Review of Dirty Dishes on Bloomberg

My memoirs, Dirty Dishes, enjoyed  nice coverage on Bloomberg.

Click here to read the article.

Centolire Cafe and Panini

Centolire Café & Panini offers neighborhood locals and museum-goers a ground floor café and Italian sandwich shop in addition to the elegant second floor, sunlit dining room with banquet seating overlooking Madison Avenue at 86th Street.  The café menu features soups, salads, Panini, open-faced sandwiches and sweets, all delicately prepared from seasonal ingredients, all under $10 per entrée.

“In Italy we often stop midday for a quick sandwich and a beer – we’ll take a moment to catch up on the soccer scores, world news or the company of a friend.   I am happy to offer this service – great food served quickly and eaten slowly – for my guests” comments Pino Luongo on his newest venture.

We hope you’ll stop in and visit us.

Centolire Café & Panini is open seven days a week from 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM.

Centolire Café & Panini is located at 1167 Madison Avenue, 85th & 86th Street, NY, NY 10028, 212.734.7711.

Review of Dirty Dishes in Restaurant Hospitality

I was very happy to see this review of Dirty Dishes in Restaurant Hospitality.

Dirty Dishes – Interview

Here is a link to a radio interview for Dirty Dishes with OnTheMenu. Thank you Ann and Peter.

Dirty Dishes – great new review

I was happy to  see this nice review of Dirty Dishes in ZINK Magazine.  Thank you ZINK.

Dirty Dishes

My new book, Dirty Dishes, that I wrote with the great help and talent of Andrew Friedman is coming out this month. I am delighted that we’ve already had favorable reviews by the NY Post and blogger Josh Ozersky of The Feedbag.

In the book I tell my story. I’d like for the book to do well, but I’ll tell you the punch line – I love cooking. Cooking is my passion. I love the creativity involved in cooking and the joy of sharing a meal with friends and family. Cooking has been my passion, my quest, my joy throughout my life.

This passion, and the reality of living in America and speaking only Italian, led me to open a restaurant, and the success of first the led to the 2nd, and a 3rd, …Soon you can read my tale, from my childhood in Tuscany to my journey in America as restaurateur.

In the meantime, I will share one of my favorite recipes of all time that I’ve included in Dirty Dishes: Spaghetti alla rustica.

We serve this at Centolire, where you’ll find me most days for lunch and dinner. Or make it at home, and share my true love.

Tomato and bread soup

This is a  great, classic soup that I love. You need only delicious tomatoes, a handful of basil, some stale bread, and twenty or so minutes. By the time you finish your glass of wine and set the table, the soup will be ready.

Enjoy the simplicity of this.

Olive oil
Black pepper
Vegetable broth
Garlic
smashed 
stale bread
Fresh, ripe tomatoes
coarsely chopped 
fresh basil
Soak the stale bread in a bowl of broth while you brown the garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Turn the heat to high and add the tomato, skin and all, to the pan. Cook over high heat, stirring slowly, and then add the basil. When the tomatoes have cooked for a while and have a thick consistency, take the bread out of the broth with your hands and squeeze and shred it into the tomatoes and basil. Serve in warm bowls and toss with additional olive oil. Sprinkle generously with freshly ground pepper.
This recipe if from my first cookbook, A Tuscan in the Kitchen.

Peaches

The stone fruits: nectarines, peaches, plums have been delicious this year. We’ve had a regular supply of rainfall and that is what stone fruits need to be juicy. And we’ve had a lot of sun, and that is what they need to be sweet.

Of course you can enjoy them out of the bag on your way home from the market. You can make them into a fruit salad with berries, walnuts and lemon juice; you can slice (but don’t peel) and marinate them in red wine, refrigerate for an hour and serve chilled; or you can bake them with chocolate – which I recommend highly.

Bon apetito!

Perhaps you, like me, have said good-bye to summer too quickly.  I love the long days of summer and the relaxed pace and the extra time with my family.

I am going to keep the summer with me as I head back to work by enjoying some delicious dishes that make the most of summer’s glorious produce for lunch; a simple crostini, pasta with tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, pasta with fresh vegetables, and  a panzanelle – a salad with tomatoes and croutons.

You can make these at home with the recipes I offer – or you can come to Centolire and I’ll make them for you.

Bon appetito!

A Gardener’s Menu

Last year I posted this menu and it’s what I feel like eating now – so I am suggesting it again.  If you planned and sowed ahead – you’ll need a short trip to the market to prepare this meal – most of the ingredients will be on your counter – or on the vine.

Enjoy the fruits of your hard work – and let the only labor in your week-end be rising on Tuesday to get back to work

Gardener’s Soup
Arugula Salad with Speck and Walnuts
Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce
Sole with Capers
Pesto
Melon Gelatina