<a target="_blank" href="https://www.tentazioni-bordeaux.fr/">TentaziOni</a>

59 Rue du Palais
Gallien

33000 Bordeaux,
France

Tel. +33 5 56 52 62
12

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | JULY 26, 2019

The Food:

Perthus green asparagus, raw cuttlefish, almond crust and
"vintage" caviar from Maison Sturia (Asperges vertes du Perthus,
seiches crues, croute d’amandes et caviar «vintage» de la Maison Sturia)

Sicilian red Gambas roasted in the oven, beans, guanciale
and consommé (Gambas rouge Sicilienne rôties au four, févettes, guanciale
et consommé de tête)Homemade Martelli
spaghetti "Memories of my Sardinia" (Spaghetti artisanale Martelli
«Souvenirs de ma Sardaigne»)

Small
one-sided mullet, fresh peas and tangy butter with fish eggs (Rouget petit
bateau cuit à l’unilatérale, petits pois frais et beurre acidulé aux œufs de
poisons)

Roasted French
milk-fed lamb roasted with marjoram, purple artichokes, taggiasca olives and
smoked eel lacquered with honey (Agneau de lait français rôti à la
marjolaine, artichauts violets, olives taggiasche et anguille fumée laquée au
miel)

Iceberg lettuce,
lemon, coffee, pine nuts (Laitue Iceberg, citron, café, pignons de pin)Strawberries, wild strawberries and pistachios (Fraises,
fraises des bois et pistaches)

The Wines:<table><tbody><tr>
 <td>2012
 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</td>
 <td class="wysiwyg-text-align-right">95</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>2013 Brovia Barolo Rocche</td>
 <td class="wysiwyg-text-align-right">97</td>
 </tr></tbody></table>

I was really looking forward to this dinner at TentaziOni,
as my last meal here was truly spectacular. After two packed weeks of tasting
through several hundred 2018 Bordeaux en primeur samples, this dinner
was a rare moment to simply relax and enjoy delicious food, superb wine and
spirited conversation.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1564148642019-IMG_9240_copy.jpg"> 

Perthus green asparagus, raw cuttlefish, almond crust and
"vintage" caviar from Maison Sturia

TentaziOni, located on Rue du Palais Gallien, holds just 5-6
tables and is easy to miss. The simple, spartan décor, with wood table tops, is
immediately welcoming. Giovanni Pireddu, a native of Sardinia, and his wife,
Johanna offer inventive cuisine that melds together influences from their
native Sardinia with French ingredients
and an approach to technique that exalts the purity of the raw materials without
ever being dominant. The result is dazzling, utterly delicious food that hits
so many high notes. My impression is that Pireddu and his team are working at
an even higher level than they were when I last ate here about a year and a
half ago.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1564148686841-IMG_9257_copy.jpg"> 

Sicilian red Gambas roasted in the oven, beans, guanciale
and consommé

We chose the “Au fil du printemps” tasting menu, which was
priced at a ridiculously low 69€ per person.
Everything was absolutely delicious. I loved the green asparagus, raw
cuttlefish and caviar first course, which was light and refreshing. The Sicilian
red Gambas roasted in the oven with beans, guanciale and consommé was richer,
but equally tasty. Red mullet is one of my very favorite fish because of its
intense, but not overpowering, flavor and texture. At TentaziOni it was
expertly cooked and very tasty. The spaghetti was excellent, but I prefer it a
bit more al dente. You can’t please everyone. I also adored the lamb
main course, a perfect early spring dish and a real delight to savor with our
wines. For my taste, the iceberg lettuce dessert was a bit out there, although
it was undeniably well executed. I much preferred the strawberry, wild
strawberry and pistachio dessert, which had that requisite bit of freshness
that is so ideal at the end of a meal.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1564148696207-IMG_9261_copy.jpg"> 

Homemade Martelli spaghetti "Memories of my
Sardinia"

Guests will find a terrific list at TentaziOni full of
small-production wines, many of which have reached cult-ish status. But here
they are, all at what should be their real restaurant prices, with very fair
markups. Kudos to Giovanni and Johann Pireddu for building a list that gives
the guest the opportunity to taste some of the very best wines being made in
Italy today without spending a fortune. Vintages tend to be recent, but frankly,
at these prices, who cares?<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1564148773674-IMG_9302_copy.jpg"> 

Roasted French milk-fed lamb roasted with marjoram,
purple artichokes, taggiasca olives and smoked eel lacquered with honey

We start with the 2012 Barolo from Bartolo
Mascarello, which is everything I expect. Perfumed, gracious and utterly
sublime, the 2012 is all nuance. It is a real treat to taste and drink after
two weeks of tasting embryonic six-month-old Bordeaux. It is also absolutely
gorgeous with some of the lighter first courses on the menu. I can see the
bewildered faces of my guests, all them native or adopted Bordeaux locals. “How
can a wine be so light and yet deliver so much depth and persistence?” That, in
a nutshell is what Nebbiolo is all about. Brovia’s 2013 Barolo Rocche
takes things to another level. It has what Italians call spessore, a
sense of textural dimension, that is unreal. All the classic Rocche signatures
are amped up in a dramatic, statuesque Barolo that opens up effortlessly over
several hours. Sweet floral and spice overtones add brightness, but the 2013 is
one of the most potent, virile Rocches Brovia has ever made. It is also
stunningly beautiful and moving. What a wine!<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1564150101393-image+%2881%29.png"> 

I have an early flight the next morning, so I call it a
night right after dessert, but not before sticking my head into the kitchen,
where I once again marvel that Pireddu and his team are able to make such
gorgeous food in what are tiny, cramped quarters. Readers spending time in
Bordeaux should make point of stopping by TentaziOni, but please call ahead, as
reservations are very hard to come by.<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1564148754760-IMG_9326_copy.jpg"> 

Strawberries, wild strawberries and pistachios

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