I generally avoid attending events held for the press for the sole purpose of having nice articles published - not only because they are manufactured, but also because they tend to be boring. I’d much rather eat with my own company than listen to a PR spiel. But when I was recently invited to a menu tasting at Páva (follow link for contact details and user feedback) which was ostensibly for the restaurant to introduce both its new summer menu and its fairly new executive sous chef, I decided, out of curiosity, to relax my personal policy for the afternoon. The restaurant has been on Chew's "Top 33" since the beginning, and we haven't checked in with it in awhile. So, in the spirit of full disclosure, note that I did not pay for any of these dishes that I will discuss here. We ate in the kitchen - which was set up with a few small tables where we could watch the chefs work and chat with them about what we were eating and drinking - so it was not anywhere near the typical dining experience that a paying guest would have at Páva.

Roberto Cannata (right in top pic), the new executive sous chef, joined the kitchen in April and works under executive chef Simone Cerea (to his left), who arrived in 2007 replacing the delightful Zitouni Abdessattar. Both Cerea and Canata are Italian, and say that they want the menu to reflect a variety of Italian regional styles. And the food? It was all excellent (as I suspected it would be), and we sampled enough of it in small portions to get a nice overview of the new menu.

To start there was a single pan-seared scallop (above) sitting on thin slices of zucchini and radish with an orange vanilla dressing. Then there was pan seared foie gras with thyme and rhubarb mousse. For the pasta course there was risotto with wild herbs and zucchini flowers drizzled with 25 year-old balsamic vinegar. But the other pasta, a house-made paglia e fieno (which was long like spaghetti, but thicker, and in a sort of square shape, second from top) with bits of sausage, radicchio and parmesan shavings was one of the best dishes of the afternoon.

Then came the fish course: baked turbot with asparagus, leeks and red onion reduction and pan-seared sea bass with a saffron clam sauce and stuffed artichoke. There were small portions of three main courses: crispy duck breast with sautéed herbs, pear and sweet garlic sauce; grilled beef tenderloin with braised endive, carrot flan and red wine sauce; and roasted rack of lamb crusted with black olives, served with sweet peppers and two rounds of eggplant stuffed with mozzarella. There was a trio of dessert (below): Gresham Palace tiramisu, a pistachio Madeline and a beautiful Rigó Jancsi.

Not many of the ingredients on the menu actually come from Hungary, which Cerea said he regrets, but that he can’t find Hungarian suppliers who can consistently provide meat of high enough quality. For instance, there used to be Mangalica pork on the menu (which Cerea comparde to Kobe beef for its marbling), but no longer. The scallops were from northern France, the lamb was from New Zealand, and the beef and the duck was also from France. The goose liver, however, was from Hungary and all of the Italians in the kitchen raved about how fantastic they think Hungarian foie gras is.

So if my financial situation were to allow me to go back to Páva this summer for a nice big dinner (which this menu tasting has certainly enticed me to do) here’s what my meal would look like: foie gras to start, paglia e fieno for the pasta course, duck for my main course, and tiramisu for dessert. On the other hand, I've been itching to try out that new credit card...