A is For Amicizia - A Friendly Four Hands Lunch at Ristorante La Galleria, Gragnano (Na)

Chef Giulio Coppola and Pasticcere Antonino Maresca

17 December, Karen.  Save the date.

A quick message from Chef Giulio Coppola via WhatsApp. 

An appointment for lunch.  Coppola had even invited his close friend, Pastry Chef Antonino Maresca, to share in the festivities.

No stress, just good food-good friends, just the type of event to kick off the Christmas season.

Coppola’s restaurant, La Galleria, is located in the heart of pasta land, Gragnano.  The streets of the town were dressed in Christmas red ready to host their annual mercatino di Natale/Christmas market.  Inside the restaurant, the spirit continued featuring Christmas lights and decorations winding up the staircase and spread throughout the dining room.

But I was curious as to what as going on in the kitchen of course! Preparations for lunch in progress!  Coppola, Maresca, and the small kitchen brigade were at work to set out a Christmas spread that was original, entertaining, but above all appetizing!

Here’s a look…

Aperitifs prepared by La Galleria; rice chips with beet cream and gorgonzola. Chicory stuffed with hollandaise sauce. Roulade of marinated meat with ricotta cheese...

Toasted panettone (made with olive oil and verbena) topped with butter, anchovy, lemon and truffles.

Topinambur (Jerusalem artichokes) chips.

In addition, a series of breads made by Maresca including an olive filled cornetto.

Then on to the appetizers;

A light, delicate chard ravioli alla marinara (shrimp, octopus, clams) with infused lemon.

Coppola’s prize winninggourmet pizza with "hot dogs" and potatoes with mayonnaise and "checiap".

First courses-

Spaghetti with spring onions, lemon, and smoked cerino, a fish from the mullet family.

Plin pasta stuffed with cauliflower and sea snails.  

Topped with purple cabbage and its fantastic broth.

Second course-

It would not be Natale without cod and Coppola did not disappoint. 

Still have room for dessert?  Of course!

Maresca presented a series of dolci like this predessert – cubo di Natale/Christmas cube.  Smoked grapefruit, corbezzolo (strawberry tree) and fresh pine nuts.

 A personal Christmas message from Maresca included.

Then “Mi Sembrano Mille”, Maresca’s take on a classic Italian dessert, the millefoglie.  A piece of appetizing artwork featuring a surprise.  Panettone ice cream!

The end of any Christmas meal includes picccoli pastries like these prepared with seasonal citrus fruits and yellow tomatoes stuffed with red ones.

And of course, panettone!  Maresca treated us all with two types – the classic version with candied fruits and nuts and one with annurca apples.  

Panettone prepared by Forno Guarino alongside Maresca himself.

At the end of the meal, alongside a chiacchierata and coffee the chefs finally filled us in on the mysterious A that had accompanied one of the spectacular desserts tasted. 

Antonino?

No, we were told – 

A is for Amicizia.

Friendship.

Stepping Out of the Kitchen – Pastificio Gentile, Gragnano (Na)

Only a few weeks have passed since my visit to Pastificio Gentile’s newly renovated location along Windmill Valley in Gragnano.  I wrote about it here.  It was during that visit that I made plans to come back during the day, maybe with a notebook to take a few notes, and maybe with a few friends to share the experience. 

That’s what happened last Saturday.  I returned with a few friends…chefs from restaurants that I’ve visited in the past.  I invited them to step out of the kitchen so to speak, so that they can look at here their products come from/ho they are made.

What do chefs notice when they enter a pasta factory?  The aromas, the heat/calore… They touch, taste, and ask questions, share experiences, ideas.

 In the company of five chefs and a 7 year old opened up my mind (and taste buds:-D). A full on five senses experience!

Snapshot of the Day, Pasta 1-2-3, Chef Domenico Stile, Enoteca La Torre, Rome (Rm)

Give a young chef from Gragnano a half kilo of pasta and three ingredients then stand back and watch him go at it.  Chef Domenico Stile of Enoteca La Torre presented this eyepopping plate at Cooking For Art - Chef Emergente last evening.  The rules were simple...but challenging.  Create a pasta dish using only three ingredients.  The chef chose rigatoni and paired it with parsley, salt cod, and black garlic...

One of the reasons the chef was recognized as giving value to agricultural products.

Congratulations, Chef Stile!

Snapshot of the Day -Otto Uve, Grotta Del Sole (Na)

When I pour a glass of Gragnano, I immediately think of the Martusciello family.    They were the ones who introduced me to this wine several years ago during a visit to their winery, Grotta del Sole.  Gragnano has always been  known as an easy sparkling wine.  Its vibrant purple color with that distinctive dark pinkish sizzling schuma (foam) on top is its trademark.   Colorful, light, fragrant, the perfect pair for pizza.
I was curious, then, when I learned that the winery had decided to tweak this wine that the family has been producing since the 90s and release it under new name.
After a recent visit to their winery and a few glasses later, It was clear.
Sometimes to move ahead you have to take a step back.
Otto Uve, translated as eight grapes.  A homage, Salvatore Martusciello informed me, to the eight grapes that were used in the past to produce the wine.  Red grapes from vineyards in Gragnano and  Pimonte on the Sorrento Peninsula.  Three I was already familiar with...Aglianico, Piedirosso, and Sciascinoso. But there are others...Olivella, Supprezza, Castagnara, Sauca, and Surbegna. That unforgettable foam is still there, but a deeper purple/almost ruby color stares at you from the glass. So a meatier Gragnano complete with a pleasantly light amount of sediment at the bottom of the bottle reminding one that the wine's flavor has not been filtered out. Still the perfect pair for pizza? Sure. Today's pizzas need a light but flavorful wine to stand up to the gourmet wave that has swept not only Campania, but Italy as well. But why limit it to pizza? I paired Otto Uve with a baked pasta dish with a meaty tomato sauce. I paired it with a hearty bowl of chili con carne in front of the fireplace one chilly evening last week.
Sometimes to move ahead you have to take a step back...

Fantastic Firsts - Pasta with Beans, Mussels, and Shrimp - Chef Giulio Coppola, Ristorante La Galleria, Gragnano (Na)

I've been a big fan of pasta and fagioli con le cozze (pasta with beans and mussels) for a long time.  But when I tried this dish by Chef Giulio Coppola on a recent visit to his restaurant in La Galleria in Gragnano. I knew I had found a dish that would certainly be on my list of fantastic summer firsts.
Here it goes...

Coppola first cooks the beans then passes half of the beans through a vegetable mill.  He adds salt to taste.  He then cooks mixed pasta until it is al dente.  In the meantime, in a separate saucepan with extra virgin olive oil and garlic, he sautes mussels that he has previously steamed open. Then he adds the pasta to the beans along with the mussels and a little chopped Italian parsely.  The shrimp?  Add a few raw shrimp to the dish and serve.




Ristorante La Galleria
Piazza Augusto Aubry n.12
80054, Gragnano (Na), Italy

Chef Giulio Coppola, his Gragnano, his Ristorante La Galleria, Gragnano (Na)

I first met Chef Giulio Coppola one summer Saturday evening in the main piazza of Gragnano (Na). The chef was one of half a dozen ish who had prepared a pasta dish for the large crowd that filled the city for A' Pasta that evening.  But as (bad) luck would have it, when I got to Coppola's stand, he was sold out. There was nothing left but Coppola's smile and a mi dispiace, I'm sorry.
Every cloud has a silver lining.  A quick investigation and I learned that Coppola ran a restaurant on the other side of the piazza.  So I decided then and there  that the next time I visited Gragnano, I would make sure to visit Giulio Coppola at his restaurant La Galleria.

Chef Giulio Coppola

The next time came a few weeks ago.  I arranged a visit to one the top pasta factories in town and I invited Coppola to come along with me before  lunch.  I thought he would be the perfect person to elaborate on Gragnano's  passion for pasta . He, a young chef who grew up surrounded by the aromas and  activity of the pasta factories in Gragnano.  After picking his brain in the pasta shop, asking advice about sauces, pasta shapes, pasta cooking times, it was time to head to that familiar piazza where we meet some 18 months earlier.  Piazza Gugielmo Marconi.  To a little shopping plaza, Galleria Garofalo.  To a little restaurant.  To a small table.  To sit down to a lunch prepared by Chefs Coppola and Carmine Sorrentino.  That particular day, Chef Vincenzo Imparato, was also there, assisting his friend Coppola while the restaurant where he worked was closed for the season.  In the dining room, Camilla Inserra greeted me with a smile and a glass of spumante.  I was ready.  Ready for a pasta is a girl's best friend lunch to complete my dynamic day in Gragnano.  The meal began with a welcome/benvenuto...

A ricotta 'lollipop' topped with almonds, anchovies, and figs.

On the table freshly baked breadsticks, bread, and foccaccia...

Next, a colorful and comforting series of appetizers arrived...

Scampi 'al naturale' with a 'liquid' insalata di rinforzo/reinforcement salad

one  egg-three textures:foamy, soft, crunchy...with a touch of parimigiano and white truffle.

From the wine list, I decided to go for a glass or two of Via del Campo Falanghina 2011 from Quintodecimo.

Then it was time for my first course.  The chef sent out a series of delicious combinations.

Lasagna with creamy beans and a lobster and tomato concasse'

Risotto with red mullet and candied apricots.

Spaghetti with white truffles.

My curiosity increased as each dish was brought out.  I had to pop in the kitchen every now and then. It was encouraging to see the teamwork and concentration of the three young chefs who worked in perfect harmony.   We spoke for quite awhile, then Coppola had something to show me.  A tail of beef.

Why?   I wondered.  Because the next dish, I was told would be an interesting inside out version...

Beef tail 'inside out'...a potato stuffed with slow cooked beef, melted caciocavallo cheese, and a grilled spring onion.

The chef asked if I had a little space left.  Well, there is always space for mozzarella and culatello. :-)

And homemade ice cream...

And little pastries.

Yes, I made some space and some time for some conversation before I needed to head back home.  Plus Coppola had to run a few errands.  Off to check out a local organic garden for some fresh produce.  You'll have to come with me next time, he smiled.
I smiled back.
There was much much more that I wanted to learn about Coppola, his Gragnano, and his Ristorante La Galleria.

La Galleria Ristorante 
Piazza Guglielmo Marconi .
Galleria Garofalo
Gragnano, (Na)
39 081 873 30 29