THE SOUNDS OF FLAVOUR

THE SOUNDS OF FLAVOUR
Music, food, and wine converge at the restaurant. Protagonists of an unconventional experience able to open new perspectives in experiencing and appreciating flavours

Recent studies on the combination of wine and music at the University of Edinburgh have shown a relationship between wine tasting and listening to music. A combination that is able to enhance the aromas of wine. If you then add an excellent gourmet dish, you create a multi-sensoriality that helps create the right atmosphere for a truly special evening. An experience that when proposed in a restaurant can open new frontiers for the construction of truly original tasting menus.

Food, wine and music

The restaurant Les Petites Madeleines of the Turin Palace Hotel organised an experiment with the combination of food, wine, and music, giving life to the initiative “The sounds of flavour”.
For the celebration of the centenary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth and the organization of the #Soundframes exhibition in the city (26 January 2018 – 7 January 2019), it was possible to choose three dishes from the menu, combined with a wine and music specially selected by a sound sommelier. Stefano Sforza, executive chef of Les Petites Madeleines and member of Euro-Toques, selected and created the dishes, Luca Gigliotti, sommelier of Les Petites Madeleines, selected the wines, and the sound sommelier Paolo Scarpellini sought the best musical combination. Each diner had headphones to listen to the music and at the end of the dinner received as a gift a USB pen drive with the songs heard in order to replicate the experience at home.

Harmonic menu

  • Risotto, parsley, bottarga, candied lemon paired with Langhe Doc Arneis 2017 Blangè from Ceretto and accompanied by “A taste of honey” by Herb Alpert.
  • My version of Bouillabaisse accompanied by Nebbiolo d’Alba Doc 2016 from Bernardina di Ceretto with the song “Max” by Paolo Conte.
  • Chocolates, cocoa and meringue with a core of kiwi sorbet matched with Barolo Chinato Cocchi and “Life” by Ludovico Einaudi.

The right symphony

The idea comes from the harmonies between food, wine and music. The two arts are united by the desire to find a balance between different notes that magically know how to offer pleasure. Food, wine, and music create a perfect symphony! Chef Stefano Sforza is convinced of this: “When creating the menu I chose dishes able to integrate flavours or counterbalance them always in a balanced way, thus generating unexpected and surprising sensations, yet pleasing to the palate”. For his part, working with the chef the sommelier Luca Gigliotti preferred to suggest wines linked to the local area, focusing on selections that are well-known and popular abroad like Vermouth. “I focused on those labels that would bring out the best of every dish,” he explained, “enhancing its ‘notes’ and defining its rhythm”.

Designer hotel

The Turin Palace Hotel, witness of the history of the Piedmontese capital, enhances the value of art, mixing contemporary design with art deco style. Many meetings have taken place here between different personalities of the national and international intelligentsia. Women and men of culture have fallen in love with its exclusivity, people like Guglielmo Marconi, Arturo Toscanini, Maria Callas, and Louis Armstrong. Guests include royalty like King Charles Gustav of Sweden and Queen Elizabeth, but also stars of the entertainment world like David Bowie, Sting, Liza Minelli, Madonna, and Mick Jagger. What makes the Turin Palace Hotel unique is the grand staircase of the 1920s-1930s, the large living room, the ballroom with its elliptical dome, the hand-blown glass chandeliers and the silk-screened decorations in gold on the stained glass at the back. A hotel where you can savour the colours, flavours, and culture of a city rich in history, and where a philosophy of hospitality focused on the traveller is key.

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