Worth their salt

A few of the colorful salts used in the restaurant.

The menu consists of six courses, but first try one of several salt cocktails on offer - perhaps the Blue Margarita made with Persian Blue salt, or the Pink Poodle made with citrus-infused Beefeater 24 gin and freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice with Pink Himalayan salt.

A few highlights from the menu include the starter Three Prawns, an elegantly presented dish with three Botan prawns served on a thick and heavy slab of Pink Himalayan salt.

The salt slab "cooks" the bottoms of the prawns by drawing out the moisture from the meat and enhances their natural sweetness. My personal favorite, Duck Two Ways, is made with pan-fried duck foie gras and home-cured duck ham seasoned with the slightly spicy Viking Java Mix salt. The warm, creamy foie gras, the saltiness of the dry and soft duck ham, and the sweet and sour of the caramelized green apple gave this dish great textures and flavors.

We then had the risotto rosso, a vibrant red-colored rice dish, made using prawn heads cooled in ice and then heated in a pan to attain the bright red color and prawn flavor. Persian Blue salt was grated at the table over this dish, which is served with Molassol caviar and Maltese scampi.

Chef Magnano explained that this salt loses its tang if left out after grating, so it must be served freshly grated. Try the dish without the grated salt first and then again with.