Wednesday, November 13, 2019

La Vita at The Podium

La Vita Ristorante Italiano - for a taste of authentic Italian cuisine!



A week before Tim and I flew for Europe, I received an invite to dine at La Vita at The Podium.
La Vita, which means "the life," is all about giving the best of the best to its customers. With Italian Chef Maurizio Gibillini at the helm, expect to find authentic Italian dishes worth every peso. I can personally attest to this - I just got back from two weeks in Italy and to tell you the truth, I wasn't really satisfied with most of the dishes I got to try there, especially with the prices we paid for them. So yes, I did find myself craving for La Vita's dishes a few times when I was on vacation. 

Zuppe (Soup)

Whenever I eat out, I usually go for Pumpkin or Mushroom Soup, but at La Vita, I found myself reaching out for the Tomato Soup more. I love that it has a bit of a kick to it and the fact that you can still find chunks of tomato in there along with the mixed seafood. A steal at Php 240!

Insalate (Salad)

The "My Way" Salad (Php 230) is simple, yet flavorful. Here, Chef Maurizio shows that you don't have to complicate dishes to make them taste good. I'm someone who skips salads, but this one's worth trying. It's Caesar salad with homemade mayonnaise, anchovies, fresh dill, and caviar.

Antipasti (Starters)

If you were to choose, would you go for beef or octopus? The Beef Carpaccio Alla Cipriani (Php 300) has sliced raw beef in olive oil, lemon, chili, and shaved parmesan cheese; while the Carpaccio Di Polipo Alla Sarda (Php 280) contains cooked octopus with Italian vinaigrette, garlic, chili, and parsley. These dishes aren't all that common so I highly recommend trying them both. They're very well done and the taste profiles are really different. Though I have to admit, I enjoyed the beef carpaccio more as I found it to be more flavorful (I thought the octopus slices were too thin).

If Tim were around, he probably would have ordered the Gran Misto All Italiana and some red wine. It's a combination of three types of cheeses (peperoncino, brie, pecorino) and three types of meat (spianata, chorizo, and salami milano).

I had to ask the staff for the price twice because I couldn't believe their answer. Would you believe that you can get all this for Php 750?? I can already imagine the Titas gathering here for Wine Tuesdays (or you know, any day of the week). Sobrang sulit!

Pizza

For the pizza, the highlight for me was the Pizza Con Burrata Fresca (P540). Burrata is a type of cheese made from Italian cow's milk where the outer layer is mozzarella and the inside, soft and creamy. It has a light taste to it which paired really well with the arugula and tomato sauce.

If there's one thing you shouldn't skip here at La Vita, it's the pasta. Every single dish we tried tasted amazing!!

Linguine Allatavolara (Php 400)
linguine with shrimps in extra virgin oil, garlic, chili, and crab paste

I've tried pasta with crab paste before, but this one is the best so far!

Pappardelle Alla Crema Di Tartufo (Php 440)

You'd think it's your typical truffle cream pasta, but it's not! This one doesn't scrimp on any ingredient - not the porcini cream and certainly not the truffle oil!

Risotto

It's so hard to find good risotto here in Manila, but I think I found my favorite in the Risotto Profumo di Legna (Php 460). It's pretty much just rice and cheese (smoked scamorza and parmigiano cheese), but I highly doubt I can copy this at home haha. They have two others that I've yet to try (Risotto De' Milan and Risotto Con Porcini), so you bet your ass I'm going to be back for those real soon.

When they told us they were bringing out dessert, I honestly thought I couldn't take another bite. But after seeing them up close, I just had to try them (I mean, it'd be rude not to! hehe)

They only have these three - the Pannacotta con Miele al Profumo Di Tartufo, the Tiramisu Affogato Al Bailey's, and Mousse Di Cioccolato. They are all priced the same (Php 280) which makes it more difficult to choose, but know that none of them are overly sweet (I know that this is a factor for some people). They're the type of dessert that one pairs with a coffee to end the meal, just like how they'd do it in Italy.

So if you're looking to gather over Italian cuisine that's more than just your regular pasta and pizza, visit La Vita at 3rd Level of The Podium Mall!

You can also prepare Italian dishes at home with the help of quality ingredients that La Vita sells in store - from cheeses to meats to caviar!

May it be a casual lunch, work meeting, dinner date, consider La Vita. I'd dine here more if only it were nearer my house. Will bring Tim here one of these days, I promise!!

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