The Skinny Critic

sanctuary in Lake Como

What makes a resort a magical place? Is it the right music playing lightly in the background as a courteous staff welcomes your arrival? Is it magnificent surroundings that constantly have you breathless?  Is it a beautifully decorated room with the finest linens and water views? Or a gourmet restaurant set over looking one of the most loved lakes in the world? 

 

The new CastaDiva Resort in Lake Como has all these things and more.

 

 

I stumbled across CastaDiva Resort by chance.  Having been open for only 2 months they weren’t running at full capacity quite yet, but would be within one week as all the 75 rooms had been rented out for a wedding. 

 

Judging from the website, which boasts beautiful photos of the recently renovated Villa Roccabruna, originally built in the 18^th century, there was no cost spared on the reconstruction of this fine Lake Como property.

 

 

Lake front and composed of 9 separate villas, the resort is designed to make you feel as though you are staying at someone’s private home in Lake Como. During my stay I rarely saw people unless I was at breakfast or the pool. 

 

 

There are other five star hotels on Lake Como. Villa d’Este is world-renowned and for what, I am not exactly sure.  Upon visiting that hotel, there were hoards of tourists who all seemed more interested in each other than the surrounding views of the lake.  Buildings were old and bathrooms were screaming for renovations.  Villa Serbelloni, although conveniently located in the picturesque town of Bellagio is another that desperately needs redone and isn’t exactly remote or serene.

 

CastaDiva is much more private than the others.  Located in the quite town of Blevio, it’s hard not to feel the history throughout the grounds. Opera singer Giuditta Pasta lived at the villa. She is know for inspiring Vincenzo Bellini who wrote his greatest works at the villa, “Norma” and “La Sonnambula.” It’s not hard to see where he garnered his inspiration. The views are nothing short of spectacular as the blue lake is framed by mountains towering more than 8,000 feet above. Beautiful old villas line the lower part of the lake, most with steps down into the water to receive boats and guests. 

 

 

Guests have the luxury of choosing from rooms in the main villas or having an entire villa to themselves for the length of their stay.  Even the most basic rooms offer stunning lake views and beautiful renaissance inspired modern furnishings. 

 

The spa was created to be a destination in itself.  Over 4,000 square feet, it was created around the four elements of fire, water, earth and air. A glass floor suspended over a 19^th century dock creates a lovely waiting room before your spa treatment or a nice peaceful place to read and relax.  It has an indoor pool and Jacuzzi and countless specialty baths and saunas that include a Finnish sauna, a Mediterranean sauna, a Turkish bath, a Kneipp bath and Salt therapy area.

 

 

The restaurant features the same beautiful views as the rest of the resort with Italian cuisine by Paolo Casagrande. 

 

 

 

Simply put, CastaDiva is a place that you don’t want to leave.  I’ve seen some beautiful places but CastaDiva is truly special.  Whether taking advantage of a tour of the lake on a Riva that picks you up from the hotel, or reading on the pool suspended over the lake, it’s easy to get lost in CastaDiva’s magic.

 http://www.castadivaresort.com/  Lake Como, Italy 39 031 3251 3035

Kauai

It's been 4 days since I've cooked in a kitchen at Le Cordon Bleu. It's the first time in 6 weeks that my fingers don't reek of garlic.  I wish I could say I was taking a mini vacation from food all together for the weekend, but I find that food is constantly on my mind - even if I'm not the one preparing it. 

 

We escaped to Kauai for the long weekend.  I was able to get a rate at the St. Regis Princeville that seemed too good to pass up...in short it wasn't.  Overall it was a great weekend. The setting of the hotel is magnificent. Set amidst dramatic mountains and a turquoise blue sea with crashing waves, it is honestly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Weather seems to remain a steady 78 degrees...just warm enough to get that Hawaiian glow but no so hot where that being outside makes you miserable.

Perhaps it's a fault, but when I travel, one of the most important things is the food.  I research weeks out looking for the great local spots that will serve the freshest fish with ingredients from around the island.  This little places are harder to find than one might imagine.  I'm reminded of a family trip to Waikiki a few years back-in asking for assistance from the concierge for a good place for dinner, we were directed to a Cheesecake Factory and PF Chang's. Why would I travel over 2,000 miles to eat at a place that I have down the street from me in LA? Is that what most tourists want? A sense of the familiar no matter where they are? Perhaps that's not a bad thing...and to each their own.  But for me food is one of the best ways to explore a culture.  That doesn't mean I'll try anything. On a trip to the grocery store yesterday, next to the roasted chicken was a neat little package with rice and what looked like some sort of meat with a sweet glaze.  I picked it up and read the label "Terryiaki SPAM..." oh yummm. I don't want to go that local. But I do want fish that was caught that day less than a mile away. There is something different about the fish in Hawaii. There is no such thing as "fishy" fish here. And there is such abundance and variety. 

However, less abundance and variety than I was expecting in Kauai unfortunately.  Straight from the plane we went to Mermaids. A place that I found on yelp that was known for it's ahi nori wrap. Fresh ahi - let me emphasize the FRESH - caught that day, and from the taste of it, just hours before, wrapped in brown rice, seaweed and a green tortilla with soy and wasabi cream sauce. Now this is island food at its best. Even the "chefs" were young girls who looked like they just put down their surfboards and jumped behind the counter.  This was probably one of the best meals of the trip.

 

  

 

Jean Georges has opened a restaurant in the St. Regis that may as well be in a stuffy office building in Any-town, USA. No open windows and contemporary decor leave it feeling cold and very un-Hawaiian.The menu consists of a few local things but seems to highlight meats that were flown from hours and hours away. A appetizer of ahi was wrapped in crunchy rice and was rather uninspired for Jean Georges to have his name on it.  There were 2 local fish choices for entrees apart from the typical and omnipresent ahi...Moi and Onaga. I wanted to try both. The Moi was excellent. 

 

Done in sweet and spicy broth it was a buttery white fish with a delicate flavor. The Onaga was a bit tougher in texture but still wonderful in flavor and had a thicker mushroom sauce that was a touch too salty. Dessert was a nice banana cake paired with caramel ice cream.

 

Things really started to go down hill with the food at the hotel after dinner. Breakfast was fine - too expensive but that goes with out saying for a five start hotel. The view at breakfast made up for the overpriced few anyway. 

 

 Lunch is where it got painful. We ordered an ahi wrap. The presentation sound similar to that at Mermaids so we hoped for the best.  What arrived to our plate was a bad tortilla stuffed with white rice and hardly any ahi at all. You would have thought the ahi was a garnish there was so little of it.  We also ordered a pizza that was topped with feta, olives and tomato sauce. This pizza makes Domino's seem gourmet. It was obviously some sort of microwavable crust with packaged sauce. EW. Not to mention it cost as much a nice dinner.

Dinner was better. We went to this place called Bar Acuda - a tapas and wine bar. To our dismay there were hardly any local seafood items on the menu at all, only ahi.  It was excellent ahi, I just wish they would have taken advantage of the other seafoods they have available. Maybe the locals get sick of it?

 

The tapas were all very well executed. Some of my favorites were the gorganzola pizza with apples and bacon. The bruscetta was unique and came in a mini tagine of sorts with large pieces of garlic bread for dipping in the warm tomato with broth. Local honeycomb was paired with goat cheese and apple. It was my first time trying honeycomb and while I like the flavor the wax was rather odd and kept getting stuck in my teeth. 

 
 The food at Bar Acuda was definitely inspired and well thought out- I just wish it was more Hawaiian inspired....oh well.

The last memorable meal on the island was breakfast...a place called Kountry Kitchen in Ka'paa. They are known for their macademia nut pancakes and they were actually quite good. They even have homemade coconut syrup, to really send you into a cardiac arrest. 

 

Also got an omlette filled with Kalua pork and a side of corn  bread. I don't know what they do to that pork but god it's damn good. After this breakfast I felt like pork or a pig rather...ew. But I was on vacation...and plus it was a cold morning and there wasn't much else to do :)