elegant mountain cuisine. Michelin star

Enter the old mill Of Aosta it is an intense emotion, near Piazza Roncas, where the Ru De Rive, the stream along which the ancient wash house is lined up, arrives from the Alps. The small Roman city, an important crossroads in the Alps, between Italy, France and Switzerland, once had numerous mills and ovens. The one that welcomes the restaurant The Old Ristoro it dates back to 1600 and was the Pavetto mill, very popular. Thus the theme of bread is constant in the chef’s catering project Filippo Oggioni and his partner and friend, Paolo Bariani, restaurant manager and sommelier. In their restaurant, particular care is taken in pairing the bread with the various courses, everyone has their own and they use flours from ancient grains grown in the Aosta Valley. Among other things, the quality of the breads is remarkable and arouses the guest’s curiosity.

The new Vecchio Ristoro in Aosta

Filippo and Paolo arrive from Brescia, following a work experience in the area, at the Dandelion cuisine de mountain in Courmayeur, where they quickly got noticed. The coup de fraud with the mountains of the Vallée it was immediate, a land that is rough and timid at the same time, rich like few others in small farming communities, shepherds and vignerons who preserve ancient, very stimulating artisan knowledge. The curriculum of the two has solid foundations, Filippo Oggioni comes from Breda, worked at Circolone and Schuman in Legnano (one star), at Gellius in Oderzo (one star), Acquerello in Fagnano Olona (one star) and the Petit Royal in Courmayeur (one star), Paolo Bariani from “Tutto Italia” and “Tutto Gusto wine cellar” in Orlando (Florida), then at the Sheraton Mirage in Port Douglas (Australia), al Cracco restaurant in Milan (two stars) and at the Petit Royal in Courmayeur (one star).

An elegant mountain cuisine

The fact that Il Vecchio Ristoro, a former Michelin star in Aosta, had been on sale for some time aroused the two friends greatly until they were convinced to invest in it themselves, also fascinated by the history of the mill and the elegance of the room rich in meanings closely linked to the identity of Aosta. It enters the scene in 2019 and arrives in 2021 Michelin star. In the guide Italian restaurants of the Red shrimp conquer them two forks. Their great educational and professional background put them on the right path right from the start, with the very clear idea of portraying the small Aosta Valley artisans in their dishes, from farmers to shepherds, cheesemakers and so on.

The menu it is always an unknown, in a positive sense, that is, in everyday life it is modulated on what the small farmers’ markets have offered that is interesting, according to chef Oggioni. You can grasp his sensitivity towards all this, and his mastery in translating it into the kitchen, always maintaining a direct line between mind and heart. He is a skilled connoisseur of the techniques that allow him to treat the raw material in the best way and to translate ideas into a concrete way. There is a sensitive elegance in the concept of each dish and a solid ability to use all the flavors without shyness or uncertainty in daring. Above all there is the Aosta Valley mountain and the desire to transmit even the subtlest breath of it.

The menu reads “between acid, bitter, sweet and salty”, we encounter all the flavors, in ensemble with each other or in solo voice followed by the subdued choir. All cooking is à la Minute, without vacuum or pre-cooking procedures, in order to guarantee the highest possible quality: Five steps at 110 euros, Seven steps at 145 euros, Five vegetable steps at 95 euros – the latter highly recommended as Filippo is a very good interpreter of the products of the earth. Let’s discover the dishes on the spring menu.

In the welcome, Morgex rabbit plins alla cacciatora, fried Morgex trout toast with its eggs and green sauce, egg cream with wild garlic, ginger and freshly smoked parmesan with juniper, chia seed tartlet and Aosta Valley turnip boudin red (soft and ancient salami), the wafer filled with Aosta Valley reblac (cheese obtained from spontaneously surfaced cream) – the creamy egg served in its shell has become a classic of the ever-present chef, it follows the seasonality of the various components and is unforgettable. Spectacular vichyssoise which closes the welcome, leek cream, potatoes, white wine, mandarin oil and a pinch of liquorice powder, served warm with butter and honey rolls.

Asparagus in carpacciocooked with water from their waste and strawberries from Basilicata and verbena – as brilliant as they are simple. Pine char in goose egg and dandelion béarnaise sauce with walnut vinegar, on a fish base, it recalls with extreme elegance, and also a nice boost of flavours, inspired by Fernand Point sole, father of French haute cuisine. White chocolate filled with Aosta blueosetra caviar and sweet and sour shallots, to be eaten in a single bite that veers towards food porn.

Rice with applewood smoked butter, with sheep’s cheese from Val d’Ayas, mint, salted lemon and salted onion powder, a classic by now, although the restaurant is very young, which chef Oggioni cares a lot about and which always receives full acclaim .

Fassona carpaccio raised in nearby Nus, steamed artichoke with sauce made from its leaves. A classic that once again winks at the cuisine from beyond the Alps, the Fassona fillet from Nus, lightly smoked on hay, green pepper juice, dried plum quenelle, French morel sauce with cream, ricotta and mustard, accompanied by a delicious freshly smoked Lower Valley mashed potato.

Ravioli with butter and sage filled with fassona tail – at this point in the courses Paolo and Filippo love to play with the guest by offering a very delicious traditional Italian dish as a pre-dessert, so to speak.

The dessert is very delicate and fresh, hay panna cotta, with three days of infusion, yogurt both in foam and ice cream, crunchy pine nuts and in cream. The wine pairing is a journey guided with great skill by Paolo Bariani.