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Salvo’s has made countless fans in its thirty year plus life, so you might wonder what’s next for the Dammone family. A chain of Salvo’s across the country? Salvo’s coffee kiosks in every train station? No. Well, not yet at least. A chain just doesn’t seem to fit the Salvo’s mentality. Instead they opened a small deli, La Salumeria, two doors down from the restaurant. ‘That’s very nice,’ I hear you cry, ‘but it’s hardly revolutionary.’ To which I have to say firstly, don’t underestimate delis! They are surely miniature versions of paradise, only with a till. Secondly, there’s more to La Salumeria than straightforward deliness.
It also doubles as a café, which in turn doubles as venue for special dining events. The best of which are John and Gip Dammone’s Regional Tasting Dinners, which they host every Saturday night. The idea’s simple (though making it a reality is probably not). For a period of about three months, the guys pick a region of Italy and then go about planning a tasting menu using ingredients sourced from that region, cooked in the style of that region. They even go as far as to specially source wines from that region — many of which are otherwise unavailable in this country.
March 17 to June 3 was Tuscany time, and we managed to get down there just in time to catch what this region had to offer. For £27.50 each we were treated to an absolute feast. 12 (12!) courses rolled out of La Salumeria’s busy little kitchen, and each dish, whether it was a delicate morsel or a lavish plateful, was perfection.
Here’s a quick tour: Crostini Di Fegatini (little toasts with chicken liver pate and white truffle oil), Carpaccio Di Salmone (marinated salmon with thyme and lemon), Affettato Misto
(Tuscan cold meats platter), Schiacciata Al Rosmarino (flatbread with rosemary),Panzanella (classic bread and tomato salad with tuna), Triglie Alla Livornese (red mullet with tomatoes
and black olives), La Ribollita (classic tuscan twice cooked soup with a thousand variations), Pappardelle Alla Lepre Al’ Uso Di Firenze (wide egg pasta with rabbit ragu), Faraona All’uva
(guinea fowl with grapes), Pecorino Toscana (ewe’s milk cheese), Zuppa Del Duca (aka a rustic tiramisu) and finally (phew!) coffee. Combine this with a couple of blood orange and campari aperitifs and some fantastic Tuscan reds and it was truly a feast fit for a king. Several kings in fact.
Not only is every dish spot on at these evenings, but the overall atmosphere is full of Italian character (and not in a cheesy overbearing way), the Dammones clearly love real food, and are equally passionate about sharing that love. June 10 to August 26 marks a change of region, with Puglia becoming the focus. If Tuscany was anything to go by, then this next season is not to be missed. Good work gentlemen!
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