Mona's Meals | Sunday, 28 December 2008

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The Mona’s Meals Top Restaurants for 2008

Every year, Mona’s Meals - that’s this column, incidentally - crowns the best restaurants, or rather, eating outlets, of the year. We don’t make a massive brouhaha out of it, although really we should. The restaurants do not have anything to show for it except some words on a paper. However, considering that between MaltaToday and planetmona.com, thousands of people follow what I have to say about them and patronise them, then that should be a trophy enough.
This year - 2008 just in case you’re reading this fifty years from now, having taken a chip out of a time pod - was characterised by several shifts in Maltese culinary culture: the eating in of extremely well-sourced foods bought from the few conscientious suppliers on the island; the proliferation of wenge furniture and red walls in practically every single new restaurant leading to more of the lack of identity we’re such experts at; and the opening of more ‘wine bars’ by people who have no idea of wine and even less of food (on one occasion, a ‘French platter’ included brie, camembert, zzzzz. Oh sorry I went to sleep there. Does that mean I did not dream the cheddar? Oh yes it does). There should be a law against it but there isn’t.
Meanwhile, several campaigns have kicked off and gathered speed as we went along. Right now, we are particularly interested in what is going on at the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs: what machines stopped working at the biccerija two years ago and were never replaced or fixed, leading to the throwing away of tons of produce; the lack of interest in traditional Maltese products; the general apathy when it comes to anything not directly EU-related superimposed with a zealousness for hygene.
It was quite apt that The Writer’s and my personal year was crowned with his best friend’s wedding at none other than the Xara Palace. Spectacularly organised (they have their own planner, called Joanna, and she is damned good), the attention to detail throughout the evening was beyond words. Wine was served in its appropriate glass for red or white, drinks were well mixed and the food was sublime: fresh, innovative and in the kind of portions you can eat without staining your Balenciaga and Miu Miu. Considering that mass catering is extremely difficult to get right, I was so happily surprised with the outcome that I made TW promise me that the next time we get married (I have no plans to do it with anybody else) we should do it here.
All this is appropriate because since I reviewed it in April, the De Mondion, the Xara’s signature restaurant, has been hovering at the top of the top five restaurants on planetmona.com. We had gone with The Cowboy and the Stunning Blonde (back when she was still one) and experienced Kevin Bonello’s menu degustation - all ten courses of it - in its full glory. Moreover Kevin produced a full-blown low-carb menu for me. We accompanied everything with a selection of wines that, again, were chosen by the staff to match each item we ate. Kevin uses pure materials, local whenever possible, and mixes them with flowers, herbs and cooking procedures that few other local chefs can ever match up to. The service at the De Mondion is superb; always discreet, friendly but not too friendly. The ambience is enchanting - there simply is no better view available anywhere. It is the number one romantic restaurant on the island.
For attention to detail on almost the same scale, one has to cross the waters to Gozo where Ta’ Frenc is still belting out the best food available in this small stretch of land. Many restaurants have opened over the past few years, but none have managed to surpass Ta’ Frenc’s attention to detail. On a visit some weeks ago, we sampled their champagne, their wine (both produced by very reputable vineyards in France), and their olive oil. They collect their own honey and grow their own corn-fed and free-range chickens and their own herbs. Mario Schembri, the Chef, still speaks about food as if he just discovered it yesterday, so head over heels is he about it. They know how to produce Michelin-level food, but their best produce is always the traditional through which they restore faith in the genuine - the cannelloni with tomato sauce I had on our last visit was a triumph in restraint and exuberance. Their staff have come a long way and these days I rarely see any gel on heads or too-Gozitan gestures (which are fine if you’re Gozitan but seem like too much if you’re not). Every time we go to Gozo and I go to another restaurant (because I have to) I’m always sad that that could have been time better spent at Ta’ Frenc.
Back on this island, Tal-Familja continues to rank strong for seafood, freshness, friendliness and that all-good, all-family, all-value-for-money, all-quality menu that they have been giving us for years now. Headed by the indomitable Charlie, who seems to have become part of the furniture, flanked by his lovely wife Stella, with Ramona and Roberta in the kitchen and other Preca daughters on the front of house, this is one eponymous family who really know what they’re doing. I have been there myself countless times and have recommended Tal-Familja to every single group, family or foreigner that asks me for a good fish place and never, ever have they come back and said they were disappointed. Yes, the decor borders on the kitsch, yes outside next to the ‘terrace’ is full of idiotic people showing off their cars. So what?
If it’s chic you want, then this year’s super-fast climber has to be Caffé Luna. It had everything working against it: it did not open neither for dinner nor on Sundays (it now does), and it seemed to be a posh, spoilt, petulant restaurant until one stopped concentrating on all that and discovered it for what it really was. The staff look like they’re coming off a Prada runway in their white-and-beige-linen glory. The napkins and tablecloths are linen too, the cutlery is so beautiful I always want to steal it, and the food is extraordinarily innovative and very, very dolce vita. The view of the perfectly manicured garden, being as it is in one of Malta’s most beautiful palazzi, is a sight for sore traffic-jammed eyes. The attention to detail is perfect: they have their own blankets for when it gets chilly, child-size chairs and tables for teddy bears’ picnics and highly-trained, friendly staff who have never complained when my friends and I get sloshed on Domenico Maura’s fabulous cocktails.
The end of the year brought another revelation. Having ‘disappeared’ for months, Hani Harb, the man who had turned a hole in the wall in Gzira’s Bronx into the restaurant to rave about and who had introduced a nation to Lebanese food, turned up at Vecchia Napoli in the guise of Executive Head Chef. Vecchia Napoli is backed by a team of investors who seem to have been on the hunt for the best people on the island before they set anything up. The managing director is Julian Sammut, who came with years of experience running Rubino’s, researching Mediterranean food, and writing about it. The pizza at Vecchia Napoli is so intensely good - texture, topping and all - that I am seriously addicted. Judging by the comments on planetmona.com I’m certainly not alone. Whether it’s sitting down for a casual mid-week dinner with TW or with friends, or just calling them, ordering and whizzing by with the car for a takeout, few pizzas in my lifetime have surpassed the beauty of the Capo di Monte, with its whiff of truffle and its fresh, genuine flavours. Their parmiggiana is sublime and their desserts are great. For casual dining this side of Italy, they can’t be beat.
If it’s revelations you want, then you should give Marvin at Tarragon another try. The poor guy, tripping over himself with enthusiasm, was showing too much of it at the table and got a bit of a reputation for intruding. Well, he’s learnt his lesson - you can all go back. His food is extraordinary, but in a very non-threatening, can-take-the-in-laws way. His trio of tortellacci especially is now the stuff of legend, and his staff have been with him since day one of setting up in St. Paul’s Bay, which is always an indication of good management.
Over the past year, the Mona’s Meals Cookery Workshops kicked off in a big way, and they could only be sold out within days every time we set one up because of Claude Camilleri’s name. If I had to mention three men (sadly, yes, all of them men) on the island who are up there with their love raw ingredients, Claude’s would be there. His ten-line menu descriptions (including the one about not wanting to serve chicken) are legendary and, if you have a sense of humour, funny in a very Maltese way. He knows organic, he knows meat, he knows fish and his lemon tart will go down in the annals of local gastro history, not least because of his absolute insistence on using local fruits. Claude is extremely loveable and few people who book a table at Palazzo Santa Rosa do not get a craving to return again and again.
So it is with the readers of www.planetmona.com. This year saw the re-launch of the website which, believe it or not, was originally born simply as a sideline to the hard copy of Mona’s Meals. These days, the website is a full blown virtual magazine overflowing with critiques, travel articles (I always go where I recommend), recipes, fashion and the most important thing of all: reader feedback. It has its own domestic goddess, its tasters and was the first outlet ever for exclusive recipes from Malta’s best. Since we re-launched, readers have logged in 240,000 times in the space of three months, and although a good percentage of you come from Malta, many others come from the UK, Italy, Germany, Australia, China, Singapore and even India.
Thank you for a fantastic 2008, readers. Thank you for your efforts, restaurateurs; it’s nice to see that some people do not just care, but actually have a passion for what they do. A happy new year to everyone.

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