Family-style

The menu at Solaire Resort North’s Finestra gets revamped

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WE LOVE a chef who is in touch with his roots: and from a chef born in what was once a Phoenician settlement, those roots run deep.

Finestra at Solaire Resort North invited us over for dinner on Jan. 26 to introduce its chef de cuisine, Joel Manchia, who hails from Olbia in Sardinia, and seems to love his family a lot judging from his food.

The antipasti at the newly revamped bar area included a Mortadella open-faced sandwich, with excellent homemade bread, the cheese blending into the bread as if they had always been one, the union interrupted by the richly porky mortadella. We made bites out of Portuguese sardines, which he served with capered butter and pickled onions. We also had great fun with his octopus, breaded and served with an aioli: just the right texture. This he uncovered last: cottony soft meatballs in a cheesy tomato sauce — a recipe from his very own mother.

We washed all of this down with sparkly Bellinis, and their version of a Negroni: the Pecoroni. It’s made with Bulldog Gin, Pancetta-fatwashed Bianco Vermouth, campari, and Pecorino foam: all this combined made us think we were drinking a multicourse dinner.