Agostino Sciandri Archives - Local Food Eater

Restaurant Manager Miguel Morales and server, Derek, artfully dishing up **Pappardelle** at The Restaurant at Mr. C’s in Beverly Hills

(Gerry Furth-Sides) What could possibly be better than my favorite, the best Pappardelle draped in classic Bolognese sauce? Let me tell you about four possibilities traveling from north to the south of Italy and you decide.

First is learning the secret, changing ground beef recipe of the ethereal pappardelle pasta ribbons with Bolognese from the chef (The Restaurant at Mr. C’s). Second is going into the kitchen for a peek at how the lamb sugo version of pappardelle is prepared (Marino Ristorante). Third is Pappardelle with Wild Boar at Sor Tino. And the fourth is having a professional chef prepare a box for you to put together at home with turkey or veggie sauce (Gourmet Pasta Kit).

Fresh pappardelle may have fluted edges and are up to an inch wide. Dried egg versions that originate in the region of Tuscany have straight sides. Tagliatelle, (Emilio-Romano and Marche regions) a narrower version of Pappardelle and used for lighter sauces (see below) is similar to but a tiny bit thinner than (Roman) fettuccine.

Beef Bolognese Pappardelle at The Restaurant at Mr. C’s

Executive Chef Max Farina, brought over from northern Italy to oversee the kitchen, prepares traditional Italian cuisine. His perfectly seasoned Pappardelle Bolognese is so refined it is a perfect match with the usual light as air, pink bellini sauce, also known as vodka sauce.

He combined it with beef bolognese for us and, as common practice, used the fine cuts of meat left from the menu. It turns out credit goes to the chef’s special combination of beef ingredients, which we first with deeply flavored strip loin, brisket and tenderloin. .

Restaurant Manager, Miguel Morales, artfully serves us at **The Restaurant at Mr. C Beverly Hill**s

Mr. C’s Beverly Hills, Rest1224 Beverwil Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90035, (310) 277-2800 Website – //www.mrchotels.com/hotels/beverly-hills-los-angeles-ca/dining/

Marino ristorante Lamb Pappardelle

Marino ristorante pappardelle with meat sauce traditionally incorporates the flavors of beef, pork, and veal, simmered over three hours. The Neapolitan family recipe goes back generations.

**Lamb Pappardelle** at marino ristorante.

The current menu also features Lamb Pappardelle. The homemade pappardelle with Autonomy Farms braised lamb sugo ($28) . Sugo is a sauce made with just tomatoes, garlic, crushed red pepper, and basil. It is known to be super-quick to make. Americans would call it, ” marinara.”

At Marino sugo may have the same ingredients but it is simmered overnight until the lamb is so tender it can be made into niblets. We were so honored to visit the kitchen with Chef Cal, and try a taste of it. This is what makes the difference.

Chef-Partner, **Sal Marino** shows off his simmering lamb sauce at **marino ristorante**

www.marinorestaurant.net. marino Ristorante, 6001 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038,(323) 466-881.

Pappardelle Cinghiale Wild Boar Ragu)

Pappardelle Cinghiale (Wild Boar Ragu) as Sor Tino and Caffe Roma conjures up feasts served in a forest. Its unctuous, rich, slightly tomatoey sauce includes large pieces of the Boar that had been cooked for hours in the sauce, is the equivalent of a rich man’s Bolognese,” is how our Italian-Ameican writer, Darien Morea, perfectly described it.

Pappardelle Cinghiale Wild Boar Ragu) is also served at Toscanova and Ago ristorantes, authentic Italian restaurants also owned by the master chef, Agostino Sciandri. We met this Tuscan chef at the Q for quality Awards honoring Los Angeles restaurants for maintaining high standards of authenticity.

Agostino Sciandri, chef-owner for whom Sor Tino is named

Sor Tino was the first to offer wild boar in Los Angeles in the early 1990’s. These days it is an Italian restaurant staple.

Owner-menu designer, Sciandri, adds “Not to name drop (but I will), I had first been introduced to this dish in a place that was once the home of the father of Leonardo di Vinci in the town of Vinci, Tuscany, and Sor Tino’s version was its equal in every way.”

Sor Tino, 908 Barrington Avenue, Brentwood, CA 90049. (310) 442-8466. (//(www.sortinorestaurant.com)

Pappardelle in Gourmet Pasta Kit at Home

Chef Cynthia Mamukari, founder-owner-chef of Taste & Company was the executive chef at the famous Joe Allen’s Restaurant in Los Angeles, after being recruited to work in their flagship New York and London restaurants. She was also the opening chef at Orso, an equally popular and more casual eatery both in West Hollywood and in Manhattan.

**Taste and Company gourmet Pasta Kit** (Photo courtesy Taste and Company)

The Taste & Company kit includes Cynthia’s freshest pappardelle with health-minded turkey or vegetarian sauce. Her research was exhaustive to find the best taste, one that will show off the sauce the best.

The kit has the most sophisticated, fresh ingredients still makes it fun to put together

(Darien Morea, Intro and photos by Gerry Furth-Sides). Even with its wide front veranda lush with greenery and twinkle-lit at night, it is easy to slide right by Sor Tino Italian Restaurant because of its borderline Brentwood residential location on Barrington off busy San Vicente.

Not so for the neighborhood regulars who have been frequenting it over the nearly 30 Italian restaurants in the area, sometimes two or three times weekly.

Opened in 2004 by owner Agostino Sciandra, the “Sor Tino” in the name translatesinto the slangy, affectionate manner of address.

Agostino Sciandri, chef-owner for whom Sor Tino is named

I enjoyed a delightful lunch at Sor Tino this week with four friends. We shared all the dishes, which were entree sized. For our first course, we selected a garden fresh salad of Grilled Calamari rings, Tomato, and Arugula dressed in a light Balsamic Vinaigrette. With the calamari perfectly tender, we were very pleased.

Along with that we ordered the Panzanella Salad, which led with cut Heirloom Tomatoes that were as thick, juicy and ripe as is possible (and as we all know, difficult to find in L.A.), cubed Italian Bread, Cucumber, Baby Capers, Red Onion and Basil, dressed in a Red Wine-Lemon Vinaigrette.

For our entrees, we selected two kinds of pasta. Pappardelle Cinghiale (Wild Boar Ragu), with an unctuous, rich, slightly tomatoey sauce including large pieces of the Boar that had been cooked for hours in the sauce, is the equivalent of a rich man’s Bolognese.

Sor Tino was the first to offer wild boar in Los Angeles in the early 1990’s, now almost an Italian restaurant staple (LocalFoodEater has even down a roundup on this, our favorite dish)

Not to name drop (but I will), I had first been introduced to this dish at the home of the father of Leonardo da Vinci in the town of Vinci, Tuscany, and Sor Tino’s version was its equal in every way.

We also shared with gusto Ravioli Funghi with veal and Mushroom Ragu. This pasta dish of sliced Fresh Porcini Mushrooms with large home-made Veal-Ricotta Ravioli is nestled in an earthy Veal-Mushroom Ragu – which takes hours to make. It is very unusual to have the opportunity to enjoy an actual Porcini, which are so expensive to import.

We topped off our meal with two desserts: Torta Della Nonna, which is a type of tart actually, including a shortbread crust topped with (in order) a thin layer of chocolate, a baked custard filling, a top crust and a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts and confectioner’s sugar to finish it. It has all of the homemade “grandma” taste in its name but the consistent, crisp professional taste of being prepared in a highly professional kitchen bakery.

We paired this with a Mascarpone Cheesecake, which was creamy and somewhat “New York” style. The restaurant alternates ricotta style cheesecake with this one.

The focaccia bread that comes to the table is also baked fresh at the restaurant. It is the perfectly acceptable way to “mop up” every bit of sauce in a dish.

Our service was excellent – the waiter and busboy took good care of us. It is for me the quintessential neighborhood restaurant that I would frequent in Florence – familiar, friendly, warm, homey, but elegant and special at the same time.

In between its white tablecloth days, space became the wildly popular Rosti, which quickly became a standard bearer for “take-away” rustic Italian food.

Agostino Sciandri

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Sor Tino Swings the Pendulum Back to Authentic Italian

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