Fans of the Shangri-La Hotel Bangkok's famous and much-decorated in more senses than one Italian restaurant, formerly known as Angelini, may have greeted with consternation the recent news that it no longer is. But on closer inspection, all is well now that the hallowed bastion of the best of Italian cuisine is called Volti Ristorante & Bar instead.
The theatrical multi-tiered configuration and designer décor are substantially unchanged, as are the passions for creating extraordinary culinary experiences, the glass-walled 150-vintage-strong cellar, and the personable, intuitive and informative service.
So what's in the new name? A quick Google reveals that "volti" is Italian for "faces", in this case monochrome murals of fashionable male and female ones complemented with an edgy jazz scene. It also sounds more modern and propulsive, less ethereal and romantic.
The theme is taken up as part of an insightful move to make the cavernous "gods and stalls" space feel more intimate, achieved by covering over the mirrors that formerly lined the upper reaches of the meandering open kitchen counter.
Meanwhile, the bar area opposite the enigmatic entrance has been rewired in a fanciful but plush Bedouin style to complement the party staging possibilities of the restaurant's lower deck, adjoining the al fresco terrace, including upgrading the live "blue-eyed soul" entertainment.
Kudos then to relatively new GM Phillip Couvaras, originally of Ikaria, a small island in the outer reaches of maritime Greece where family lineages stretch back millennia.
Though not entirely his own work, it is he who had the courage to tinker with an already successful restaurant with a near sacred status among local gourmands. Fortunately the over-arching idea is a good one: simply to make it feel more accessible for a casual pizza or pasta, complete with trattoria-style blackboard menu to complete the out-size illustrated hand-held version, while remaining a compelling choice for celebrating something.
The internal tweaks don't entirely steal the show. That honour is shared with another Sophoclean brainwave – giving the magnificent palm trees that fringe the lagoon swimming pool a vigorous pruning, the better to see the river action. To be so close to the flow and yet have the view obscured always felt profligate but now that you can plainly see the floating Christmas tree dinner tour boats gliding up and down it adds another layer of enchantment to the dining experience.
To complement this reorganisation of key design elements, the software has been rejigged too, especially in terms of also relatively new head chef Luca Casini, a Tuscan with Michelin-starred restaurant experience under his belt with a taste for turning Italian classics into culinary art.
Forget the old cliché of catching the cooking bug from his mother, that distinction he ascribes to his grandfather Giuseppe. As for other influences, his favourite herbs are the rosemary and sage of his native Tuscony, though his first new menu also skips from the Alpine north to the Sicilian south.
"We have a good combination," is how Luca modestly puts it.
As for the proof….
STARTERS
Marinated Octopus (390 baht)
Surprisingly tender ingots of Italian octopus tentacle in a herby, olive-oily sauce with taggia olives, cherry tomato, potato and parsley. The secret is to sauté the octopus with vegetables, herbs and garlic instead of boiling so the flesh yields its own jus. Sensual in the chewing, mother-earthy on the palate and satisfying in the stomach.
Yellow Fin Tuna Carpaccio (410 baht)
As a "carpaccio fan", Luca offers three varieties. Here long strips of red flesh fished from the Mediterranean, Japan or Indonesia, are enhanced both gastronomically and visually with tear drops of mustard mayo, fresh orange, herbs, black pepper and multan salt flakes, and thin crescents of pickled onion. Added with yellow and purple edible flowers the appearance is reminiscent of Laura Ashley wallpaper while the chewing is a definitively Mediterranean melt-in-the-mouth delight.
PASTA & RISOTTO
Fettuccine Porcini (490 baht)
Luca's grandfather Giuseppe's homemade fettuccine recipe proves the perfect counterfoil to a luscious mushroom sauce. Prepared daily from semolina flour and egg yolks, the pasta cooks in 2.5 minutes. Not being dried it dispenses with any need to be al dente and is instead sensorially soft. The sauce of porcini sautéed with a little garlic, white wine, cherry tomato, vegetable stock and butter, binds beautifully. The kind of dish you could eat every day and never tire of.
Tortellini (450 baht)
A Bolognese classic with roasted ham and green peas in a Parmesan cream sauce.
Pumpkin Risotto (450 baht)
A dish derived from Luca's admiration for the combination of pumpkin and gorgonzola cheese. Slow roast butternut squash till thoroughly dry then purée and create a gorgonzola dolce cream. Melt together with Carnaroli rice and sprinkle with contrastingly crisp roasted almond flakes. Not too rich, cheesy or sweet, it also goes down a real treat.
PIZZA
Biancaneve (450 baht)
Besides sun-dried onion focazzia etc, the roaring beech oven under Luca's purview produces subtly smoky in-between pizza crusts – neither exceedingly crispy nor doughy. His favourite captures the compelling combination of prime cold cuts and cheeses with rustic breads. The crust is melted with mozzarella cheese then covered with Parma ham, rocket and curly Parmigiano shavings. With a nice glass of Chablis, it's another near addictive experience.
MAIN COURSE
Grilled Lamb Chop (1,100 baht)
The matter-of-fact title doesn't do this exotic take on the classic justice. It's all down to the couscous and cauliflower counterfoil muddled with pine nuts, raisins, lime juice, cherry tomato and olive oil, along with baby spinach salad, that bring out something special in the lamb.
Roasted Sea Bass (700 baht)
The dish you have to have gets the artist treatment with salsified saffron sauce, potato and salicornia.
DOLCE
Luca makes no apologies for offering a classic tiramisu premised on lashings of prime mascarpone. His panacotta, however, has a twist, replacing gelatine with lemon so that the consistency is creamy thick. Strawberry sorbet, amaretta sauce and crunchy nuts complete the decadent picture.
Millefeuille is another perfectionist vision with the pastry crisp yet chewy and fresh vanilla cream arranged into droplets. Strawberry sorbet and sauce offer tart counterpoise to the creamy sweetness.
It would be remiss not to mention that all Shangri-La hotels are implementing a "Rooted in Nature" concept, described as "a culinary initiative highlighting locally or ethically sourced food offerings". It features strongly on Volti's à la carte menu and throughout the hotel. Executive Chef Mathew Bennink reveals that by 2017, 50% of all menus will be created from sustainable local commodities, rising to 75% within 2020.
That's why the group was first to strike shark's fin from its menus (all the more commendable given its genesis in Hong Kong) and why it no longer serves blue fin tuna or snowfish.
Delectable dining with a clean conscience, then. What's not to love about this legendary Italian restaurant's thoroughly seductive new complexion?
VOLTI RISTORANTE & BAR is located on the lobby level of the hotel's Shangri-La Wing. The restaurant opens for dinner nightly from 6 to 10:30pm.
