January 2008
Food in Asia But Not Asian Food
by Celia Cheng
CANOVIANO
1F, No. 9-2 Section 2
Jianguo North Road
Taipei, Taiwan
+886-2-2515-5855
Canoviano is Chef Takamasa Uetake’s Italian restaurant in Japan. Since opening its doors in Tokyo’s Daikanyama area in 1999, the restaurant has garnered much success and continued to open outposts in Tokyo, Kyoto, and now Taipei.
I was shocked to learn that Chef Uetake doesn’t use any of the common ingredients, like butter, garlic or cream, on which Italian food relies for its flavor profiles. His philosophy, which also excludes the use of peppers, is that these flavor enhancers can cover up the fresh flavors of his natural ingredients. Instead he wants diners to smell the uncompromised aromas and taste the true goodness of the produce and food he serves. Even if you ask for pepper or salt for the table, you will be gently but firmly rebuffed, as Canoviano strictly adheres to this policy.
“Chef Uetake focuses on vegetables (be it a sauce or a whole leaf of spinach) and uses meats and garnishes to add flavor and satiate diners. Only local vegetables can provide the freshness that we insist on. We also use imported ingredients such as cheeses, meats, truffles and others that are not readily available locally,” explains Canoviano Taipei’s general manager, Han Lin.
Indeed, each dish was fresh, vibrant and piquant in flavor. Where other Italian restaurants’ flavor profiles are that of butter, garlic, and cream, at Canoviano, I could taste the true essence and deliciousness in every bite, whether it was pasta, seafood, or vegetables.
The restaurant, which only serves prix-fixe menus, is open for lunch and dinner. For dinner, there are two tiers, a six-course Canoviano special menu for NT$ 1880 (~ $59) or a seven-course chef’s choice menu, which incorporates higher quality ingredients, for NT$ 2880 (~ $90). The menu changes daily based on season and the chefs’ day-to-day acquisitions at local markets. But there are some signature staples, such as the raw shrimp, bottarga and tomato sauce cappellini (photo above right).
Canoviano focuses on quality rather than quantity, so portions are small, but perfectly sized for the number of courses served. These are basically tasting portions, and each is prepared just right so that after each course, your palate is still savoring the taste of the last, but hungry for the next. And in the end, you leave feeling satisfied but not stuffed.
Japanese Italian food, if there is such a genre, is not bastardized Italian cuisine, but rather Italian food as prepared by the Japanese. Chef Uetake shared this genre with New Yorkers when he was Head Chef at Basta Pasta, which is a good example of this style of cooking. The Japanese innovate to create delicious flavors based on traditional Italian techniques and dishes. With the added layer of Canoviano’s Taiwanese location, Canoviano’s food is even more interesting as it incorporates as many local ingredients as possible.
While both menus are reasonably priced, my party opted for the six-course. Our menu was as follows:
Appetizer
Japanese Shima shrimp, Taiwanese bottarga with tomato sauce cappellini
Salad
Fresh Hokkaido scallops with seasonal vegetable salad
Pasta
Taitung pearl chicken with seasonal vegetable spaghetti
Soup
Taiwanese golden corn soup with fresh red drum
Entrée
American fillet mignon with morel mushroom sauce with seasonal vegetables
Dessert
Chef’s choice
Italian Trombetta coffee or Taiwanese black tea from Sun Moon Lake
The meal was exquisite. Every bite of every dish was refreshing and awakened my taste buds. My favorite was the cappellini. The soft and slimy texture of the raw shrimp paired with pieces of slightly bitter bottarga balanced the tang of the tomato sauce. Using cappellini — angel hair pasta — was a great choice as the fineness of the pasta engaged every bit of the sauce, soaking up even more flavor.
What was labeled as a soup, corn soup with red drum, at first seemed it would have been more aptly called a fish course because of the piece of red drum prominently placed over two pieces of yama imo — Japanese mountain yam – and topped with fresh vegetables. But as I started to devour this dish, I realized that the soup was as delicious as the fish. I was learning from Chef Uetake that what seemed like just a companion to the fish, the soup, was actually the key to completing this dish. The fish was for substance, but the purity of the soup is what made it stand out. To get the full effect, I made sure that each spoonful included soup, fish and vegetables. Though each bite filled my spoon, it was light and clean.
Even the slices of filet mignon, the main dish, were juicy and light and did not weigh me down after I had finished.
Dessert was quite a surprise. There were five people in our party, and each was served a different dessert: black sesame tiramisu with vanilla gelato, crème caramel with coffee jelly, fresh berries in a red wine soup with earl grey gelato, caramel gelato with banana bruléed zabbaione sauce, and fruit macedonia — salad — with white wine jelly and red bean gelato. The desserts were chef’s choice, and we were thrilled with the choices he had made for each of us, which speaks to how well everything is made, such that regardless of what’s selected on your behalf, it is delightful.
After dinner, we had the choice of either Italian coffee or Taiwanese tea. Everyone opted for the black tea from Sun Moon Lake — the largest lake on the island and a popular tourist attraction in central Taiwan. This tea was special because while Taiwan is famous for producing Oolong tea — a green tea — local tea growers have also started cultivating black teas. The tea was as good as an English black tea, so even though we drank a Western-type tea, it was produced locally, reminding us that though our meal was Italian, the ingredients were local.
The restaurant, which occupies only one floor, boasts two-story ceilings, so even if there’s a party sitting next to you, the dining room feels spacious, like you are having your own private party. The décor is modern, the atmosphere relaxing, and the clientele sophisticated. Dim lighting in the dining room helps to create this serene setting and softens the effects of the illuminated open kitchen at the back of the restaurant. The clientele, even on New Year’s Eve, the night of our dinner, were not loud but rather enjoyed their meals in this easy backdrop.
The service is professional and friendly. From the minute I called to make the required reservation through the end of the meal, the staff were thorough in their explanation of how the restaurant works and what we were eating. Service was attentive but never intrusive; water and wine glasses were never empty and sometimes we didn’t even notice that they had been refilled as the servers were discreet and tried not to interrupt our conversations. They made our meal the most comfortable experience possible.
I’m looking forward to visiting Canoviano on my annual Taipei trips to be wowed by the streamlined and refreshing Italian/Japanese/Taiwanese cuisine over and over again.
