FIRST of all I’d like to say that I am not a food writer (the only thing I do with food is to cook, eat and sometimes binge on it when I’m stressed). Second, I am not going to bore you about the feelings I get while savouring the taste of a mushroom picked from the wild, or how it feels to have an exquisite French red wine caress my throat.
Pericles Roussounides’ new Nicosia restaurant XO Emotions has already been written and raved about by other local papers and magazines, and although I was lucky enough to be one of the first to savour a full eleven courses, accompanied by a generous selection of wines, a superb post-dinner French brandy, and an even more exquisite cup of coffee and dessert, there is a reason for my delay: all good things take time, which is Pericles’ philosophy exactly.
I have dined at many a trendy and chic French restaurant, both in London and in Paris, and although I love my food I do tend to prefer nouvelle cuisine rather than huge plates of belly bulging food that leave your insides exhausted.
Emotions is the result of three years of laboured research and a quest for perfection. And I must admit that I did have mixed emotions (please excuse the inevitable pun) about the restaurant before I got there. Some people I know who had been there before me had put me off with their negative criticism about the prices, but then that is often the case when Cypriots don’t get enough food to make them burst.
I met Pericles many years ago when he first opened his cafe Pralina at the bottom of my road (Stassicratous Street), and even then I always believed that the man had got the concept of café society right. He served a mean cappuccino which I always started my day with before going to work, and most importantly he aimed for an older and more discerning clientele who appreciated good food and wine without the noise of the high street.
I have written many a column in his café (at table number 7, to be exact), drowned many a sorrow with Chardonnay, and giggled over many bottles of champagne for more years than I care to remember. So when I heard that Pericles was opening an exclusive French restaurant, bringing professional staff over from France, and would be serving food that would deserve Michelin recognition for excellence, I simply had to see it for myself.
A few seconds before the lift doors opened I had already developed a mental image of what the place might look like, having heard the rumours of how much Pericles might have spent on the interior design.
The chill out lounge may sound as if I’m trying to sound hip, but it really is what it says it is — a place to enjoy your G&T and ‘chill’. And although I had half expected something completely OTT I was pleasantly surprised with the ambiance. Christina, Pericles’ partner, is there to welcome you with a warm smile in the lounge area before you proceed out to the balcony for dinner (it was summer when I visited).
I also have to say that I don’t like going to restaurants that make me feel that I cannot be my ‘true’ self, or that I should go back to the days when I attended the Lucie Clayton finishing school. The atmosphere here is warm and friendly.
I was introduced to the sommelier, and soon my first glass was being served. I’d starved myself all day in order to prepare my palette for the delicacies to come. And this is where I thought I’d spring a surprise on Pericles: I ‘forgot’ to mention before coming that I am a vegetarian.
This bombshell did not fluster anyone, however. On the contrary, the courses came in perfect combination. I started with Japanese Blue Fin tuna, but after having had two G&Ts and three glasses of wine I was actually tempted by Pericles to break my vegetarian vow.
By this I mean that he actually persuaded me to eat a piece of meat which, he explained, had been raised in an enviroment in Kobe in Japan where animals are considered to be a national treasure. And I do have to admit it was like eating marshmallow — the meat simply melted. Despite my feelings at having broken my vows, I can honestly say that I really enjoyed it. Pericles told me that the beef was from Japan, and that the animals were even treated to a daily Japanese massage, and also been exposed to the likes of the great composers!
Okay, before I am inundated with emails from fellow veggies or vegans for the crime I commited, let me just say in my defence that I had been totally seduced by the entire atmosphere of this restaurant. I was almost willing to try anything.
The courses came, and I ate slowly and drank with each course. I had not known the real Pericles Roussounides before this evening: he’s an intelligent and worldly man who loves his food and wine and is a real perfectionist. I was able to chat to him on a higher level than I was used to when we originally met at Pralina.
Born and brought up in Zaire, his first language is French. But he also loves and respects real Cypriot tradition, and appreciates the basic delicacies found on our own island, never turning his nose up at produce which only Cyprus can provide and which also turns up on his menu from time to time.
The atmosphere of his new restaurant does not suggest pretentious posing, as some might expect from a place with such high standards: on the contrary, it provokes people with a real understanding of food and wine to bring out their deepest Emotions.
Expensive? Yes. But the old saying certainly applies — you get what you pay for.
XO Emotions, 26-28 Stassicratous St., Nicosia Tel: 22-818018
