177 TOLEDO: AN AMAZING FINE DINING EXPERIENCE IN NAPLES, ITALY
The Cost - $129 per person
The Atmosphere – Located on the lively Via Toledo inside of the Gallerie d’Italia museum building, 177 Toledo impresses from the moment you arrive at the 5th floor restaurant. You enter the dining area through its stylish cocktail bar adorned with modern art and then proceed to either the terrace, which offers incredible views and the ability to order tapas, or the main dining room which is a sophisticated and chic setting for a formal dinner. Seating only six tables, per night, the restaurant creates an intimate setting for a meal which is made even more wonderful by the contemporary art that adorns the walls. Reservations are essential and while smart casual attire is accepted, you certainly won’t go wrong dressing up for your meal.
177 Toledo is a relative newcomer to Naples’s gastronomic scene, where legendary and historic pizzerias often take center stage. However, the city of over 3 million people has even more to offer, and that is quite evident after a meal at Chef Guiseppe Iannotti’s not-yet two-year-old restaurant. Iannotti, whose other restaurant Krèsios has a remarkable 2 Michelin stars, takes you on a tasting menu journey with creative takes on Italian classics and modern cuisine, even offering a special menu for vegetarians.
The Order – Il 71 Tasting Menu.
The Fantastic – The standout dish was undoubtedly the Shrimp and Caviar. This small plate featured a delicate wasabi emulsion, shrimp on the bottom, and caviar, flying fish roe, and rocket pesto on top. The shrimp melted in my mouth, and the wasabi emulsion was perfectly balanced, allowing the flavors of the caviar and roe to shine. It was one of the best shrimp dishes I have ever tried and it should never leave the menu.
While the Shrimp and Caviar was the most memorable, three other dishes also earned our coveted Fantastic rating: the Pizza, the Eggplant Parmigiana, and the Pera e Noce. The Pizza came out as part of a trio of snacks and was served on what looked like a pillow. The first bite was super light, with the snack consisting of dots of red tomato emulsion sitting on a delicate cake-like base made from seven layers of potato starch. Topped with oregano to simulate a marinara sauce, and complemented by a fermented black garlic sauce, it was an uber-creative take on what Napoli’s most famous food.
The Eggplant Parmigiana was the third course of the meal and consisted of a single, thin, and small, yet long, stuffed Italian eggplant. The eggplant is fried and is topped with eggplant skin ash to give it a slightly burnt sensation which serves to evoke the feeling that you are eating a corner piece of the classic dish. It is then is glazed with tomato-soy miso and stuffed with smoked provola cheese skin, which provides the stringiness of the cheese in the typical dish, and basil pesto. 177 Toledo’s incredible version of eggplant parmigiana is my all-time favorite take on an Italian staple.
The Pera e Noci, which translates to Pear and Hazelnut, was the best dessert of the evening and was yet another version of a classic Italian dish done incredibly creatively. Made to look like the typical half pear that is baked in the oven, the dessert is actually made from white chocolate namelaka, which is similar to a ganache, that contains bits of marinated and fresh pear with pecan praline. The smooth and creamy namelaka was perfection and the harder white chocolate shell not only gave the “pear” its form but also gave some great texture and flavor. From the presentation, to the concept, to the taste, this dessert was a winner.
The Great – The Burrata and Anchovies and the Eel and Apple were the other two small bites that combined with the Pizza to make up the trio of snacks that kicked off the meal. The burrata bite, which comes out as a dumpling tied with a chive, contained no burrata at all. Instead, the Asian-style dumpling was filled with buffalo milk foam and anchovies to simulate the taste of a burrata dish. It was a really delightful bite and showed off the incorporation of international cuisine into the tasting menu.
The Eel and Apple had the best presentation of the snack trio. The eel was charcoal grilled and glazed with tomato, nduja, and umeboshi vinegar, a Japanese plum based vinegar. It was topped with small triangular slices of an Italian apple that is aged on the ground and quite low in acidity. The combination of flavors here was wonderful and made this a special two-bite snack that I’d be glad to eat over and over again.
The first of what I’d classify as the “main courses” of the tasting menu was the Scapece Red Mullet which consisted of a nice-sized filet of Red Mullet with asparagus escabeche and wild garlic pesto. The light, creamy sauce was beautifully done and the fish was lovely. The thin asparagus and cucumber slices added color, texture, and freshness to the dish which complimented the fish very well. It was excellently executed.
The second main course to come out was the Risorto, a cleverly named dish with a double meaning (one religious and the other signifying a risotto from the garden). Vegetables from the restaurant’s own garden are found inside the rice pasta along with some clementine. On the side of the risotto was fried corn with sour onion and cauliflower over a malt base with some colorful edible flowers on top. Overall, the dish was very tasty and the addition of the malt with fried corn and sour onion was a nice additional feature.
Potato Gnocchi with Ragú was the last main course and was a surprise dish from the chef. The extra course was absolutely delicious with the slow-cooked ragú hidden inside of the gnocchi instead of being poured on top of it. Over the gnocchi was an aged parmesan foam that complemented the dish’s tomato flavors and basil oil very well. The gnocchi burst with flavor from the ragú, and the ingredients came together in a special way. This was truly a welcome surprise.
The Good – Only one dish that earned our Good rating, the pre-dessert course that the restaurant called Fennel & Bearnaise Sauce. In it, flavors of fennel and orange combined with a bearnaise sauce for a unique palate cleanser that certainly accomplishes its palate-cleansing goal. Though it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t a course I’d run to repeat.
The Verdict – The meal at 177 Toledo was one of the most impressive meals I’ve had in a long time. Everything from the food to the setting to the service was exceptional and the creative and unique dishes made for a very memorable evening. I highly recommend pairing up visits to legendary Naples pizzerias with a very special, more formal dining experience at 177 Toledo. Get in now before this restaurant becomes even more popular than it already is.