The Korea Times

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2000 1 3

A Leap at II Ponte
--------------------
By Ken Kim
Times Wine Writer
H
ave you l:>ecn to Hilton
H_ot_ei lately'? In _case yo_u
t. rhi s .i s a st-orv
vou don't want-to miss. ll Pont;
;$the Italian restaurant located :n
the l<1wer level of the Hilton in
Seoul and um!ergone a major
makeover in recent months. This
makeowr gives a sort of
feeling of interactive dining. By
interactive dining I mean the re-
moval of :1 wall that ends tradi -
tional separation between pa-
trons and the working in
:he kitchen.
The trends of open kitchens and
casual dining are here to stay.
This rype of open and airy floor
design started out in California
decides ago as Californi-
ans do not care much for forma!
sertings. The warm climate there
allows folks to enjoy less formal
anirc like their typical shorts and
$andals. Likewise. opening up
the kitchen to the patrons was
more than a nat.ural thing. His-
torically California sets- manv
new trends because of places
like Hol!vwood.
During' the course remodeling.
the establishment also undertook
the effort of updating the con-
tents that go along with this
eaterv. This update includes the
of .Paolo Sari,the new ex-
ecutive chef. as well as a new
wine menu.
In order to show off what thev
have accomplished. the Hiltm{s
publicist Renate Lee didn't
waste anytime asking this chap
to drop by and sample their new
Here is mv impres-
sion that 'i would like to pass on
to you in time for the holidays.
First I like to be2in with their
new wine Jist. As rnav have
guessed, the labels. presented in
the menu are nothing but real
Italians. The menu consists near-
lv 40 different Italian
ai1ywhere from Piemome to that.
of Veneto, not to memion the
names like Toscana_
Tiley even insisted serving
sparkiing ltal.ian wine over
French Champagne. These
sparkhn)Z wines lt)clude Prosec
co Extra Brut. Man::he>i de Frcs-
,obaldi 1<)96 and Fr;,nciiKorta
Brut. Ca de Bosco 1992.
UPote
:-;ext to these sp;;rkiing wmcs
<:rc the wh;te vam:ty Thl'Y an:
divide:J into the Yari0U!' winev
!"""''Jrril'i\ r=(}inr::;. ( lt. lt"dv

Piernorne. Lombardi;, and
To:-:cnna. Under the of
Pien1onte. l have noticed--Angelo
Gaia Ch:mionn:w l997. If J mav
add. G;;ja was once re
carded n u;,itor am0n2 fellow
\vine producers he
didn t hesitate :. o replace his
with a French varietv of
Chardonnay putting the cen-
turies-old ltalian tradition in
jeopardy, In f <tct. this labe l
bears the highest sticker price of
J 20.000 won per bottle.
Contrary to Gajas Chardon-
73
nav. the menu also offers other
Cliardonnavs from Montezemo-
lo for onlv 79.00() won with a
vinr.age of 1996. Other familiar
names are Soave and Pinot Gri-
zio. Soave Classico. Pegaso
l99S can be ordered by the glass
for 9.200 won. The least expen-
sive white label was Cesari Fnm-
cati and is offered at 42.000
won per bottle while the price
for a glass was 8A00 won. Col-
l io Pinot I 999 was
priced ar 49.000 won, but you
cannot order l:>v the cla$S.
For the nd labels.' 14 are from
- vou it - Tc)sc:ma.
oui of the total of 22 b bels.
four from Veneto and the
l:>:dance nrc fr om Picmonte _
Without '' doubt. the very first
runner-up among al l oth-ers is
Chianti Principe 1997 ..
To me. Chianti and Toscann. arc
>vnonvmous wine
iOvcrs"' around the world use
Chianti for Tosntna or the o1her
\.\'av around is
nienr for rhem. A chianii's h:he:
'-srin en red on a
\.\'h1ff' back;;nnmd n ..
the of ;:t :'('kiicr froni
et('nt Ronw.
Ct,;Jn; the be't si!ip" ed

world i abo not;red that tht:
menu ended w:th the most ex
pensive ltaiian label S:;s-
sicaia, which has sticker price oi'
285.000 W<ln per bottl e. Sassica-
ia orit:inates from the west coast
of Italy, just below the city of
Pisa. so well known for its lean
ing lower. In fact. I made several
unsuccessful attempts to the
property of Sassieaia last No-
vember when 1 was in Siena.
Italv. The cellarmaster told me
that it would take too manv lav-
ers of red tape w get a permit io
allow visitors,
My culinary experience at ll
Ponte was equally good. As a
starter, spaghetti wi:.h seafood
prepared with shrimp and scallops
was a delight to my palate and
this was more affirming as it Wa$
pai:rt:d with Soave Classico. Pega-
so ! 998 for mv choice of wine.
Two other dishes came with the
spaghetti - Risotto alla Parmi-
giana con Fungbeni Autunnali
(wild autumn mushrooms) and
Tone ll i de Maro i n Coriia
(braised beef laced with four-
cheese sz,ucc). The ma tching
wine for these two dishes was
Terrt' di Franciacorta Bian-
co 1995 by An,r:clo Gaja.
The choice for my entree con
si sted of ro<,q halibut e!'.calopc
and double ,-u:let. laml:> roa q
wi1h goat cheese. They were the
Hue ta,tc of ltalv. t must $<JV.
Brunell(' de Montalcmc 1995 Sv
de Frescz-1ha! di v.;as thC
d 1i.) icc wine for the entree .
coh::tt di 1s 1hc
dut:er in rhe reF;f)n.
Dinner en(kd wlth f"rult
;;u;d CPHee :Js lhc clH.:ice
of As 11 is in the ni fddk
of the hohd:!V cbech.int:
n <;Ui fpr the t_>C('(;I :o-}() ;)
is hi;;h!y r<;commended.