Aria hits the high notes

BORACAY — Around two decades ago, the only structure perched on this pristine, white-sand beach was the Elizalde residence. Fast-forward to today, on a less-than-immaculate beach filled with a mad mix of tourists, locals and establishments too numerous to count, the one structure that stands out at the center of the bustling district that is D’Mall is Aria, the authentic Italian restaurant owned by Juan Elizalde.

“I remember when I first came here,” Juan Elizalde recalls. “The beach was untouched, and there was nothing except miles of trees and sand.” His father came upon Boracay in 1972, after learning about the island from some backpackers who had referred to this nameless island, as “the northern tip of Panay.”

These days, Boracay is on the tip of every tourist’s tongue — and, for regulars, Aria is often first on their must-visit list. Under the helm of chef Gino Amodio, along with Elizalde and business partner Paolo Occhionero, Aria has established itself as a legitimate dining spot, worthy of a revisit on every vacation. Even the décor and interiors, designed by Gil Coscolluela, speak of the restaurant’s mission to deliver a better dining experience: beige walls, dark woods and ethnic art pepper the space.

The menu, drawn up by Occhionero, is Mediterranean-based, a homage to Occhionero’s home cuisine, which is steeped in light, fresh, tomato-heavy, seafood-favoring dishes. “He’s from the South, along the coast of Italy,” explains Elizalde of his business partner’s roots. “Paolo goes there every year for a month to update himself.”

Sampling the restaurant’s authentic dishes — some dreamed up by Occhionero, others as old as Rome — is a treat worth repeating each time, simply because the ingredients are always fresh and well-picked, each entrée flavorful and satisfying.

To start, I sampled the Insalata di papaya prosciutto di Parma e mozzarella (salad of papaya, lettuce, parma ham and mozzarella). With its textbook play of sweet (papaya) and salty (parma ham) and soft (mozzarella) and crunchy (arugula), the salad was a sign of more good things to come. Aria has quite a range of green dishes — and its hearty portion size and ample seasoning make salads an interesting portion of the menu. Other new salads include Insalata di Rucola e Calamari (calamari and arugula salad with lemon-anchovy dressing), which tasted like the sea (salty, briny and light), and Insalata di uva lattughino acciuga e mozzarella (salad of grapes, lettuce, anchovies and fresh mozzarella with balsamic vinaigrette), which was sweet and fresh.

Aria’s wood-fire ovens provide the establishment with an authentic taste that doesn’t allow for fraudulent cooking techniques. Their pizzas only take about five minutes to cook. “And we fly in key ingredients from Italy,” adds Elizalde. That makes the flour, tomatoes and olive oil, among others, about as international as half of Aria’s clientele. (During peak season, Elizalde informs me the majority of their clientele is foreign.)

Aria’s secret to their light, authentic pizzas is in the dough: flakey, crusty on the bottom, sweet and soft on top. I saw this British guy at the table next to me order one pizza, margherita I think, and proceed to snarf the whole thing on his own-under 15 minutes. I was suitably impressed, naturally, by his appetite and pizza-eating technique. (He was a knife-and-fork guy.)

The Capricciosa pizza, made with tomatoes, artichokes, Kalamata olives and mushrooms, was lovely to eat — bright flavors with a light sprinkling of tomato sauce as a base. Aria’s pizza selection is varied and often always good. More interesting is Aria’s latest addition to their menu: pizza cigars. A traditional dish is given a more modern treatment. Basically, the dough is rolled to form a cigar shape, effectively wrapping all the ingredients and transforming it into a kind of new-age sub. There’s Rotolino Marchigiano (wood fire oven-baked pizza roll stuffed with tomatoes, mushrooms, mozzarella and ham) and Sigaro di Pizza, pizza cigar stuffed with smoked salmon, feta cheese and arugula. The Sigaro di Pizza was a revelation: the interplay of textures between creamy cheese and crunchy, peppery arugula gave it a nice bite.

Aria recently debuted numerous pastas, including Pappardelle alla marina con zafferano e zucchini, home-made pappardelle with saffron-white wine sauce and zucchini skins. Rigatoni alla ciociara (rigatoni pasta with Italian sausage, broccoli and pecorino cheese) was surprisingly delicious. The unusual combination of ingredients and the chef’s light hand when it came to drizzling the pasta with the white sauce gave the dish a depth that made it memorable. Even on the plane ride home, I was thinking of Aria’s rigatoni. That’s how good it was.

If you’re in the mood for seafood, Aria has plenty of that as well: Gamberoni alla busara (prawns in a sauce made of tomato, brandy and spices) and John Dory con zafferana e profuma d arancia (John Dory fillet sautéed in light saffron and orange scented sauce).

For dessert, Café del Sol, a café right next to Aria owned by the same duo, serves up some excellent sweet dishes, including cakes flown in from Elizalde’s mother’s kitchen in Forbes and local coffee, which Elizalde claims is on par with the likes of Lavazza.

Thanks to Aria, Boracay doesn’t only have white sand beaches and gorgeous sunsets to its name. The island can now add great dining to its list of achievements.

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Aria is located at Phase 3, Unit 1, D’Mall, Boracay. Call 036-288-5573 for inquiries.