October and November have always been remembered as the time where people get excited about one thing and one thing only – the white truffles from Alba, Italy. It’s an exotic ingredient, rare, elusive, and highly prized. I heard that it was priced for around 70 million rupiah (around USD 7,000) per kilo this year! Now, let’s venture deeper to these thinly sliced paradise.

This time, I didn’t get the chance to meet the Chef Oriana, but she had prepared excellent choices to compliment the majestic mushrooms. Among three antipasti dishes available, we opted for crudo Wagyu tenderloin with stravecchio (24-36 months old) Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. On top of it, the freshly grated wonder of Mother Earth! Finally, I got the chance to taste this marvelous ingredient. Be that as it may if people say that it’s pretentious, overpriced, or overrated but I choose to believe the magic behind this beautiful creature.

The appetizer composition itself was already impeccable. The raw beef goodness, the freshness of the orange, the unique texture of pomegranate, and the bitterness of rockets altogether combined with slices of melts-in-your-mouth gold of Alba. Although you may find it quite unfamiliar at first, without the truffles the dish will never be the same. The magic then continued with other fabulous Italian dishes.

The homemade egg tagliolini was silky and sultry with richness that came from butter-y and creamy truffle sauce alongside porcini mushrooms. Again, the white truffles made all the difference. Chef Oriana’s creations were already perfect but to add these wonders took it all to a brand new escalation I’ve never peaked before! Gorgeous!

The star of the show came last. It was the seared duck breast, foie gras, with apple terrine. It’s a brave combination but my wife who happens to be very picky, really enjoyed this particular dish so much I can hardly believe myself hearing her praises. It appeared simple but it was not. As for me, I enjoyed so much the beautiful red ravioli of Jerusalem artichoke and mascarpone cream. Of course, the white truffles created this dimension that I have to wait only once a year for it to open. Such a majestic display of ingenuity in taste!

Ah, it was dream come true. It feels great to be able to taste exotic ingredients that came seasonally. After saffron and Alba white truffles, what’s next? Hopefully something worth the great adventure again! Kudos for Rosso with its fine dishes from time to time. I held my hopes high always for this restaurant!

White Alba Truffles promotion will only be available until November 30, 2013

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