IAMLA's Taste of Italy 2019 Preview at Sosta Cucina

by Bryan Tsunoda @discovering_LA

The Taste of Italy is a sumptuous food and wine event that takes place on Sat. Oct 12. It features some of the best regional Italian cuisine, food products, and wine LA has to offer. In addition, attendees can watch live demonstrations and enjoy the on-site entertainment. 

This year is the 11th annual event and I had an opportunity to preview food prepared by Sosta Cucina in Hermosa Beach.

Sosta means “resting place” in Italian. Sosta Cucina opened a year ago and is owned by chef Luca Manderino. They serve Venetian style Italian food, focusing on smaller-sized portions, encouraging patrons to share their meals family-style. Manderino isn’t new to the area. He has been preparing Italian food in the South Bay since 2005 with Sosta Enoteca.

The first dish was a charcuterie plate featuring cured European meat. 

The platter was filled with thinly sliced prosciutto, soppressata, and specht. The delicious cured meats paired quite nicely with the Custodi Belloro Orvieto Classico, a slightly acidic white wine with notes of fresh apple.

Crudo di branzino followed. 

A plate of sea bass carpaccio topped with fresh pepper and surrounded by extra virgin olive oil ,this is a popular Italian starter that is often served on warm days. Picking up the fish, you can immediately tell how delicate and tender it was. The delicate branzino quickly fell apart as you ate it.

Many chefs prepare gnocchi that is hard and difficult to chew. After tasting Manderino’s gnocchi, everyone nodded and remarked how the mashed potatoes with gorgonzola cream sauce simply melted in our mouths. We agreed that this was a remarkable dish.

Baccalà mantecato or salted cod is a classic Venetian dish that was served with creamy polenta and topped with grilled onions. 

Because of the salty strong taste, they paired with the cod with a Tenuta Carretta Nebbiolo. This was an excellent medium-bodied wine with a clean finish.

We were excited to receive a ribeye steak as our final secondi.

It was nicely seared making the edge crispy. The steak was perfectly paired with a medium tannin Cascina Adelaide Barolo 2013 Blue Label wine. 

For dessert, we had house-made ricotta topped with fresh strawberries and a sweet strawberry sauce. 

This was similar to a creamy cheesecake without the graham cracker crust. The strawberry sauce nicely elevated this dessert.

The event takes place on Saturday, Oct. 12 on the grounds of the iconic Pico House in downtown LA. Among the over 40 participants are Drago Centro, Ca' Momi Winery,

Osteria Cal Mare, Factory Kitchen, L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, Fernet-Branca, Puglia Italian Restaurant, L’Opera, and Colombo’s Italian Steakhouse & Jazz Club. 
Tickets are $65 for general admission (6 food tickets and 6 beverage tickets) and $135 for premiere tickets (10 food tickets and 10 beverage tickets).
Details and ticket information is available on the Italian America Museum website.

Taste of Italy
424 N Main St
Los Angeles, CA 90012