The Far Eastern Hotel’s Marco Polo Restaurant has featured in the Taipei Times on many occasions, not only because it claims precedence as one of Taiwan’s best Italian restaurants, but also due to the effort it takes to invite a variety of chefs who bring their own unique style to the food.
Most recently, Chef Marco Priolo has taken the helm at Marco Polo, and has created a range of dishes intended to stamp his own personality on the restaurant under his care.
While some chefs who have taken charge of Marco Polo over the years have prided themselves on their regional affiliations — whether the cuisine of Venice, Naples or Piedmont — Priolo, who is from northern Italy, abjures any narrow regionalism, saying that this is too limiting. “After you have done the 10 or 20 signature dishes of a region, what else is left?” he asks.
Photo Courtesy of Far Eastern Plaza Hotel
Priolo, whose food is firmly rooted in Mediterranean fundamentals, has a playful culinary imagination and he draws inspiration from his travels around the world.
One of the most charming dishes to greet visitors is Priolo’s “Sunny Side-Up” Crabmeat with a hint of Chili and a Mango Yolk topped with Caviar (NT$750), which manages to set up a jokey conversation with the diner. The “white” of the sunny side-up is made up from crabmeat flavored with a complex mixture of herbs, which hint at Thailand (where Priolo was based for many years) without making the suggestion explicit. Then there is the “yolk,” which is in fact a clever little piece of molecular kitchen wizardry, a runny yellow ball of mango juice. Break this and it seeps invitingly into the crab, providing a second tier of flavor.
Another surprise can be found in the Grilled Tuna, Bok Choy and Fried Pork-Stuffed Olive Croquette served with Almond Flavored Tomato and Olive Sauce (NT$990), with its beautiful palette of fireside colors. The tuna, wearing a “grill coat” that is more often associated with beef steaks, is a delightful contrast of color and texture, and the croquette is a kind of Scotch egg with a juicy green olive at the center rather than the expected egg. Olives are often stuffed, and this one is filled with sausage meat, but then it in turn becomes the stuffing of the croquette. It’s lots of fun, though this fun goes hand-in-hand with impressive culinary skill and imagination.
Photo Courtesy of Far Eastern Plaza Hotel
Priolo was expansive about achieving an understanding of what people in different countries want from their dining experience. With a wide experience of hotel kitchens located in five-star hotels in the Middle East and Asia, he said his job was to know what people want, and achieve this through subtle tweaking of the Italian ingredients and methods that are the foundation of his cuisine.
This sometimes is achieved by departures from tradition. In the creation of Potato Gnocchi with Duck Breast Ragout served with Walnut Sauce and Red Wine Pear (NT$690), Priolo has created a scallop-sized “grand gnocchi” that is vastly huger than conventional gnocchi, but still manages to combine fluffy and chewy textures. “It is all about presenting the unexpected,” he said.
The duck ragout, which Priolo said he selected because Taiwanese favor duck, is made in Italian fashion with plenty of wine and Mediterranean herbs. For this, Priolo uses an imported bird, which he said was preferable for creating a dish very different to what Taiwanese might expect when ordering duck.
Photo Courtesy of Far Eastern Plaza Hotel
To finish off the meal, Priolo’s dessert platter (NT$420) contains a number of twists on Italian classics that are perfectly serviceable, but the sage ice cream, with its massive herbal fragrance and bitter overtones, is absolutely to die for, managing to be unexpected and exciting in the best possible way.
The new menu at Marco Polo has plenty of surprises, all delivered by well-practiced wait staff who know what the chef is about and are willing to provide guidance to the uncertain diner.
Photo Courtesy of Far Eastern Plaza Hotel
When the Dutch began interacting with the indigenous people of Taiwan, they found that their hunters classified deer hide quality for trade using the Portuguese terms for “head,” “belly,” and “foot.” The Portuguese must have stopped here more than once to trade, but those visits have all been lost to history. They already had a colony on Macao, and did not need Taiwan to gain access to southern China or to the trade corridor that connected Japan with Manila. They were, however, the last to look at Taiwan that way. The geostrategic relationship between Taiwan and the Philippines was established
“Once you get there, you think, that’s a little embarrassing or revealing or scary... but ultimately, I learned that is where the good stuff is,” says Taiwanese-American director Sean Wang about writing indie breakout Didi (弟弟), which debuted at Sundance Film Festival Asia 2024 in Taipei last month. Didi is a heartwarming coming-of-age story centered on the Asian American experience. Not just a 2000s teenage nostalgia piece, but a raw, unflinching look at immigrant families and adolescent identity struggles. It quickly became the centerpiece of the event, striking a chord with not only those sharing similar backgrounds but anyone who’s ever
This Qing Dynasty trail takes hikers from renowned hot springs in the East Rift Valley, up to the top of the Coastal Mountain Range, and down to the Pacific Short vacations to eastern Taiwan often require choosing between the Rift Valley with its pineapple fields, rice paddies and broader range of amenities, or the less populated coastal route for its ocean scenery. For those who can’t decide, why not try both? The Antong Traversing Trail (安通越嶺道) provides just such an opportunity. Built 149 years ago, the trail linked up these two formerly isolated parts of the island by crossing over the Coastal Mountain Range. After decades of serving as a convenient path for local Amis, Han settlers, missionaries and smugglers, the trail fell into disuse once modern roadways were built
“Magical,” “special,” a “total badass:” step forward Kamala Harris, the 59-year-old dynamo who has rebranded her country at lightning speed, offering it up as a nation synonymous with optimism, hope and patriotism. For the rest of us, Kamala’s gift is her joy and vibrancy — and the way she is smashing it just months away from her seventh decade, holding up 60 in all its power and glory. Welcome to the new golden age. Hers is the vibrancy of a woman who owns her power, a woman who is manifesting her experience and expertise, a woman who knows her time has
RSS