The new autumn-winter menu at Podere Pendolino has arrived a creation developed by our young chefs in close collaboration with the owners. As Luca explains: “We’ve really let our creativity run wild, experimenting with seasonal produce including items from new suppliers while leveraging the advanced technology in our kitchen. We’ve also recently introduced new techniques, both for our dining room and for our ‘Albatros’ catering service a level of excellence that is far from guaranteed when cooking on such a large scale. Vacuum-sealing, for instance used both at Pendolino and for our catering ensures uniform cooking while preserving natural juices, vitamins, and aromas. It also prevents the loss of ingredient weight, as nothing is leached into water or lost to evaporation.
We’ve also adopted ‘oil-poaching’ (oliocottura) for meats and fish: a slow-cooking method at very low temperatures, where the food is completely submerged in the finest extra virgin olive oil. This keeps the product tender and succulent, while respecting its structural integrity and organoleptic properties. Flavor is guaranteed which is essential for the kitchen at Pendolino, where we have always invested heavily in quality, seasonality, and sourcing local ingredients. We simply cannot afford to waste the products that our owners, Claudio and Patrizio, source with such meticulous care. This new menu is the result of days of hard work; the entire team contributed to the project, with the goal of reflecting Podere Pendolino’s elevated market position a shift that has brought us increasingly discerning, well-informed guests who are curious about the latest culinary trends. Of course, in a company of our size, we must also be mindful of the cost-effectiveness of each dish; in a high-volume kitchen like ours, we don’t rely on guesswork we carefully analyze costs and margins.” Here is our team: Marco handles procurement and production organization; Luca and Giulia oversee projects from initial design to final execution; and our very young team members, Aurora and Nav, are working alongside us with great passion and an eagerness to learn. There are also new developments in the pizzeria and the pastry kitchen—but we’ll share more about that in another story.