Bistronomy & Balsamica
During a business trip, Alessandro and I (Alberto, father and son) were in Bratislava, the clean and refined capital of Slovakia. After a long day, we were looking for a good restaurant and were impressed by the stellar reviews (average rating of 4.9) for Bistronomy, a 10-minute walk from our hotel (https://bistronomy.sk/, Floriánska 14, 811 02 Bratislava, Slovakia). We make a reservation for that same evening and take a stroll along the Danube to reach this brand new restaurant, with its open-plan kitchen, beautiful exposed wine cellar, elegant curtains in front of the large French windows, and pleasant, welcoming atmosphere.
We take a seat and are welcomed by the friendly Gabriel Valent, who is involved in this culinary project alongside his other colleagues, all of whom are very young. He presents us with the tasting menu—it’s the only option, there’s no à la carte. We trust them, the dishes start arriving, and Alessandro and I are amazed. Every dish is excellent and made with the highest quality ingredients. Vegetables, tubers, and wild berries stand out, all locally sourced, such as porcini mushrooms, truffles, pumpkin, and raspberries; and then there is river fish and red meat. Alessandro and I can’t contain our enthusiasm and start stopping Gabriel every time he comes to our table to comment on the dish and find out more about everything.
We soon notice how the smoky, sweet and sour, soft flavors would certainly have benefited from the accompaniment of Modena balsamic vinegar, and the proposal is not long in coming: enthusiastic about the experience (which is not yet over), we offer to send a gift box of our extra-aged vinegar to the chef, who, thanks to his creativity, will surely have no difficulty in creating a new combination with our product that will amaze his guests. Not content with that, we ask to meet the chef himself, Jakub Roder, who accepts our applause and thanks us for the gift.
After dinner and excellent wine, we return to Modena the following day and immediately start preparing the package, which is sent the next day with the Italian postal service but promptly returns a couple of weeks later – delivery failed. It is immediately re-sent, and once again we find it at home two weeks later – delivery failed. Determined to get our vinegar to the restaurant, we decide to abandon the Italian postal service in favor of a more expensive courier and finally, with the new year, we manage to get our precious bottle delivered into the chef’s hands.
In this type of situation, it is natural to expect the widest range of responses from a successful chef like Jakub. Often, the pleasantries exchanged with a customer in the dining room are simply rehearsed gestures: we have often encountered chefs who are cold and uninterested in our opinion of the food. At the end of the day, we are mere laymen, not critics who can bring positive evaluations to the circles of “people who matter.” Consequently, our expectations were modest, especially considering that traditional balsamic vinegar is actually a niche product, difficult to appreciate, and often requiring a palate that is somewhat “educated” in natural flavors.
We were therefore particularly surprised when I received a message from Gabriel and Jakub warmly thanking us for the gift. Not only that, but they had used vinegar to create an original recipe! Our product has been described as follows:
“We just want to let you know that your Balsamic Vinegar is outstanding, with a multiple layers of flavours.”
In addition to the beautiful images presented in the post, the message contains the recipe, which, as Gabriel explains, is a new combination for me of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar and freshwater fish:
“Jakub wanted to use your product to something “unexpected” So it’s fish main course plate. It’s a Zander with celeriac and perilla. Vinegar gives to whole dish sweetness, acidity and also roundness of the plate and is perfectly balanced and complexed.“
I must say that it was exciting to read the words “family Arletti vinegar” in the recipe description. We haven’t yet had the chance to try this recipe with our Modena balsamic vinegar at Jakub and Gabriel’s restaurant, but we hope to do so soon.
In the meantime, we can only thank the two restaurateurs, who made our visit to the Slovak capital special and certainly added a wonderful memory and a meaningful experience of how our vinegar can be appreciated even outside the country’s borders.
Of course, we invite anyone passing through beautiful Bratislava to stop by Bistronomy for an unexpected culinary experience of the highest level in a truly welcoming environment.
