(photos by acuna-hansen) Celestino Ristorante in Pasadena introduces a New Summer Power Lunch Menu created by Owner and Executive Chef Calogero Drago that turns lunch into a daydream trip to Italy. We’ve known the Dragos for a generation and their family chefs consistently prepare the most superb, authentic food with service to match at their restaurants. Chef Calogero’s new flavor-packed Three-Course Prix-Fixe Lunch Menu ($32.00 per person)also includes a non-alcoholic lunchtime beverage.
The New Summer Power Lunch Menu starts off with an Antipasti where guests can choose from the Insalata di Lattughe Miste con Barbabietole Rosse Gialle made with mixed baby greens and fresh beets, topped with goat cheese, apples and walnuts; the Burrata con Salsa Peperone e Vegetali Miste served with burrata cheese, mixed vegetables and bell pepper sauce, or the Zupa di Lenticche e Cavolo, a lentil and kale soup.
The Entrée section invites guests to choose from four delectable dishes including the handmade Gnocchi di Spinaci alla Sorrentina (spinach potato dumplings and tomato, in a flavorful mozzarella cheese sauce); the Involtini di Pollo con Marsala prepared with chicken breast in a Marsala wine sauce; the Maccheroncini all’ Aratriciana, house-made pasta with bacon, onion, tomato, and Pecorino cheese or the Filetto di Sole al Vapore con Misticanza di Vegetali, a perfectly prepared filet of sole served with mixed seasonal vegetables.
This New Summer Power Lunch ends on a sweet note with a dessert choice of the Traditional Sicilian Cannoli made with creamy ricotta and golden-brown fried dough or the Panna Cotta served with seasonal fruit.
Celestino Ristorante is open for Lunch every Monday through Friday from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm. For information or reservations, please visit www.CelestinoPasadena.com or call Celestino Ristorante directly at 626.795.4006.
Across town, another Italian daydream dining trip awaits diners with the Pronto Market Lunch, at Culina at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills. The meal includes prepared selections as well as dishes from the kitchen Monday through Saturday from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm ($35 per person)
Abbondanza defines Chef Moriconi’s wildly sumptuous array of Soups, Salads, Pastas, an entire section of Cheese and Charcuterie, weekly rotating Seasonal Specials, Desserts and Fresh Fruits. Each has its own name with ingredients next to it. A staff as friendly as any in Italy is there to guide diners.
Pronto Market Lunch has become our favorite meal of the day because it can be brunch, lunch or the big meal. Chef’s Daily Pasta offerings, for example, include Baked Capunti with Eggplant; classic Pasta e Fagioli, and Pappardelle with Wild Boar. Protein choices are an example of the luxurious offerings: Tri-Tip, Grilled Salmon and Grilled Chicken. Saturday Pronto Market Lunch with bonus stations such as the Avocado Toast Station, Omelet Station and Eggs Benedict Station. Fresh Fruit is always offered as a dessert and is only part of the trays of weekly specials that can be Tiramisu, Lemon Tart, Panna Cotta with Passion Fruit Gelée and Red Velvet Cake.
As if the sumptuous “Market Table” ever needed refreshing, the huge spread at internationally prominent Brazilian steakhouse, Fogo de Chão, features new seasonal items geared toward summer’s warmer temperatures. The idea is that “Brazilian cuisine focuses on harvesting and serving fruits and vegetables when they are in season and have reached peak flavor,” as described by Chief Executive Officer of Fogo de Chão, Barry McGowan. We are also always thrilled to see a white tablecloth restaurant thrive, and this atmosphere both casual and spiffy, takes diners out of the city’s din. It makes lunch in the luscious interior a special occasion and the lunch which starts at $15 contributes to the success. For details and hours, please see: Fogo de Chão
One fraction of one side of the Market Table at Fogo de Chão.
And here is another option: dine in your own backyard or favorite summer area. To celebrate the launch of the new delivery service, Macaroni Grill is offering free delivery on all orders placed from July 29 – Aug. 4. In addition, from Aug. 1 – Oct. 7, Macaroni Grill will offer a special “Feast for Five for $25,” available only for those ordering online for pickup or delivery, that will include either Spaghetti & Meatballs or Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, Caesar Salad and Rosemary Peasant Bread for five people.
This spring new additions even included a dining room update with windows that are more open to lightened the shrubbery outside.
And at the Beverly Hills Fogo de Chão, a brand new expanded bar with outdoor patio floods light into the welcoming foyer. The bar does equal justice to the Brazilian-inspired craft cocktails and South American wines. (please see 
This one small “taste” of the new spring bar menu. It is the Cucumber Mint Smash with a name as refreshing as it looks and tastes.
A small plate and a pair of tongs at every place setting is there to nap the sliced off meat from the skewer when the gaucho slices it off for you.
Baskets of Brazilian yucca-flour cheese puffs, pão de queijo, put mini-popovers in mind with their paper-crisp exterior and spongy interior remain just as addictive.
On the buffet table itself, even the the potato salad salmon and prosciutto are the finest anywhere.
And don’t forget dessert- flan and key lime pie are favorites.
(Gerry Furth-Sides) The star signature caipirinha, the lime juice-infused cocktail made with a sugar cane liquor, cachaca, retains its place of honor at the recently revamped Fogo de Chão bar at the Beverly Hills location.
Brazilian Empanadas are the flakiest pastry dough pies filled with seasoned picanha and onions. They are served with Chimichurri aioli for dipping.
The Jumbo Shrimps served with limes and a Malagueta Brazilian cocktail sauce is only one of three superb seafood items on the menu. They almost, almost make you forget you are in a house of palace of beef.
Garlic Shrimp feature four jumbo shrimp sautéed in garlic butter with sweet peppers and onions, served with passion fruit dipping sauce.
As if the Market Table choices were not difficult enough to resist at the Fogo de Chão churrascaria party, chefs have just added brand new fall menu dishes to the array (spring on this southern continent!)
Roasted Butternut Squash Salad – Butternut squash, a winter staple in Brazil, is roasted with cinnamon and honey and then tossed with American cranberries andGreek feta.
The biggest surprise about our meal at 
Fogo de Chão is a leading Brazilian steakhouse, or churrascaria, which has specialized for more than 36 years in fire-roasting high-quality meats utilizing the centuries-old Southern Brazilian cooking technique of churrasco.
Gerry Furth-Sides 
Barbara Hansen 
Chef-owner Alain Cohen 
Roberta Deen 
Jose Martinez 
Nivedita Basu 