{"id":94,"date":"2019-08-16T07:43:11","date_gmt":"2019-08-16T04:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cosmindragomir.ro\/?p=94"},"modified":"2019-08-16T07:43:11","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T04:43:11","slug":"de-la-la-nea-ilie-la-mihai-toader-si-alex-petricean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cosmindragomir.ro\/en\/2019\/08\/16\/de-la-la-nea-ilie-la-mihai-toader-si-alex-petricean\/","title":{"rendered":"From "La nea Ilie" to Mihai Toader and Alex Petricean"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a Romanian August 1. A Romanian gastronomic journey from A to Z where Z is influenced by C, G or M or O. ? An unpredictable flow for two consecutive culinary experiences (lunch and dinner), complementary not antagonistic even though they are at opposite poles of kitchen technology. But also a common, generous place, called Romanian gastronomy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

You must stop at "La Nea Ilie" in Pitesti if you pass through the city. As far as I know, nea Ilie is a barbecuer from my ancestors and if we keep using the famous quote from Brillat Savarin everywhere, I think it is "seasoned" the best here. Nea Ilie runs her barbecue in the car fair and has become a local legend thanks to the zahana dishes she serves. Authentic Romanian street food: grilled organs and mace (chi\u0219carie). All. Per 100 grams. "La Nea Ilie" is an extension, I think it's also called La Nea Ilie at home, which makes me think that the restaurant is made in his yard. Here you can enjoy just about any organ on the grill: liver, kidneys, spleen, marrow, mace, liver... and a mujdei to put any slaw or rascal in the head, even if you're starving. I wouldn't even call that extremely concentrated garlic garlic paste mujda. Probably also nizel rubbed with oil and salt. Authentic food, fast (that's if the waiters move with skill, I've actually noticed a considerable improvement in service compared to last year & there are a lot of complaints on facebook about this. Please ignore it, come with food in mind and time to enjoy).<\/p>\n

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In the evening I arrived at NOUA \u2013 Romanian cuisine<\/a>, where Alex Petricean, the resident chef & owner, invited Mihai Toader with the whole gang from Scraps<\/a>. About Fragments I wrote a little here<\/a>i. The concept of the dinner with four hands plus all the other chefs who worked there was inspired by the research done by the Fragmente team for the episode dedicated to culinary Bucharest (an episode that will be released soon) and to which I had the pleasure of contributing. Each proposed dish has a story behind it: whether it's a pretzel with salt like in the old days, or whether it's an Armenian eggplant kebab, I'd call it reinterpreted, but this time I don't want to argue with Alex?<\/p>\n

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The gastronomic experience (dishes were accompanied by drinks \u2013 wines, craft beer, local gin, astringent) was fabulous. And I'm not the type to get excited too easily. The experience, yes!, I know I'm repeating myself, was not only about food and pairing but about a concept as round and consistent as possible: dishes inspired by ethnic cuisines and old gastronomy, drinks, stories & histories and music.<\/p>\n