Safe! At Our Elegant, Al Fresco Ethnic (Italian, naturally) Dining Choices

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(Gerry Furth-Sides) A toast to San Antonio Winery for our first lunch outside since March! Thank you, Barbara Hansen, for a perfect first pre-Halloween restaurant outing to  our last shopping stop before lockdown in March. Now perfectly prepared for safe outdoor dining that makes any day special, owner Santo is on hand to greet us and the staff does everything to please. (How many more times can we adjust this umbrella!) The food and decorations – and wine- are better than ever.

You can still shop and do tastings at Historic San Antonio Winery from a vast selection of wines from the  family’s estate vineyards in Napa Valley, Monterey County, and Paso Robles appellations.

 

Tastings include a selection of elegant whites, bold reds, sparkling wines and a Sweet and Semi Sweet selection. Walk-in groups under 8 are welcome in our tasting rooms, no reservation required.  Our Artisan Flight features 4 select wines from our estate vineyards for $15.00 per person. 

San Antonio Winery and Maddalena Restaurant, 737 Lamar Street, Los Angeles, CA  900311. (323) 223-1401. Open 9:00 am – 6:00 pm. For more information, please see //www.sanantoniowinery.com 

 

Calogero Drago (shown above right with head waiter Mario, and below) also keeps a sure hand on the front of the house.  The friendly Mario (left) only looks serious and actually began his career with Chef Celestino at the original Beverly Hills location on Beverly Drive.

These days Mario oversees and hosts  the sprawling set of white tablecloth dining rooms and spacious,  welcoming veranda on Lake Street, and back patio.  (photo above and portrait below are courtesy  Celestino Restaurant)

Calogero Drago celebrates 15 years on Lake street, the only Drago eatery in Pasadena.  For over twenty-five years, Celestino Ristorante has been Pasadena’s mainstay for fans of its signature house-made pastas and risottos, seafood, organic meats, and the freshest produce.

Super manager  (holding down the fort alone these days),Mario, for creating a blue sky, al fresco Birthday Eve feast for two culinary stars and friends: Food Writer, Barbara Hansen, and Master Baker, Alex Peña. Mario makes it into a dream dinner from phone reservations to toasting the table with my favorite grappa.  As always, we were the first table, and last to leave!

And try as I might to study the outstanding menu and specials, it’s always Sicilian Pappardelle on Fabiano e Morelle (pheasant and morels). Ah. Morel Mushrooms, most commonly found in their dried form, are only available fresh for just a very brief period each year. The rich, meaty flavor and texture of these fresh honeycombed mushrooms are portrayed with simplistic elegance in dishes sI googled it and my own photos came up! Read Celestino Drago’s illustrious story & restaurants, and Drago’s catering commissary take-out options

Over thirty years ago, the famed Drago Brothers set out to make their name in Los Angeles with true Sicilian food and hav become the powerhouses of all Italian cuisine. The crazy friendly and slightly frenetic  Il Pastaio and more sedate Via Alloro perk up Beverly Hills while Drago Centro is a major downtown LA attraction.

 

Celestino Ristorante is open for dinner only.  For Current hours, please see www.Celestino Ristorante.com

 

“Marino” means “the sea,” and here fish and seafood star among the Neapolitan comfort dishes.   Sal is a familiar face at both wholesale fish markets and also local farmers markets.  And for the past decade or so, he also grew so many tomatoes in his own garden he started hosting “tomato dinners.” This year they were weekly, with the help of curated farms, and our first foray back into restaurant dining.  

Mario and I had daydreamed of an outdoor patio under the sprawling olive tree out back, just never like this!

 

Los Angeles Magazine’s “best” pick restaurant host, Mario Marino, shares responsibilities.  Brother Sal (former owner-chef of Il Grano, La Bottega Marino), oversees the kitchen.  (Marino ristorante) is one of the 31 restaurants in Los Angeles to earn the The “Ospitalita’ Italiana – Seal of Authenticity”, after passing an extensive series of rigorous tests.

Dad Ciro (who passed away in 2009) created Marino Ristorante as an old school formal dining room in 1979.  The menu is respected for being  as fresh as the fish and seafood the brothers continue to carefully pick out each morning at the downtown markets.   Marino,  the first restaurant to feature whole Branzino (Chilean Sea Bass),  still offers it three ways: grilled, Blackened and baked in a coating of sea salt. And these days there are new innovative events to celebrate, such as the Italian Bike Tour dinners, which features menus from the towns visited by the bikers, and champagne meal pairings.

marino ristorante, 6001 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA  90038, (323) 466-8812.  For more information please see (www.marinoristorante.com)

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