The Luxury Travel Magazine
The Luxury Travel Magazine
Albert Einstein once said ‘After a certain level of technical skill is achieved, science and art tend to coalesce’ and there can be no truer example of this than Gem42. A magical meeting of laboratory and gallery, Gem42 is a cauldron of culinary delight, melding innovation with an aged expertise, to offer the finest afternoon tea in South Wales. And it’s guaranteed to have you under its spell from your first bite.
Italian restaurant, Gem42, sits at the heart of the up and coming town of Newport, a part of South Wales more famous for its docks and coal mines, than food and science. But, like all the best creatives and inventors, this restaurant does not seek permission or aim to fit in. Instead, it quietly designs and delivers a unique theatrical experience, and knows that those who will appreciate it will come. And it is all down to the unquenchably curious minds of two brothers.
Chefs Sergio and Pasquale Cinotti have a well-established passion for food. With his desserts already winning him awards at the age of 16, Sergio has long been on a path of excellence; from honing his craft in Michelin starred restaurants across the world, to being awarded best Italian chef in Wales, and leading the Welsh Culinary Team to a variety of successes.
In 2002, together with his twin brother Pasquale, he started Gemelli`s desserts, named after the Italian word for twins. After some time supplying high profile shops such as Harrods, the twins decided to look beyond desserts, opening Gemelli’s restaurants in 2013 and winning Best Restaurant in Wales at the Welsh food and drink awards soon after.
When the original Gemelli’s was forced to close due to railway works, the duo seized the opportunity to refresh the restaurant with an altogether more modern approach, and Gem42 was born. Within only a few months of opening its doors, the restaurant, whose menu was in part formed by Gordon Ramsay prodigy, Jason Hughes, received two AA Rosettes. And it has since gone from strength to strength, winning Good Food Awards for the last two years running.
“I want guests to instantly get the feeling of entering a home, as soon as they cross the doorway”. That’s Chef Sergio’s ambition for every guest. But in the best possible sense, it is a promise he does not deliver on. Not because guests do not feel welcome, but because, with its Botticelli style frescos, Murano glass ornaments and floor sweeping voluminous table linen, Gem42 is more akin to a gallery or theatre space than a residence. That creative thread is at the heart of everything the Cinottis do, but the magic really occurs where creativity meets science – in their kitchen lab.
A dedicated space designed to enable the brothers to create freely, the kitchen lab is a hive of scientific, technological, and academic research in which every new technique, dish and concept is tested, tasted and finely tuned. At one side, a laboratory standard evaporator is used to distil the most delicate and familiar of aromas into clear liquid, and, in a wonder of science, boil food at low temperatures to preserve flavour. At the other side of the lab, a dehydrator turns traditional Welsh delicacy, laverbread, into a delicious powder, the space, like the kitchen, is a homage to tradition, told through the eyes of an inventor. And what better application of this ethos than an indulgence steeped in tradition; afternoon tea.
The Gem42 afternoon tea promises all of the things you’d expect; sweet pastries, sandwiches and fine teas, but with the addition of what the Cinottis describe as ‘a new vision’. First come a selection of savouries on a wooden platter, a feast for the eyes, bursting with colour and texture. Smoked eel, avocado and caviar flavoured with their kitchen lab’s plancton marino and laver seaweed powder is deliciously creamy and sea-salty, while a rich and smooth duck liver parfait, artfully suspended above a nest of hay on a sparkling glass platform, dazzles. But it is the crumbly and buttery, yet fresh and crispy English Pea Tartlet, whose delicate pea shoot tendrils, cultivated in Gem42’s kitchen garden, spiral out like celebratory party poppers, which really steals the show. And this is a performance that’s just getting started.
After a brief interlude for a punchy Mojito sorbet palate cleanser, flavoured with fermented coconut and yuzu from their kitchen lab, it’s time for the second course. Across a three-layer tea stand, and large hooped display, come an enormous mixture of sandwiches, cakes and pastries. On the tea stand, quail egg and red onion frittata complete with a vibrant homemade red pepper powder and a fruity and umami coronation chicken roulade with toasted almond nestles against a truffled duck egg mayo with black garlic aioli, and a bagel bursting at the seams with rich and smokey Scottish salmon, dried shrimp butter and rock samphire.
Last, but absolutely not least, on the circular display, are a veritable big wheel of scones, eclairs and traditional welsh cakes, all served with clotted cream and fruit preserve. At every juncture, tea and coffee flow freely, with your cup never empty for more than a moment before being deftly tended to by a charming member of wait staff. This, on top of the generous portion sizes, means many customers do not manage to finish all of the delicacies, but true to form, Gem42 are prepared, and more than willing to help, with a supply of boxes on hand to enable these exquisite treats to be taken away.
An altogether striking experience, with the type of polish and gloss one might expect from a top spot in London, this is not just the best afternoon tea in south Wales, but one of the best in the country. Delicious flavours aside, its success is largely due to one thing; authenticity. The Cinotttis are not concerned with following trends. Every endeavour, and every dish, is the product of a true love of art, and never ending curiosity, delivered with a quiet confidence born of many years’ experience.
So if you’re looking for an indulgent feast, curated and crafted with impeccable attention to detail and more than a hint of scientific genius, Gem42 is the place to go. To return to Einstein, ‘in art and science there is a sense of harmony which underlies all endeavor.’ and Gem42 certainly feels harmonious to us.
