The word “perfection” is not one that should be bandied about lightly when reviewing and recommending restaurants in Phuket, but is entirely justified when describing the Laguna complex’s only Italian restaurant La Trattoria at the Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket

From the moment you enter the three interconnecting domes with their light blue and white décor leading out to the west-facing al fresco terrazzo with its classic water fountain you realize that La Trattoria is a citadel dedicated to serving the very finest Italian fare.

Executive Chef Silvano Amolini grew up in a northern Italian Lake Como-based family of chefs and hospitality professionals and learnt cooking from an early age at his mama’s knee. After training in St Moritz his illustrious career first brought him to Thailand in 1991 where he fell in love not only with his bride to be, but the region itself. He returned from 1993 -6 to work at the Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket and again from November 2009 where he now oversees all the catering as their Executive Chef.

Silvano’s philosophy is to serve simple but excellently-sourced and cooked Italian dishes with the emphasis on balancing flavors and paired with beautiful complementary wines. It is what he terms “Retro Cuisine”….a return to the basics that made Italian cuisine globally famous and eschewing the ostentation and gimmickry of so much modern “TV Chef cooking.”

It is clearly a philosophy that works in spades as Dusit’s clientele features a high percentage of returning guests from the older and well-healed section of society. This sophisticated audience travels the world and samples cuisines form all the globally famous food Mecca’s and yet they rave about La Trattoria’s fare and vote with their feet and wallets by returning year after year.

Executive Chef Silvano and La Trattoria’s Chef de Cuisine Lorenzo Stelzer are adamant that inspired cuisine starts with great ingredients and so are fanatic about obtaining the finest imported and local produce with which to work. Aussie beef, New Zealand lamb, Tasmanian salmon and local Andaman fish and crayfish all feature in their selections and the dedication and attention to detail they lavish on sourcing the best produce shows through only too clearly in the dishes they serve.

Our evening started with tomato confit tartar with quail’s egg and light parmesan sauce and beetroot reduction paired with a refreshing Prosecco. Then fresh raw tuna with lemon confit and marinated bell peppers which were a perfect exemplar of flavor balance and paired beautifully with a Soave from Veneto. Lobster ravioli was next served with a hint of foie gras and rocket and again the flavor balance reflected not only a great deal of careful thought but the freshest ingredients.

The main event was Aussie lamb loin with an olive crust, porcini mushrooms and potato and spinach timbale….the lamb mouthwateringly tender and enhanced by a well balance Chianti. Dolce was raspberry gratin with vanilla sabayon and a fine selection of cheeses kept us lingering over the grappa well into the evening.

While La Trattoria clearly serves the finest of fine dining, it also manages to happily cater to families who just want lighter at-thebeach lunches and dinners. There are ample vegetarian selections plus soups, salads, home-made pasta and risotto selections to choose from and wines by the glass.

La Trattoria is once again selected as one of the Tatler’s Best Restaurants in Thailand in 2012 and so it’s easy to think of it as the Bo Derek of restaurants in Phuket….in other words a Perfect Ten!

To mark the occasion, La Trattoria is offering ‘The Best of The Best’ promotion: a 3-course set dinner paired with selected Italian wines priced at Baht 1,290++ per person. It is recommended coming early for pre-dinner cocktails and enjoy the stunning sunset on Bang Tao beach.