Aqua Crua

With all due respect for the peaceful borgo and nearby Berici Hills, people come to Barbarano to dine at Giuliano Baldessari's Aqua Crua. Baldessari deserves credit for not having budged an inch, even if forging new paths hasn't always been easy. He continues on the same route—create, uncreate, recreate—neither following trends nor trying to set them. Defining his as avant-garde or haute cuisine is an understatement. Behind his courageous aesthetic (some dishes are so ugly as to be beautiful—think Mugaritz) and the depth of research around a recipe's main ingredient, there's the need to continually go beyond, to satisfy the chef himself, first and foremost. That said, the daily commitment (another plus, as it's hard to find the classics) has led to one of the most interesting series of dishes in modern Italian cuisine. It's all accompanied by an excellent wine cellar and service that feels like it's on a mission on behalf of the chef. And even if Baldessari risks annoying the customer by promising "a journey through folly so as to regain stability in flavor", in reality he has such an expert, Italian hand that any provocation becomes enjoyable. Tasting menus at €100, €120 and €150.