Every year the first frost finds us having the same conversation in the kitchen: what comes off and what goes on. The tomatoes left two weeks ago. The green beans will hold a little longer, as long as the greenhouse does. In their place came pumpkin, quince and porcini.

Pumpkin

We get it from the Bota family in Rășinari, a variety with grey-green skin and deep orange flesh. We roast it whole over wood until soft, and only then make the soup. That is how it turns sweet without adding anything. The seeds are toasted separately and go on top with pumpkin-seed oil and a spoon of sour cream.

Quince

Quince is our favourite autumn fruit because it does not hurry. We roast it slowly, three hours, with a little sugar and a piece of cinnamon, until it turns red. It goes in the dessert tart and, in small portions, next to the confit duck.

Porcini

Fresh porcini last as long as they last, usually until mid-November. We use them in the house noodles with cream and parmesan. When they run out we switch to the ones we dried in September, which taste deeper, more of the forest. It is not a substitution of necessity; many of you prefer them that way.

The full menu is on the menu page. Starred dishes stay all year.