Ever been to a restaurant and had a go at making your own dinner? Newly opened restaurant The Gourmet Pasta Company invited the Oxfordshire Guardian to review its food, but the evening was a little different to the normal dining experience. Instead of perusing the menu and sipping wine whilst choosing our dishes, we had a go at making the pasta!
The Gourmet Pasta Company is based in Market Place, Newbury (RG14 5AG), and founder Hugo Lesser aims to put the restaurant on the foodie map by offering Italian food with a South American twist. As well as great food, Hugo has introduced a range of events to the restaurant’s schedule including jazz evenings where musicians and singers perform for diners; and monthly pasta-making sessions where diners can learn how to make pasta from scratch – the good news is the chef makes your dinner.
Pasta-making sessions take place at the front of the restaurant and we joined the August session. On arrival we enjoyed a glass of prosecco and then the training began. We were allocated a work station which comprised of a large wooden tray, semolina flour and water, and in pairs made the dough. We mixed the flour and water, into a thick crumbly dough, then hard part stared – kneading the dough to the right consistency, which was like a workout. Once the dough was soft and elastic in consistency, it was rested for about 10 minutes.
Then the fun stuff… the dough was divided, sliced, rolled and chopped into small pieces and we made our pasta, first was Cavatelli and then Gnochetti sardi. Practice makes perfect as they say, and the more we made the better we got! The session was great fun and chef Tibi tales transported us to Bari, in Italy, where the local women set up work stations in the street, sitting together making pasta which is then sold across Italy and the rest of the world.
However, our pasta would not be travelling anywhere exotic, it was boxed up ready to take home and we were seated in the restaurant ready to enjoy food all cooked by the chef. The restaurant opened in the former ASK and Blue’s Smokehouse site in May. Hugo, whose background is in marketing, previously lived in Argentina and was fascinated by the Italian/ Argentina fusion cuisine. When he moved back to the UK he struggled to find the same dishes and an idea was born!
It took a few years for the perfect restaurant location to come up, but when it did, he joined forces with a chef, who had trained under Gordon Ramsay and who was making a trip to Argentina, to research and create recipes with a South American / Italian twist. The menu includes classic pasta dishes, alternatives to pasta and the section call gourmet pasta which is dedicated to those recipes.
For starter we had Mozzarella arancini with fresh pesto, and breaded calamari with chimichurri and mayo sauce – both delicious – the arancini is made on-site in the pasta room. We opted to try the gourmet pasta dishes – we had green ravioli with spinach and mozzarella served with sage butter, pine nuts and parmesan; and pink sorrentinos with roasted butternut squash and almonds in orange butter and parmesan.
The pasta was really colourful and flavoursome – many of the ingredients used in the restaurant are sourced from specialist Italian suppliers. For desert we (really) enjoyed the hot chocolate fondant and lady finger tiramisu.
We had a really enjoyable evening, the pasta making session was a fun and sociable experience and the food (prepared by the chef) was absolutely delicious. It felt like a full evening, not just a quick dinner and home, and would appeal to all ages.
Our experience, which included a glass of prosecco on arrival, pasta making lesson, and three-course meal costs £49pp for adults and £39pp for under 18s, and we would definitely recommend it.
For more information or to book view https://gourmetpasta.co.uk/
