buca di beppo

Pasadena’s Best Ethnic Restaurants Star in the 45th Festival of Fall

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The 45th Festival – friendly from the beginning and the practical plate with glass at the gate!

(Gerry Furth-Sides) Ethnic restaurants shined in the 45th Annual AbilityFirst Festival of Fall, Pasadena’s outdoor gourmet food and drink festival in the stunning gardens at the Historic Laurabelle A. Robinson House in Pasadena.   Our highly recommended restaurant participants proved to be as worthy as the spectacular private estate venue.  (//localfoodeater.com/if-you-know-gado-gado-krupuk-you-know-bone-kettle/ )(//localfoodeater.com/the-new-kitchen-dream-team-at-the-raymond-restaurant/  (//localfoodeater.com/roku-idg-create-new-concepts-for-dinela-july-13-july-27/

This year’s 45th Annual AbilityFirst Festival of Fall will be Hosted by Phaedra and Mark Ledbetter brought over 500 guests together for one exquisite evening featuring more than 25 top chefs, restaurants, cocktail bars, wineries and breweries, along with a special live culinary experience, live music and much more.  The grounds were so expansive, it never felt over-crowded.  The crowd lingered till dark.

The infinity pool behind the house to the west

No one wanted to leave – Jones Roasted Coffee and Nothing Bundt Cakes at the gate out kept guests happy until the end

The 45th Annual AbilityFirst Festival of Fall gourmet Restaurants and Desserts include Bone Kettle , Bristol Farms, Buca de Beppo, Bacchus’ Kitchen, Celestino Ristorante & Bar,  El Cholo Café, Gale’s Restaurant, Green Street Restaurant, Hope Café & Catering, Julienne Fine Foods & Celebrations, Kensington Caterers, Mi Piace, NOOR, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Roy’s Restaurant, SuperCool Creamery, Sushi Roku, and Tam O’Shanter.

We loved seeing our old friends – and some new ones at the Pasadena branches such as El Cholo!

El Cholo’s signature, end-of-the-season green corn tamales with mole!

The “best Italian” -Celestino Ristorante serv

The lively, wonderful THE RAYMOND 1886- with the news of a new chef!

What a way to usher in the fall season!

Green Street Restaurant offered THE BEST salad of greens, dried currants, mandarin orange, blue cheese and almonds. The server is laughing because she could give me a banana bread “heel”!

Historic Tam O Shanter’s friendly crew

This year’s Beverages will feature Cocktails and Spirit Tastings from Dulce Vida Tequila, Krafted Spirits, Mi Piace andThe Raymond 1886, along with specially curated Wines from Loring Wine Company, San Antonio Winery, Southern Glaziers Wine & Spirits, and The Estates Group. Golden Road Brewing will be pouring their California inspired craft beer, and Jones Coffee Roasters will be serving their globally sought and locally roasted coffee.

Proceeds from the 45th Annual AbilityFirst Festival of Fall will directly benefit AbilityFirst. AbilityFirst provides a variety of programs designed to help people with disabilities achieve their full potential throughout their lives. AbilityFirst does this by creating targeted programming to help an individual successfully transition from childhood to adult life; providing employment preparation, training, and experience; building social connections and independence; and offering both their participants and their caregivers an opportunity to refresh and recharge through their recreational activities. AbilityFirst’s person-centered programs empower individuals to discover what is important to them in their lives, and to develop the skills that are important for them to achieve their goals.

First Official LA Buca di Beppo in Historic Original Farmers Market

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(Gerry Furth-Sides)  The first Buca di Beppo in LA is inside the Original Farmers Market with easy access from the stalls and parking lot.  I know Buca di Beppo originated and are still going strong in the LA ‘burbs of Pasadena, Redondo Beach, and Claremont because I arranged all the opening parties which deserve defining as “rollicking.”  But this is the first official one inside of LA and under new ownership.//www2.farmersmarketla.com/merchants/104/Buca-di-Beppo

The service is friendly and impersonal- not like the early days when a team of exuberant “paisans” ran the show.  The effort seems to have been transferred to the excellent food. For details, please see: //www.bucadibeppo.com/menu/

Chicken Saltimbocca

Chicken Saltimbocca topped with prosciutto & sage served with artichoke hearts, lemon, capers & lemon butter sauce.

Staying true to its southern Italian roots, dishes include my favorite (at one time off-the-menu) Pizza Arriabiata and Caesar Salad.  The thin-crust pie is carpeted with spicy Italian sausage, pepperoni, caramelized red onions, Gorgonzola, mozzarella, provolone & our authentic pizza sauce.  Excellent.

Pizza Arriabiata & Caesar Salad

The cannolis did not disappoint.  The pair is dense and crunchy enough outside and filled with a creamy cheese inside.cannolis But I miss the old tiramisu heaped in a soup bowl,  heavy on the rum, mascarpone and espresso, and light on the lady fingers. The current version is more of a muddle topped with cocoa & crumbled hazelnut biscotti.

tiramisu

The new “star” seems to be an oversized sundae.

Buca’s excellent Spaghetti with Meatballs is still on the menu.

Buca’s

All dishes are served family style.

The chef was enthusiastic and coined the term, “meatballs as big your head.” It is now more of a t-shirt slogan.


 

Buca di Beppo translates into “Cave of Johnny.” and how many times did I explain this when I happily did the opening parties when they first landed in Los Angeles?  I was thrilled after questioning how the rollicking concept would go in “sophisticated LA” after experiencing it at their successful San Francisco and Seattle locations.

It went just fine, thank you very much, or “Grazi,” in Italian, just as the restroom recorded language lessons instructed.  It was all in the spirit of good food and good fun.  So much fun that the music track was timed to play each song three times — the first for fun, the second for recognition, and the third, for an annoying signal to leave!

 

Everyone recognizes Sophia Loren, maybe not from an early American film role with Alan Ladd

Not one of the staff recognized the first CEO’s wife, Connie Micatrotto, an inside joke. Miss you, Micatrottos!

The idea of the Buca di Beppo chain out of the Midwest was to copy the low ceilings of early Italian apartment basement restaurants.

 

The remodeled Original Farmers Market location, holding approximately 200 patrons, was previously home to Planet Dailies L.A. and has regular height ceilings. The patio is the most fun now.

The location includes a cozy but upbeat outdoor second-floor dining patio, private rooms for larger group events, and a bar.

High School graduation celebration to these two now at UCLA!

dinner party

A high school graduation – perfect setting

Gone is the over-the-top “secret” pope’s table.  It is now more of a cipher at the end of the open dining room.

Still available, if you ask and remind the staff, is the candelabra birthday salutation.  I dreaded when I saw it coming toward me as a Redondo Beach location surprise — but it was my turn, I love it.  It is so much fun!

 

Original Farmer’s Market, 6333 W. 3rd St. Los Angeles, Third and Fairfax, Los Angeles, Ca 90036

CALL: (323) 370-6560WWW.BUCADIBEPPO.COM

Lavazza “Picks up” Tiramisu with New Coffee Blend for Mother’s Day

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(Gerry Furth-Sides) Tiramisu is a favorite Italian dessert consisting of layers of sponge cake soaked in coffee and a liqueur with powdered chocolate and mascarpone cheese.  It is derived from the Italian phrase tira mi su meaning ‘pick me up’.

My favorite restaurant version(see recipe below) is from Buca di Beppo — heavy on the marscapone cream, espresso and liquor!  It is  served in a soup bowl to share although I have polished off an entire one myself.  The Lavassa version is more refined and pretty – perfect for Mother’s day.

Lavazza recently introduced its newest coffee varietal – Intenso Dark Roast – that help redefine the term “tiramisu” or Pick-me-up! Based on a traditional family recipe, and rated a nine out of ten on Lavazza’s intensity scale, Intenso is a bold new coffee with smoky, caramelized flavors and lingering chocolaty notes.

Adding a little more energy  into a Mother’s Day gift this year, the coffee innovators behind Italy’s favorite coffee, Lavazza, created an easy Espresso Tiramisu recipe below. Even kids can make it.  The hot coffee finds its perfect match with the recipe’s chilled ingredients, and brings out the fragrance of the partially soaked Pasta di Meligabiscuits.

INGREDIENTS

Serves: 6

  • Lavazza Espresso or Mocha coffee
  • Paste di Meliga biscuits (store-bought or homemade)
  • Mascarpone cream:
    • 8.8 oz. Mascarpone cheese
    • 2.1 oz. Powdered sugar
    • 3.1 oz. Heavy cream
    • 1.4 oz. whole milk
    • ¼ Vanilla bean pod
  • Cocoa powder

Instructions

Prep Time: 15 minutes

  • Place the mascarpone cheese in a mixing bowl.
  • Add the powdered sugar, whole milk, heavy cream and vanilla bean paste.
  • Use an electric whisk to obtain a soft creamy mixture.
  • Place in a pastry bag and refrigerate.
  • Brew Lavazza Espresso or Mocha coffee

To serve:

  • Place a Pasta di Meliga biscuit in the bottom of a cappuccino cup.
  • Add a generous helping of the mascarpone cream mixture.
  • Pour hot brewed Lavazza coffee around the cream.
  • Dust lightly with bitter cocoa powder.

Note: Lavazza recommends preparing this recipe with Espresso coffee.

 

And here is the recipe for the whole-hearted version served at Buca di Beppo.

Ingredients

¾ cup granulated sugar, sifted

6 large eggs, beaten

1 cup flour, sifted

1 cup prepared instant espresso

5 tablespoons dark rum (divided)

1 pound mascarpone cheese

¾ cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

2 medium chocolate biscotti, broken into small chunks

Preparation:

 “ladyfingers:”

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two large cookie sheets.

In mixing bowl, combine sifted sugar and the eggs and beat at high speed 12 to 15 minutes or until fairly thick and frothy. Reduce speed to medium, add sifted flour and mix just until incorporated.

Immediately spoon batter onto cookie sheet, forming three circles about 6 inches in diameter. Batter will stay in place initially, but will spread slightly while baking, so leave a few inches between each circle.

There may be some batter left over. (See note).

Bake in preheated oven until golden brown and center no longer has bubbles or looks wet, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool 1 to 2 minutes, then remove from cookie sheets with a thin metal spatula and set on cooling racks. Cool to room temperature. (These are best done a day in advance.) Store in a covered container at room temperature with waxed paper between them so they don’t stick together.

To assemble: Combine cooled espresso with 2 tablespoons of the rum in a large shallow bowl.

In mixing bowl, combine mascarpone cheese with powdered sugar and remaining 3 tablespoons rum. Mix until well combined.

Set out a bowl with a 6- to 7-inch flat bottom that is about 3 inches deep; a glass bowl with straight sides (such as a trifle bowl) works best.

Check the size of the “ladyfinger” rounds and trim them to fit the bowl if needed. You want the rounds to be even around the outside when layered.

Put a ladyfinger round on a large spatula and dip into espresso mixture for 2 to 3 seconds. Do not leave it in the mixture too long or the ladyfingers will get soggy and fall apart.

Transfer to prepared bowl and top with one-third of the mascarpone cheese mixture, spreading it evenly with the tip of a rounded knife.

Repeat two more times so you have three soaked ladyfinger layers and three layers of the mascarpone. The last layer will be a mascarpone layer. Cover top of bowl tightly with plastic wrap.

To serve:  Unwrap and sift cocoa powder over the top, then sprinkle with biscotti chunks. Scoop servings out of the bowl.

Restaurant version at THE GROVE Buca di Beppo

Restaurant version at THE GROVE Buca di Beppo

Note: You will have enough batter leftover to make three to four additional ladyfinger rounds. Use for additional tiramisu or store in an airtight container between wax paper until needed

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