A Hobart hotel has unveiled a theatrical dining experience featuring pasta prepared tableside in a massive wheel of imported Italian cheese.
Mövenpick Hotel Hobart’s Tesoro restaurant introduced the cacio e pepe ritual yesterday, offering diners the opportunity to watch chefs finish house-made linguini inside a 25-kilogram wheel of Pecorino Romano.
The traditional Roman dish, which relies on just three ingredients – pasta, cheese and cracked pepper – is prepared with locally-influenced flair, featuring a flambe element using Tasmanian-made Clearsouth Vodka.
“Tesoro’s cheese wheel experience brings together tradition, providence, quality ingredients and a sense of occasion,” said Andrew Walling, General Manager of Mövenpick Hotel Hobart.
The tableside preparation involves bringing freshly made linguini to diners, where chefs toss it inside the cheese wheel, allowing the pasta’s heat to melt the pecorino and create a creamy coating.
Head Chef Glen Tilly described the offering as a tribute to Italian culinary traditions.
“Cacio e pepe is all about balance and respect for the ingredients” Tilly said.
“By finishing the pasta in the cheese wheel, we’re allowing the pecorino to melt naturally and coat the linguini without overpowering it,” Tilly said.
Restaurant Manager Jarrod Farrell has paired the dish with two white wines, a Tasmanian Pinot Gris and an Italian Soave, selected to complement the saltiness of the pecorino.
Priced at $60 per wheel and designed for a minimum of two guests, the experience is available Thursday through Saturday during dinner service.
Solo diners can still enjoy the dish, prepared in the kitchen rather than tableside.
Guests can pre-book the experience online when making dining reservations.
