A fine dining tasting Journey in Monaco

Once upon a time, on a fairy land covered by enlighten trees and sparkling people, there was a place hidden like a gem in the heart of Monte Carlo. With its Italian roots, Rampoldi and La Table d'Antonio are the secret places that no one can keep a secret about.

Back to its roots in 1946, Rampoldi is one of the most historical places in Monaco. Many celebrities used to dine here, like Princess Grace Kelly or Sir Roger Moore. In 2016, San Pellegrino young chef, Antonio Salvatore took the horns of the new restaurant and turned it into a modern eclectic Mediterranean restaurant.  Very much anchored into the Italian tradition, the Chef Antonio wanted to bring a new vibe to the place but also to revive the authentic Italian pasta from the historic brand in Gragnano.

The artistry of Chef Antonio can be seen in the entire concept of dining from sensorial, visual and mostly tasting senses. His artistry is an entire road of picking flavour experiences and taking them to whole new sensations. The softness of the entire craftsmanship relies on the fact that passion starts in the eye, goes through the brain straight to the heart through the skilled hands of the chef. This is the case for Salvatore Antonio!

The ambition of the Chef is rooted in his childhood where food and cooking were a religion and a way of life. From here to passion and highest dreams there was nothing else but sure steps to being his own brand. His hero, the molecular cooking innovator, Ferran Adria, fuelled his ambition to push forward even more.  

"Being a chef is like being an athlete. Discipline is key!" said Salvatore Antonio.

His cuisine is linked to the reminiscence of his parent's garden: fresh and local cooking as much as possible from a raw bio option. The restaurant has always creative dishes based on refreshing flavours like fresh fish and seafood. Purple shrimps from San Remo with Gaspacho, various fruit sorbets and wild strawberries are the perfect mix of Italian and French cuisine.

My gourmet journey at La Table d'Antonio was an immersion into a world of ethereal pure budding sensations. The words of the evening were exquisite softness of tastes within a chic frame. The place has a different vibration with a unique decoration. A huge screen with travelling projections but mostly the 140 wooden chests accessible by digital key belonging to the members of the Cigar Club! It is known that, at first, it was a cigar club, now it keeps this glamorous side for its originality. Even Prince Albert II of Monaco has his own chest engraved with Grimaldi emblem.

Chef Antonio has won his first star Michelin in 2021.

Each part of the fine dining had a moment of its own. The basis: the bread of Matera came with written words like: "Devotion, faith, confidence and love, all these mix for Matera bread, history and tradition, just like the perfume and the warmth of the strong wheat that comes off with each slice, awakening the senses and emotions." Little details that compose the entire puzzle of emotions!

Barbajuans, sea urchins foam soup, milk pork of Sardaigne, accompanied by a soft red wine and Grappa Nonino de Merlot , finishing with fine chocolate balls in a world of chocolate globe that I had to break with a small wooden hammer and coming in steam clouds.

The exploration of a tasteful world relies on refinement and exquisite experience that mixes several senses. This is the idea of success behind La Table d'Antonio!