Year: 2010

On the menu: Fusilli con le Zucchine a Scapece

Posted on by Jon

Fusilli with marinated Zucchini, Garlic, and Mint in the style of Campania

Scapece refers to the pickling of fish or vegetables, similar to carpione and saor, a technique used throughout the Mediterranean.  Scapece is the Italianization of the Spanish word escabeche.  It’s an ancient technique of preserving food by first frying in olive oil, then marinating in vinegar, garlic, and mint.

Zucchini prepared this way are delicious as a side dish or as part of an antipasti spread, as you will find throughout southern Italy and Sardinia.  For this dish, we cut the zucchini into small strips, and form into a sauce for fusilli, the curlicue pasta.  It makes for wonderful physical and tasting sensations in the palate.

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Carmen Consoli recommends Bellavitae

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The March/April issue of La Cucina Italiana magazine features an interesting interview with Sicilian singer and songwriter Carmen Consoli (interview only available in the physical magazine or online subscription).  Here’s the last question of the interview:

What do you eat when you are on the road?

“I carry a Michelin Guide around with me everywhere I go, because I really like to eat well.  In New York, I really like Bellavitae near Washington Square Park.  It is an Italian restaurant with good ingredients imported from Italy.”

h/t James Branco

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Dining at Bellavitae

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                                             Michael J. Gelb'sWine Drinking for Inspired Thinking: Uncork Your Creative Juices [Hardcover](2010)

James Beard award-winning authors Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg came in for dinner tonight.  Joining them were Michael J. Gelb, author of just-published Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking: Uncork Your Creative Juices, and his lovely wife, the accomplished mezzo-soprano, Deborah Domanski.  Michael’s book sounds very interesting and has received terrific reviews.

By the way, Karen and Andrew’s new book, On Mastering Wine, will be published this year.  If it’s anything like The Flavor Bible, we’ll put it to good use here at Bellavitae.

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Spring has arrived

Posted on by Jon
Our wood burning brick oven

Spring is here and we’re busy planning the new menu.   Unfortunately, that means we will be closing the wood burning brick oven before you know it.  We would love to keep it burning all year long, but it just generates too much heat.  We find it hard to justify blasting the air conditioning and the oven during the summer.

We’ll make the decision to close it based on the weather, but it’s usually at the end of April or mid-May.

Meanwhile, come in and enjoy your favorite items from the oven, otherwise you’ll have to wait until next November!

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