I chose to visit Joia on a warm winter day. My list of places to try becomes more and more dense both in Milan and Bari (places where my professional studios reside) and in Italy and abroad. The passion and desire to live new culinary experiences grows, especially after returning from the trip to Brazil, in which I had the pleasure of creating an entire gustatory journey for a special group of American customers.

The starred chef Pietro Leemann, founder of the Joia, the only European vegetarian restaurant awarded the Michelin star, is told in a very profound book, The Salt of Life. A book in which there is little talk about cooking, but which highlights the tormented path of a man who likes to cook, in search of himself.

The book is engaging. In my eyes Pietro Leemann appears as a philosopher with a restless soul, who associates the most serene periods with vegetarian food, and the less clear ones with fluctuating excesses at the table. All this makes him very human and reminds me of some habits of my patients; but it is surprising to be able to read it with so much transparency in his book. Not only human, but very humble therefore.

Joia's menu doesn't betray expectations. It is a poetic and intriguing story of the dishes, which almost invites you to taste them all. For this reason, as in many starred restaurants, I orient myself on the tasting suggested by the chef for lunch.

The appetizer is "Travel notes". A fondue of Parmesan with "cardi gobbi", sweet scorzonera and fine Norcia truffle, pesto made with many herbs and hazelnuts, a contrast of 25-year-old balsamic vinegar and four stimulating imitations.
During the service, the waiter explains to me that the dish wants to immerse the customer in the professional career of the chef around the world. Each spoon represents a place: my favorites are the blackberry sauce from Switzerland, the passion fruit of oriental inspiration, and the aged balsamic vinegar of excellent quality. A dish that I like very much for presentation and idea, but that I would have probably appreciated a little more with a more creamy and enveloping fondue on the palate.

The first course is a beautiful discovery called "The Navel of the world". Risotto with artichokes and homemade miso, turnip greens circle, sunflower and citrus fruit butter, seared pumpkin, wild puffed rice and raspberry powder. Gluten-free and 100% plant based dish as it is creamed with artichoke cream and not with butter as it is usually done in risotto. I would have ordered 2-3 more portions.

I conclude with the sweet "Impermanenza": crispy hemp seed puff pastry, coconut and pineapple custard, warm berry sauce, Sicilian mango sorbet. The name of the dish derives from its nature. It is served with a pestle similar to that of a mortar with which the biscuit must be broken: then the hot sauce must be added and accompanied with the sorbet. A dessert therefore served intact in different monocomponents that come together elegantly to mean just how everything is momentary in life, but in the end the different pieces joined together again enhance each life experience even better, as in flavor.
 

Eating at Joia is an introspective journey into the world of chef Pietro Leemann.

It should only be done after knowing him better in person or through his words written in the Salt of life. Like a painter who paints the reality of his self, he creates preparations with superfine technique by rediscovering ingredients of the past such as scorzonera and adding the fruit of private and internal meditation.
The risk, if you don't follow the advice, is to not understand its enormous value and complexity, as I risked to do too.

I conclude by thanking the chef for the auspicious dedication, which I gladly share with you all.

"In Dalila, life is a fascinating journey marked by our choices"