing using pre-heated stones).
In my case it was based on eel; honestly I'm not a big fan of the smoking, I generally think that it makes the tastes all similar to one another but in this case I greatly appreciated the refinement of taste of the piece of eel presented in this mode, great plate.

(2) The tris in the box

Further, another dish that struck me positively (perhaps one of my favorites of the whole menu): Scallops Noodle (yes, you understand correctly, they were prepared by putting many scallops together, with a long and elaborate process!) with Parmigiano mousse (3).
What a contrast of flavors! Exquisite and very nice to see! 

(3) Scallops noodle with parmigiano mousse

Here comes a very elegant plate, a leaf made of tomato that seems but a small golden handkerchief that hides an association of pagan fish and mussels, the presentation is a WOW one (4).

(4) Pagan fish and mussels under a tomato leaf

It does not seem correct to me to talk about all the dishes, the most beautiful part of this kind of experience in such a restaurant like Contraste is the surprise and the curiosity to taste that each dish stimulates.
But I would like to conclude with a really very interesting dessert whose name is spectacular itself: Pulp Ficiton (5).
Coconut Mousse, chocolate bullets and beet blood spatter, all set on a mirror equipped with a frame, as if it were part of a detached furniture and brought directly to the table to delight the guest!
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(5) Pulp fiction