The third course from the traditional tasting menu was a soup with snails, porcini of autumn and butterfly-shape pasta. It was the first time that we had a snail soup. We were amazed at how the soup absorbed the deep flavour of the snails and became a delicacy. Although the flavour of the snails infused into the soup, the snails themselves were still tasty – very meaty and fresh. Needless to say, the porcini and pasta were absolutely fantastic.

Risotto with saffron / fried Apulia artichokes	Snail soup / autumn porcini / butterfly pasta

The fish course for the seasonal menu was a piece of sea bass covered in mint, paprika, and olive oil. The traditional menu was pike with parsley and carefully decorated with various vegetables. They were good, but were not as impressive as the first few courses.

Sea bass with paprika and mint	Pike in olive oil with parsley / anchovies / capers

Moving on to the meat course, the seasonal menu served slices of medium-rare duck breast laying on top of glossy tangy-sweet Modena balsamic vinaigrette. Modena is a famous Italian city in the culinary circle. Balsamic vinegar from this city must be aged for at least 12 years under a strict governing body similar to those governing the quality of French and Italian wine. The balsamic reduction not only moistened each bite of the duck breast, it also provided a fabulous depth of taste.

Duck breast with Modena balsamic vinaigrette	Barbera braised beef shoulder with polenta

The traditional menu came with a good portion of beef shoulder braised in Barbera, a marvellous Italian red-wine grape ideal for braising. We were surprised by the remarkably tenderness of this toughest part of the cow - knife was pretty much not needed at all, just a gentle touch with a fork was enough. Strands of moist meat provided a melt-in-your-month feel. Combining with the intense grape sauce, this dish offered a wonderful palate. From its concentrated flavours and softness, the meat was obviously cooked through a long and slow process. The dish came with polenta on the side, a thick mixture made from cornmeal and milk, a common side dish in northern Italy.

Now, time for dessert - their regular dessert menu with seven choices was provided to us. They said that we could choose as many as we wanted as all desserts could be served in mini portion. What a generous treat to end the menu! We tried an Italian grape pudding, an amaretti cake, and a Valrhona chocolate cake.

Amaretti cake with cream and egg custard	Petits Fours

Our server suggested us a glass of La Spinetta Moscato d'Asti 'Bricco Quaglia' 2003 after the desserts. It is common in Italy to have a light sparkling wine after the dessert. This light and bubbly wine with fragrance of peach has only 5.5% alcohol. What a marvellous drink to finish our night!