RICO'S

Rico Zandonella has been working at the stove for 50 years now. Signs of fatigue are nowhere to be seen. Quite the opposite. The Ticino native cheerfully rolls out additional, new concepts. Take “Rico’s Pico’s,” for example, a fun tapas show on weekends. This relaxed lunch is almost always fully booked. “Rico’s Carbonara” with goose liver and an onsen egg, or the open ravioli with langoustines and three kinds of lemon in a sabayon have a magnetic pull. Distinctive features of his classic menus: they are approachable, flawlessly executed, and spectacularly plated. And they stand out refreshingly differently in an era when many head chefs are turning into gardeners and self-sufficient growers. Rico Zandonella unhesitatingly purchases whatever is good and expensive. His menu is pure generosity. And: the drive for perfection is palpable throughout the entire evening. Even the smallest component on the plate (gnocchetti, taglierini, pommes dauphine) is of exceptional quality. Rico-class. Amuse-bouche? He has just fallen for ox tail. We get it shredded as a ragout, with potato espuma and crispy potato cubes. We also find it as a jelly served over an elegant beef fillet carpaccio. Rico Zandonella is not afraid to overturn traditions. Summer roe deer, for instance, can also serve as an appetizer. A few slices from the center cut (“from the loin”), accompanied by a perfectly seared duck liver of reasonable size, a chocolate brioche with finely chopped chanterelles, and in a fiery red cup, a wonderful morel cappuccino. Then comes the first “Good and Expensive” course: partially cooked langoustines, sliced thinly like a premium carpaccio, with Lostallo salmon cubes and a giant spoonful of Royale caviar. Alongside it, Rico’s summer-fresh alternative to the trendy ceviche marinade: coconut, lime, lemongrass, chili, honey, and coriander seeds. The tuna for the tataki (served on a vegetable marmalade with lukewarm calamari rings) is also far from ordinary: at Rico’s on the Gold Coast, it must be Toro. Then two classics from Brittany: the lobster is presented visually spectacularly on a beetroot tabbouleh with mint, coriander, and wasabi tapioca, while the turbot comes with saffron fennel and excitingly delicate gnocchetti. Meat and poultry? Tender quail from the Dombes region are in vogue. The chef buys them whole, debones them, glazes them, relies on his Périgord truffle jus, which he has perfected over decades, and serves them alongside extra-long taglierini. Plan B: quail with a head lettuce risotto! The little birds are crispy yet pink inside and are fully utilized. Rico: “The staff get the drumsticks.” For the main course, Rico Zandonella promises “everything from Emmental veal.” We indeed receive the full load: veal bitok (a kind of minced meat patty), sweetbread, poached veal fillet, veal kidneys, accompanied by components from classic French cuisine: light pommes dauphine and a robust Albufera sauce. We marvel that we still manage to finish the dessert: spiced peach, vanilla ice cream, champagne-amaretto foam. The cheerful “Girls Gang” in the service also contributes to the “Rico experience.” Sophie Mazanec is the head waitress, who also handles the wine pairing. That she managed to pour a white volcanic wine from Lanzarote (“Juan Bello”) into the slender Zalto glass between a “Höcklistein” chanterelle from the Schmidheiny family, a noble Meursault, and a “Château Gruaud Larose 2005” was quite fearless, but perfectly fine. Rico doesn’t interfere with her work – he is probably the only top chef in the country who has never drunk wine or champagne in his entire life.