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Restaurant: Forchetta

By Gavip Phipps
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Apr 25, 2003, Page 19

You can't go wrong with a pizza from Forchetta. PHOTO: GAVIN PHIPPS, TAIPEI TIMES

Over the past six months, Max Tseng (曾士弘) has been cooking up a pasta and pizza-fuelled storm in the galley-styled kitchen of his sparsely decorated, yet stylish Italian eatery, Forchetta.

A veteran of the kitchens of Haoyang (好樣), Abu's and Cosi o' Cosi, Forchetta is Max's first solo endeavor. He designed the menu, cooks and manages -- even the design, interior and exterior, are his handiwork. Not that there's much to either, as minimalism plays a big part in the decor.

And with the summer weather settling in, the simple and well-ventilated dinning area is a real treat. Max's design includes a huge glass facade, which, when fully open, gives the already spacious joint an even greater sense of space.

The dining environment is a major draw, but the food certainly cannot be ignored. A combination of Italian and Spanish with a bit of French, the dishes on the menu might not be as numerous as other European-styled joints, but for presentation and taste, Forchetta outclasses many, if not all, its rivals.

Forchetta's range of tapas include Spanish-style bread (NT$100), asparagus wrapped with Parma ham and Dijon pommary (NT$150), and roasted foie gras with fig sauce (NT$380). While a bit costlier than the average starter, Forchetta's Bufalo mozzarella with tomatoes (NT$360) is well worth the extra cost, especially when you consider that Max imports the cheese especially for this dish.

At present, Forchetta's pasta dishes are somewhat limited, with most of the half-dozen choices topped with seafood. These include linguini with crab and mushroom sauce (NT$260), penne with anchovies and olives (NT$260) and linguini with clam and white wine sauce (NT$260). According to Max, the pasta menu is set to change some time in the coming weeks when he plans to add new dishes to the pasta menu.

While the tapas and pasta dishes are faultless, it's Max's mouth-watering pizzas that have tongues wagging. The secret to Max's pizza is the crust. Not greasy, not soggy, and certainly not chewy.

Forchetta's pizza combinations include the absolutely fantastic spinach, salami, gorgonzola and mozzarella (NT$380) and the equally tasty, yet saucily spicy sausage, mushroom and mozzarella (NT$320). For cheese lovers, the gorgonzola, brie, ricotta and mozzarella (NT$380) comes highly recommended.

For those out to wine as well as dine, Forchetta offers a variety of both Old and New World wines, all of which are reasonably priced at between NT$700 and NT$1,500 as well as a good choice of bottled European beers at NT$170 a pop.
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