I love cooking, but I’ll be the first to admit that my skills could use a little coaching. Granted, there are times when I take that first bite of a hard-labored dinner, and I’m just about convinced that I could open my own restaurant in New York City. Then, there are those other nights (probably more often than not) when that food hits the trash can, and I hit the take-out menus. Well, East Bay Restaurant Supply wants to help us discover our inner chef with “La Cucina Italiana”- a month of great cooking classes led by prominent Italian chefs.
Friday August 7: The Chef Apprentice – $75
From 5:30 pm-9 pm, join Sacramento Bee’s Stuart Leavenworth – known as The Blogging Chef Apprentice – to learn how to cook Italian specialties created at Oliveto’s. Share Stuart’s “lessons learned” and enjoy a classic Italian meal.
Saturday August 8: “Hot Italian” Pizza Class – $55
Hot Italian’s own Fabrizio Cercatore of La Spezia, Italy will share secrets of authentic pizza making from 11 am-1 pm. Learn everything from dough making to firing in a hands-on lesson followed by lunch.
Friday August 14: Antipasti with Gianluca Varenni – $55
A native of Asti, Italy, Gianluca will provide instruction in creating typical Northern Italian antipasti and composing an appetizing arrangement of light summer fare from 6 pm-9 pm.
Saturday, August 15: Gnocchi with Carolyn Kumpe – $45
East Bay’s own resident Chef, Carolyn Kumpe, will host a lunch hour hands-on gnocchi making class from 11am-1pm. Learn the technique for creating perfect gnocchi every time. Enjoy class, lunch and your very own potato ricer for your gnocchi-making pleasure!
Wednesday August 26: Chef Denise Pardini – $95
Participate in a hands-on cooking lesson and prepare a delicious, four-course Piemontese meal using traditional ingredients with a modern twist. Then, dine with Chef Pardini, a California native who owns and operates La Vita Vera Cooking School in Sinio, Italy.
For more information or reservations visit East Bay Restaurant Supply. You can also purchase your tickets online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com.
East Bay Restaurant Supply, Inc.
522 North 12th Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.440.0623
HOT ITALIAN Love is in the Air
Every once in a while, a new restaurant comes to town that is so good you just can’t stop buzzing about it. And not just in the “ooh that place looks good” or “I’ve really been meaning to go” kind of way. But more the “ohmygoodnessihavetohaveitrightnow” sort of buzz. So I think it’s time that we admit it:
The SacFoodies are head over heels for HOT ITALIAN. And now that we know they serve some of the best dessert in town, we’re sure this relationship has “forever” written all over it. Have a sweet tooth like us? Check out some of their mouthwatering desserts below:
Zucchero
organic Italian chocolate hazelnut spread dusted with powdered sugar
Murino
gorgonzola dolce cheese, pears drizzled with honey
Lenti
seasonal mixed berries topped with fresh ricotta and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil
And if that’s not convincing enough, here are our top 10 reasons to love HOT ITALIAN:
Uno: It’s so authentic that you simply can’t fight the urge to belt out any Italian you know: mangia, cara amici, mangia!
Due: Where else can you pick up a motorcycle with your pizza?
Tre: Communal seating is a great way to make new friends.
Quattro: Because they give you the scoop on their upcoming events on Twitter
Cinque: They’re open late! Call for exact hours, but word on the street is that they serve until 10:00 or 11:00 PM on weeknights and stretch that until 12:00 PM or 1:00 AM on Friday and Saturday nights!
Sei: Because there is nothing like a real Italian espresso.
Sette: Who can resist a giant round party table with space in the center for ice to keep your drinks chilled to perfection?
Otto: Orange chocolate, Madagascar vanilla and nocciola (hazelnut) gelato – oh my!
Nove: Because the modern decor and traditional fare instantly transport you to a corner cafe in a bella piazza.
Dieci: Because gorgonzola, pear and honey on a pizza can never be wrong.
Hot Italian
16th & Q Midtown
Sacramento, CA
(916) 444-3000
Tightwad Tuesday: Old Spaghetti Factory turns the Big 4-0!
In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the Old Spaghetti Factory is offering special rollback prices. Every Tuesday from March 31 – May 26, lunch and dinner guests will receive 40 percent off pasta classics and select kids’ meals. For those of you who haven’t already visited the OSF, classic pasta meals come with fresh baked bread (with yummy garlic butter!), your choice of minestrone soup or a crisp green salad AND a hot coffee, hot or iced tea or milk, and of course its infamous spumoni or vanilla ice cream!
If you have a hard time choosing, may I recommend my staple OSF meal? Spaghetti with browned butter and mizithra cheese, green salad with creamy pesto dressing and scoop of spumoni, a steal at only $5.99 with the Tuesday rollback special!
For the full anniversary menu click HERE
Find the location nearest you click HERE
Il Fo
It’s like a best friend. You visit nearly every day – sometimes just for a cup of coffee and sometimes for a sit-down dinner. You’ve shared birthdays and office parties; you can’t stop talking about it to all your other friends. You’ve even coined an affectionate nickname that somehow managed to stick. In our case, that friend is Il Fo.
Not familiar with Il Fo? I bet you are. Others may know it as Il Fornaio, but as our office neighbor and a restaurant that we frequent, “Il Fo” has become a household name with us. Recently, we gathered for drinks and a bite to eat at their famous happy hour.
When it comes to mixology and wine selection, Il Fornaio’s happy hour is up there with the best Sacramento has to offer. But the thing we love most about Il Fo happy hour is the food (go figure)! Whether you’re craving fresh veggies and dip or a warm and cheesy panini, the Il Forniao happy hour smorgasbord is a sight for hungry tummies. And the best part? The buffet is free with any drink purchase!
Keep reading for a sample of a few Sac Foodie favorites on the Il Fo menu.
Maria Chacon Kniestedt:
I have so many favorites at Il Fo – their Bruschetta al Pomodoro, the Conchiglie al Pollo, the Crema al Doppio Gusto. Plus my husband proposed to me there. What could be more special than that?
Jenna Kirkwood:
Well, no one has proposed to me at Il Fo (yet anyway), but it still holds a place in my heart. Their happy hour cheese panini bites can’t be beat, especially when paired with a glass of house Pinot Grigio for a budget-friendly $5.95. The enclosed patio is a lovely place to sit and catch up with friends over a glass of wine or if you prefer the bar, the bartenders are knowledgeable and attentive.
Christine Moravec:
I thank my lucky stars for Il Fo every time we go on a business lunch. Now that 55 Degrees has closed, it is definitely my favorite restaurant within a short walk from our office (they used to be tied for first-favorite). I usually go for one of their specials for lunch, but their pizzas are also great. Plus, you simply can’t beat this place for happy hour. I heart Il Fo!
Kris Caputo Hurley:
I am picky about my Italian and I usually don’t rave about chain restaurants, but you can’t go wrong with Il Fo! I’m a big fan of the Panini di Melanzano (eggplant, roasted red pepper, provolone, tomato, lettuce and pesto sandwich) or the Insalata di Salmone from the lunch “window.” I also love sitting at the counter and indulging in the Fettuccine alla Bolognese or Pizza Margherita. Plus, there’s no friendlier face in town than Frank the bartender to serve you!
Kim Bedwell:
We are pretty spoiled to have such a great restaurant just a block away. While I’ve hit up the lunch counter a time or two (the Chef’s Salad with Gorganzola dress is delish), I much prefer to dine in. My two favorites are the Lasagna Ferrarese and Pennette all’ Amatriciana. Both are the perfect Italian comfort food, and if you get the Lasagna, it’s so rich, you can save half for dinner too!
Buona – whati?
I’d like to think I can speak English fluently and Germish (my affectionate nickname for the German/English hybrid we sometimes speak at home) quite well. But when it comes to Italian, I’m hopeless. So when a friend invited me to attend the grand opening of Buonarroti the other night, I knew the first task at hand would be learning how to pronounce the restaurant’s name and finding out what it means.
Partially due to my lack of Italian language expertise, and partially as a reflection of the delicious food we devoured, I would have assumed that Buonarroti meant something along the lines of “decadent” or maybe “sophisticated.” For all I knew, it could have meant “rich in flavor” too. Any of these words or phrases could easily have been used to describe our dining experience. When it came time to order, we were still playing a guessing game.
Luckily, everyone in the group that I was with paid close attention in kindergarten so we were all fans of the “taste and share” method. I ordered the Buonarroti Salad and was pleasantly surprised – it was hearty enough to feel like dinner but light enough to appease my salad craving.
Among the other favorites at our table were Caprese Salad, Gnocchi, and the Butternut Squash Ravioli Special.
In addition to the food being excellent, head chef and owner Daniel Alcantaro could not have been more of a crowd pleaser. Alcantaro and his wife seamlessly floated from table to table, entertaining guests and providing background on each dish.
So what does “Buonarroti” mean? Well, it’s Michaelangelo’s last name, of course!