Dostoevsky’s White Nights, Two Lovers, rue du Mont-Thabor style: which one will he choose? And where better to ponder this Corneillean dilemma than a trattoria where Italy, New York, the Basque Country, and Argentina meet under the watchful eye of Jonathan Morales? Two women, two plates of pasta, one table at Alfi’s...
A stone's throw from the Tuileries… Alfi's is the gathering spot for friends with stories to share. And with Grégoire, there is always a story. He no longer knows if he loves two women or two possible lives. Chance has a playful streak, and here is Grégoire, torn between the beef sorrentinos and the spaghetti with langoustine tartare and bisque. On one side, Léa. Generous, reassuring, deeply satisfying, a love that is certain. On the other, Priya. Raw, briny, pearlescent, a taste of elsewhere that melts before it can be grasped.
“I'll have the langoustine tartare spaghetti.”
The choice is made. It remains to be seen what will become of his situationship.
“What do you have in the way of a full-bodied wine? Something that gives a bit of courage.” “Courage? To make a choice, it is better to keep a clear head. I suggest a white, a 2024 Falerio from the San Filippo estate. Fresh, crisp, it gives you time to think.”
It is hard not to think of Dostoevsky's White Nights, or Two Lovers, the film James Gray freely adapted from it.
At 26 rue du Mont-Thabor, chef Jonathan Morales uses Italian terroirs as a starting point to dialogue with his own influences: New York, France, the Basque Country, and Argentina. A deliberately generous and convivial cuisine, built around carefully selected local products, where classic Italian serves more as a springboard than a rulebook.
FOOTNOTES
Book White Nights, Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1848
Film Two Lovers, James Gray, 2008
