Let's start to describe the fantastic mediterranean menu that chef Rocco Iannone matched with the wide selection of important champagne labels of the French maison "Alain Thienot". Amouse bouche: Raw Seafood paired with an Alain Thienot Brut flute, followed right after by Warm Prawns, artichokes and bottarga and a glass of fantastic Alain Thienot Rose'. This one was a pure magic match of Iannone in one of the most challenging pairing that is always hard in presence of the artichokes slightly sweet taste. The next is a Tossed risotto with tomato, mozzarella and marinated scampi and the wine is a Alain Thienot Millesime' 2005. Fourth course is a Amberjack, porcini mushrooms, white asparagus braised with pesto "Genovese" sauce accompanied with a grand cru Alain Thienot 2002. A fresh fruit dessert ends this magnificent dinner and reveals the ability of Iannone to keep a high level in every step of these courses. We are talking about a Strawberry gele' with pineapple and anise sorbet.
Chef Rocco Iannone is a young capable Michelin firmament star and although he has been quite often criticized by some of the Italian journalists gourmet establishment (in which I have been trained,too) for its extreme cooking simplicity using the fresh ingredients as unique resource of a high gourmet philosophy. He avoids an excessive interpretation of the Italian traditional recipes, especially those which are originated in southern Italy where he was born and grown up. I personally think that some of my colleagues are too oriented at the sophistication of the gourmet, a fashion excessively flown in the last decade. It's time to give back the right space to young guys like Rocco who proudly comes from a southern Italy's traditional farmers family. The honesty of the ingredients, not overwhelmed by the temptation to change them for justify a velleity interpretation, is the secret and greatness of Iannone. Our score is definitively a 20/20.
The SPA & Thalassotherapy: The Heart of the Forte Village Resort is a unique experience
Dr Mosaraf Ali Treatments
Doctor Ali's philosophy of good health and wellbeing is based on
an integrated approach that focuses on prevention and healing, rather
than just disease and treatment. He believes that the power to live a
long and healthy life is within all of us and that we have a
responsibility to maintain good health. He helps achieve this through
the four principles of nutrition, exercise, relaxation and massage.
Combining Ayurvedic medicine with naturopathy and yoga, Dr Ali’s
treatments help restore the body’s ideal weight and energy levels
through a series of exercises, relaxation techniques, yoga sessions and
exclusive massages. A leading international expert in Integrated Medicine, Doctor Ali's
work is recognised around the world. His patients include Prince Charles
and other famous figures including the Sultan of Oman, Richard Branson,
Michael Douglas, Claudia Schiffer, Donna Karan, Tommy Hilfiger, Boris
Becker, Colin Montgomery and Samuel L. Jackson.
Thalassotherapy
Care treatments taken from seawater, sand and seaweed in the
marine environment and integrated with our complementary treatments will
allow you to conserve or regain peak psychophysical balance. Your body
will emerge supple and toned, your skin will be radiant, inner peace
will be restored and all stresses and toxins will be banished by
blending climatic and marine elements. The originality, curative and preventative powers of these
treatments are due to our unique location on an ancient salt route.
We're set on a stretch of coast protected by a line of mountains
providing natural shelter from northerly winds, maintaining levels of
humidity and warmth that are unique in Sardinia. Virtually a subtropical
microclimate, the sea temperature here is around two degrees above that
in other parts of the island and rainforest-like vegetation thrives.
Thalasso del Forte
Lauded as a Leading spa of the world, Thalasso del Forte houses
our thalassotherapy centre and all our wonderful spa treatments. This
unique blend of therapies and treatments makes our spa the ideal place
to relax and rebalance the body and mind. Thalassotherapy is at the heart of Thalasso del Forte. Following
twenty years of research led by Dr. Angelo Cerina, the medical team at
Thalasso del Forte has re-written the history of wellness. The team's
experiments led them to discover the enormous benefits of immersion in a
series of seawater pools at different temperatures with different salt
contents. Here at Thalasso del Forte, some of the pools have a higher
saline concentration than the Dead Sea. A vital element in our
integrated thalassotherapy treatment is sea oil, natural seawater with a
high magnesium content. The osmotic effect that is produced greatly accelerates ion exchange
between the water and the body. This helps drain excess fluids and
allows magnesium to be absorbed. After these extraordinary results
gained international prizes, the Centre for Research in Medical
Bioclimatology, Biotechnologies, and Natural Medicines of Milan
University has promoted the Thalassotherapy Research Centre at Thalasso
del Forte. Unique in Europe, this recognition constitutes a new
development in Wellness Medicine. The therapy forms a harmonious system of treatments that thoroughly
assess the patient, integrating a focused thalassotherapy course with
massage therapy and beauty treatments. The treatments that can be
integrated include shiatsu in a separate room, massages in water, moxa,
rehabilitative physiotherapy, osteopathy and chiropractics with
craniosacral techniques. You can also experience scrubs and
hydro-massages with the typical plants and essences of Sardinia and the
Sardinian sea.
Starting from the above introduction of the Thalassotherapy concept we tried all the pools available at FV as described further on in this article. But we would highlight a couple of treatments that we enjoyed and relaxed so much: the "4-hand Forte Massage" and the "Salt and honey massage". The first one is a synchronized heavenly four hands massage made by two women with knowledge and experience capable to detect your body issues and work on them softly or hardly at your choice. The second one is rejuvenating session which uses two different and opposite elements like the sweet honey of Sardinia and the salt of mediterranean sea. Our final score for these two experience together with the Thalassotherapy pools circuit is at the maximum of our scale and is undoubtedly a 20/20.
special thanks to Amabile Fileccia, Lorenzo Giannuzzi, Luana Mazzega, for their precious support
