Combal.Zero is a two-Michelin star restaurant in Rivoli, just outside of Turin.

Davide Scabin is the chef and he is world-renowned for his creative flair and play on classical Italian dishes.

Lucky David Constable Makes It to Italy…..

Finally, I made it. From London to Milan (plane), Milan to Turin (train) and Turin to Rivoli (crazed female taxi driver). ‘Hey spostare pazzo finita! Bip, bip! Io velocità lungo inglese turistico in corsia di sorpasso per te!’ Then €80 spent on a round-trip taxi fare.

Lunch was booked for 1pm at Combal.Zero, located in the Museum of Contemporary Art (Museo d’Arte Contemporanea) in a small village outside of Turin. As I approached the entrance and rang the bell I was unequivocally on time. The high stature glass doors were opened and I was welcomed and led down the long, narrow restaurant to my table – expertly set for one.

Combal.Zero had only re-opened two days previous after the summer sojourn (apparently it lasts longer in Italy) and perhaps word hadn’t yet caught on, as I was the only diner, well at least for the first hour. Later, a wealthy and entirely annoying retired Australian couple entered, who, like giggling first-daters, boisterously put the maître d’, Luca, through his paces.

Luca is an intelligent, bilingual gentleman who has paced the shiny floors of many great restaurants (I don’t just mean walking up-and-down). Working in London (The Ritz), New York (Per Se) and Tuscany (Relais La Suvera), he finally returned home to Rivoli having spent his childhood only a few minutes away. To work for two-starred Michelin chef, Davide Scabin, was something he could not refuse, and to return to his motherland, was, errr, how do they say it in Italy? “An offer he couldn’t refuse.”

The prim and simplistically-styled room has a Feng Shui feel with cooling patent colours and tall bamboo and green-foliage. There’s the odd modern twist and contemporary feel, notably three glass balls in the centre of the restaurant resting on three different size obelisk-style stands. There’s also an eye-catching and prominent print on the far end wall of a donkey in a boat. Quite why I’ll continue to scratch my head over.

Both long-banks of the building are panelled glass, one side backing on to the well-kept lawn of the museum that you’d just love to run across barefoot, and the other side resting on a cliff edge, opening up amazing views of Rivoli below. You can look across at the Lego houses, their red, chalky slate roofs and the small clusters of trees like fallen clouds. On your left, a tall and attenuate church steeple pierces through, crumbling over time. You can see directly through the broken windows, revealing more of the rustic and medieval village. A small crucifix stands firm at its peak. It’s the most beautiful restaurant setting I’ve ever witnessed, without question. Spectacular views have me transfixed before I’ve even seen the menu.

The menu is a square document ready for inspection. Each dish confidently selected and presented. There are thirty-five options for selection (in other parts of Italy I’ve seen huge lists on a menu, some pasta selections consuming several pages), including one page dedicated to specials, favourites of previous guests who would tear down the walls of Rivoli had they not been included. They are noted each as a vintage year as if a fine bottle of wine. There is, of course, the famed Dish Elio Campari, which involves a helium balloon.

My Entrate was a wistful nod to my roots. Ganache di cavolfiore, brood di Stilton e funghi finferli. The warm Stilton sauce arriving separately in a sliver saucer ready to be poured in a circular motion around the base of the creamy cauliflower dome. Resting on top were the handpicked mushrooms, nutty and crunchy and a perfect woody texture for the warm Stilton and cauliflower. It’s a rich dish but not heavy. Its diminutive size was hoisted by the lavishness of complex textures and characteristics, the Stilton emanation rising through. Perhaps this was the very bouquet which captivated G. K. Chesterton? “Stilton, thou shouldst be living at this hour/And so thou art. Nor losest grace thereby…” To accompany I had a glass of Bianco Secco 2005 from the Veneto region. It’s a delicious and cooling wine, a medium bodied white with melon and citrus tones. Chilled and expressive.

This was followed by Pasta e minestre – my post-starter, yet pre-main course – named, Giro del Mondo in 5 minestre, translated as ‘Around the world in 5 soups’. This was a well thought dish, not easy to execute. There’s extensive knowledge required of the continents, and the ingredients needed to represent each. It arrived with five white egg-shaped bowls, each sitting next to one another to complete a charming circle. Each bowl was representative of at least one of the seven continents:

Europa: pata, pomodoro, cipolla di tropea, basilico.

Americhe: carota, zafferano, curry, cocco, fagiolo neri.

Est: (bortsch), panna acida, tartufo nero.

Africa: (matoke), platano, cipolle, coriandolo, peperoncino, Yassa.

Sud est Asiatico: udon, dashi, tofu, euoki, verdure, polline.

I had to make sure I took on water between each soup as mixing such a vast number of ingredients and spices presents some conflicting flavours and there’s an odd effect on the palette, with that said however, it’s crafted very well, each with a real depth of flavour and the chosen ingredients certainly highlighting the region, evoking images of each presented destination.

Yassa in the African soup is a ground powder – popular across West Africa – that really lifted the taste and made the dish my favourite of the five. It’s also a secret written code of law created by Genghis Khan (probably not worth knowing, but interesting nevertheless). Asia was represented valiantly by its delegates: the udon noodle and tofu were to me, rather bland and savorless (flavourless?) commodities and compared with the other soups, resulted in plain and watery contents, unable to stand up against the might of the curry, cocco, panna acida and Yassa.

Finally to Carni e Pesci (Meat and Fish Main) and we’ve reached the halfway mark: Filetto di “fassona” impanata alla torinese. Fassona is a cow from the Piedmont region of Italy and is slowly becoming more fashionable in the UK. The Piedmont region is also famous for its Barolo and Barbaresco wines, made from the Nebbiolo grape. I sipped a lovely Zero Solfiti Langhe Rosso, 2007 from the region. The wine has a rather intense aroma and a nose of berries and dried fruits. The meat was medium-rare and cut generously into thick cubes covered with a breadcrumb crust, “breaded to Turin”. Easy to cut and as soft as a breeze it was wholesome and worthy of praise.

Moving into the concluding stages of lunch I was given a strawberry-based sorbet made from crushed strawberry ice and with a dab of cream and a mint leaf on top. It was a petite dish with a cooling sweetness. This was followed by my ordered dessert which really was one the very best things I’ve tasted. Wet your pants good. Maccheroni soufflé, zappa di Gelato alle Noci Pecan caramellate, afrancio, was a light soufflé with a seriously sexy sweetness and mild nutty texture from the macaroons. Its creamy moat of caramelized pecan was a soft boost as it passionately mixed with the soufflé. This was a dessert from the great unknown. Harmony in the mouth. Viagra on a plate. Arcadia.

Afterwards I sat with Davide in his kitchen to discuss his preparation for the seasonal menu and to find out how he contrives such flamboyant and exquisite dishes. He has a knowing presence, his grey, and shoulder length hair flicked back like a musketeer. He smokes and we talk over an espresso.

Each menu is tried and tested and decided upon at least a year in advance. He keeps a personal and small team of twelve in the kitchen. All are assigned their duties and Davide oversees a tight ship. He is an energetic worker, having recently returned from Lapland and the Cook It Raw event and is soon off to Düsseldorf by request of Louis Vuitton, who has asked Davide to create a “surrealistic” dinner for the opening of a new store; such is Davide’s reputation and global recognition growing.

There’s no doubt that Davide Scabin is riding a wave of creative success and Combal.Zero is fully deserved of its two-Michelin stars. I asked Davide when we might next see him in London (we first met in April at London’s Identità event), he responds with a shrug, his large shoulders rising, then drooping slowly, “for zee op 50 restaurants, I op?” Combal.Zero should well be in there, a wonderful place in a truly beautiful part of Italy.