Valentina Chiaramonte and Domenico Cosentino: the more and more successful chef-barman duo.
You need to dare when you are in the kitchen. And only those who have a creative nature can do in a better and original way. This is why we went into Fud OFF, a former garage for vintage motorbikes situated in via Santa Filomena, in the heart of Catania. Andrea Graziano – owner of FUD – turned it into a place where you can drink cocktails and eat food, which tastes of tradition and innovation, but where formality is not mandatory.
A gallery space where the shade is pleasantly interrupted by spot lights and colourful islands reflecting in the antiqued mirrors. Everything seems to recall New York’s fusion places. However, as soon as you step outside, you found yourself catapulted into the enjoyable chaos of the city dominated by Mount Etna, dazzled by the sun and woken up by the “vuciate” of the “Piscaria” (shouts coming from the fish market) not far away from Fud Off.
Valentina Chiaramonte is waiting for us in the kitchen, barman Domenico Cosentinois standing at the counter. The stayed up late, but turning day into night seems to be normal for them. While Valentina put together the ingredients of her dish, Domenico mixes cocktails. The challenge is to create unusual combinations with four hands by matching a gourmet dish with a coffee drink.
We immediately get with Valentina’s dishes look like paintings: she graduated in history and art critics and used to work as a copy and advertising designer before becoming a cook. It was astonishing to see how everything was highlighted by Domenico’s coffee-based cocktail. A winning couple: Burger with pastrami combined with cucumber-based espresso tonic.
Pastrami and cucumber Burger
Ingredients:
2 slices of toasted rye bread
20 g coarse mustard and Marruca honey
40 g wasabi and fresh coriander mayonnaise
2 pickles
20 g red cabbage
140 pastrami (smoked and spiced breast, sliced thinly) by Pawel Sacha.
Espresso tonic with cucumber
Ingredients:
1 espresso Moak
15 ml cucumber juice
30 ml vodka
Ginger beer (fill up)
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Valentina Chiaramonte, native from Palermo, is an ironic and intriguing cook. With the dishes she prepares, she is able to tell a lot about herself and her region, about her past experiences and culinary passions. The result is a new cuisine that with simplicity and frankness aims at delicious pleasures free from boundaries and limits..
Domenico Cosentino, bar manager of Fud off, has been standing behind the counter for more than twenty years, and gained experience also overseas. He loves reinterpreting classical cocktails with a Sicilian touch and always searches for the excellences of the island to give his cocktails a Sicilian soul and character.
