Preview: Taste of Italy in Los Angeles on October 1
by @btsunoda
The Taste of Italy is an upscale food and wine event which features some of the best regional Italian cuisine, food products and wine LA has to offer. This year is the 8th annual event and I had an opportunity to preview food served by Celestino in Pasadena.
The Taste of Italy is an upscale food and wine event which features some of the best regional Italian cuisine, food products and wine LA has to offer. This year is the 8th annual event and I had an opportunity to preview food served by Celestino in Pasadena.
Celestino has been in business for over 17 years, originally
located in Beverly Hills. It is owned and operated by the Drago brothers, known
for their quality Italian cuisine since the 1980’s. Celestino’s cuisine is
mostly Sicilian and some other regional dishes such as squid ink risotto or
osso buco.
One of the starters was a squid ink arancini filled with
seafood. These were triangular black rice balls served piping hot and very
crispy. It was one of my favorite dishes that evening and I hope they serve
that at The Taste of Italy.
Porcini mushrooms are more earthy and woodsy and for that
reason they make an excellent foundation for soup. Celestino’s porcini soup was
topped with shaved black truffles. Taking a bite of the truffles with the
porcini soup was the marriage of two great flavors.
The third dish was a veal carpaccio topped with grated
pecorino cheese and shaved truffles. By this time, I was grateful that
everything was paired with truffles. The veal was very delicate in flavor and
didn’t overpower the remaining ingredients.