Celebrated Chef Rodrigo Toso Opens Acqua Restaurant
Released on: January 23, 2008, 3:01 am
Press Release Author: Rodrigo Toso
Industry: Consumer Services
Press Release Summary: Punta Del Este Boutique Development Plays Host to Gourmet Beach Club
Press Release Body: Punta Del Este,Uruguay, Jan 23,2008--ACQUA, the new beachfront development designed by world famous architect Rafael Vinoly, has added yet another celebrity talent to their repertoire with Rodrigo Toso, who last year was chosen as chef of the year by Academia Argentina de Gastronomía, and who is the new executive chef of ACQUA BEACH CLUB. Fresh off his role as Executive Chef of the famed Hotel Caesar Park in Buenos Aires, Toso will bring his experience from staples like Il Bucco in New York, the Delano in Miami and Hotel Dei Borgognoni in Rome to create the kind of five-star cuisine residents of this elegant property would expect.
ACQUA BEACH CLUB will operate much as the chic tourists of Punta Del Este do - classic leisure during the day, sophisticated energy at night. Lunch offers full outdoor seating and a complete menu of refreshing seafood, salads, and sandwiches with what Toso calls a "Gourmet identity". "Fortunately, Uruguay has amazing fresh produce and imported cheeses from France and Italy, so the options are limitless" Toso explains. The fare will be Mediterranean with typical Uruguay dishes like Calamari Rings, pan sautéed miniature shrimp, and of course mussels in white wine. "Our mussels are literally as fresh as possible - they are caught every day by our fisherman. He brings them to us and we cook them immediately." A favorite of the lunch menu is the Gravlax sandwich - cured salmon cooked to a texture like Prosciutto, with cream cheese and lemon.
The restaurant closes at the end of the "day" (around 6) and re-opens at ten for an intimate dinner crowd, seating only sixty. The dinner menu is customized, an original cuisine invented by the chef. "I gave up trying to specify one 'style' or another. I like to cook "cuisine du Marché", or 'whatever is fresh'. If I don't like the products that day, I will change the menu to something more perfect" he elucidates. Toso has been cooking for the last 22 years; the cuisine he has perfected is a mixture of his favorite tastes, spices, and techniques from his studies in New York at the CIA and Switzerland at Ecole Hotelier de Laussanne, work in Paris, travels to Asia and India, influences from Italy, and exploring South America the past ten years. "My favorite food was in Peru, they have the most exquisite cuisine I have ever tasted in my life, it's fresh and sophisticated", he proclaims.
ACQUA BEACH CLUB's dinner menu has already received rave reviews, with favorites like the cold Avacado soup appetizer with orange juice and Uruguayan caviar ("just as good as Russian caviar"), Jumbo Thai shrimp with coconut milk, and a pork entrée derived from the neck of the animal ("very fatty, simply amazing"), cooked for six hours until the fat is caramelized, then treated with a mixture of honey, mustard, smoked paprika, sesame seed oil, and drops of smoked essence for perfume. What may be most unique about Toso's cuisine is the use of various teas (such as the Red Tuna with Smokey Earl Gray), thanks to his wife Ines Berton; creator of "Tealosophy" and one of the only tea perfumers in the world. "Discovering tea for cooking is like a painter finding new colors; it has enhanced everything I do and thought I knew".
The backdrop for this superior establishment is the magnificent ACQUA, a breathtaking 34-unit structure, soon to become the most exclusive and unique real estate development in Punta del Este. With units ranging between 3,000 and 16,000 square feet, and private swimming pools of up to 1,000 square feet, this project truly is an architectural marvel. In fact, Acqua was recently awarded the Most Attractive International Project from both SIMA and FIABCI. Overlooking the ocean and steps away from Punta's pristine beaches, Acqua will offer style, convenience, security, and superior amenities like private elevators, wine cellars, and state of the art gym and spa.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Go to www.acqua.com.uy or call (598) 98 852 409 PRESS INQUIRIES: email becky@americasmediagroup.com or call 305-856-1981 x314. Press release distribution by PressReleasePoint(http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/).
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