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G10 | Sunday, November 16, 2014 |
Houston Chronicle | HoustonChronicle.com and chron.com x x x
ZEST
DINING
Mayra Beltrán photos / Houston Chronicle
Chef Giancarlo Ferrara has opened his own upscale Italian restaurant called Amalﬁ Ristorante Italiano & Bar, which features foods of his native Salerno, Italy.
A TASTE OF SALERNO
Restaurant inspired by Amalﬁ coast brings Italian seafood to Houston
By Greg Morago
A Mediterranean octopus
roasted with rosemary, garlic
and ﬁne herbs served over
sautéed escarole and capers
and ﬁnished with a grilled bell
pepper and peroncino sauce
Thick spaghetti with colatura
ﬁsh sauce, Manila clams and
lemon zest
Beef carpaccio with goat cheese
salad
Amalﬁ Ristorante
Italiano & Bar
Giancarlo Ferrara remembers the early 6100 Westheimer, No. 140, 713-532-2201;
morning smell of tomatoes cooking in his
amalﬁhouston.com
mother’s kitchen as she began the family’s
big Sunday meal. “By the time we got
back from church, everything was ready,” seafood menu, rounded out by pizza,
he said, recalling the culinary traditions
an abundance of pasta dishes, and a
of his childhood in Salerno, Italy.
variety of meats. The kitchen makes its
The youngest of seven children of a
own pasta. Several cheeses on the menu
family that makes sheep’s milk cheeses,
come from his family’s cheese company.
he said he naturally fell into a career in
He sources his lamb from a farm in
restaurants. He began his culinary
Goldthwaite. He smokes his own
training at 15 and by the time he
salmon. Steaks are additionally dry
was 17 he was in the kitchen full
aged in-house.
time. And while his professional
Ferrara’s culinary passions
CHEF
career took him to Italy, Germany
are evident in his abundant and
and Ireland (including a two-star
varied menu. Antipasti options
Michelin restaurant), he always
include beef carpaccio with a salad
longed to open his own restaurant.
of micro greens, pears and shaved
Now he has. Amalﬁ Ristorante
pecorino; roasted Mediterranean
Italiano & Bar, named for one of Italy’s
octopus served over escarole with a
most popular and picturesque stretches
grilled bell pepper sauce; pan-seared
of coastline, opened last week at 6100
diver scallops served over sautéed porcini
Westheimer. Not only does Ferrara, who
mushrooms and ﬁngerling potatoes
spent 11 years at Arcodoro, have a place
with a black truffle sauce; and Maine
to call his own, he has a kitchen where he
lobster tail medallions served with a
can specialize in the foods and ﬂavors of
salad of fresh orange segments and chive
his beloved Amalﬁ coast.
pink pepper dressing. Pasta? Ferrara
“I’m very pleased that ﬁnally, after 25
is sending out thick spaghetti with an
years in this business, my dream came
anchovy-ﬂavored ﬁsh sauce studded with
true.”
Manila clams; pappardelle in a creamy
Done up in nautical blue and white,
sea urchin sauce with chickpeas and lardo
Amalﬁ is a charming white-tablecloth
(he said it’s like “sea urchin carbonara”);
restaurant with a predominantly
spaghetti with oven-roasted veal and
sweetbreads and mild pecorino; paccheri
pasta with a ragoût of braised pork ribs;
and whole wheat fettuccini with porcini
mushrooms, pancetta and a creamy
parmesan truffle sauce. The ﬁsh and meat
entrees include braised salted codﬁsh
with artichokes and potatoes; large ovenroasted calamari stuffed with seafood and
served over creamy polenta; Gulf snapper
ﬁllet in a light cherry tomato, garlic and
parsley sauce; herb-crusted pork ﬁllet
with cauliﬂower mousse; roasted bone-in
Texas lamb with charred spring onions
and potatoes; and wood ﬁre-roasted New
York steak served with an arugula and
tomato salad with Parmesan shavings.
“I want to bring to the table something
nobody else does,” he said. “It’s
something different for Houston.”
But something utterly familiar to the
chef’s heart. “For me, cooking is not just
work. It relaxes me, especially when
I cook for friends,” he said. “It’s like
sharing my feelings for food.”
Ferrara left Arcodoro in January and
has been working nonstop since to debut
Amalﬁ. But the thrill of opening his own
restaurant has kept him energized, he
said. “For me, it recharged myself because
it’s a new challenge,” he said. “It’s like
an adrenalin shot. I hope this adrenalin
comes for a long time.”
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twitter.com/@gregmorago
THE POUR
Lillo & Ella gets crafty with cocktails
By Greg Morago
Shady Acres Houston isn’t exactly
known for its abundance of craft
cocktail options. But Kevin Naderi is
hoping that Houston knows there’s
at least one spot in the neighborhood
that deserves to be a cocktail destination. And he owns it.
The chef/owner of Lillo & Ella, 2307
Ella, which opened in the spring, has
built a drinks program that should
attract cocktail enthusiasts to the
small pan-Asian restaurant that is big
on unexpected ﬂavors. Offerings are
divided between a handful of propriwasabi syrup — a nod to the previous
etary sippers and a variety of classic
tenant, El Gran Malo).
indulgences.
For a chef who admits he was a
House-devised cockquestionable bartender
tails include Strapping
in his younger days, the
Lillo & Ella
Young Man (blackstrap
opening of Lillo & Ella
2307 Ella,
rum, aquavit, ﬁve-spice
gave him an opportunity
281-888-5355;
syrup and coconut
to put his toque-minded
lilloandella.com
drizzle), Tin Foil Hat (gin,
ideas into play when it
Suze bitters, rosemary
came to cocktail offerand grapefruit), Zatoichi’s
ings. Working with his
Revenge (green tea-infused aperitif,
bartenders to devise clever drinks
celery bitters, sea salt and seltzer), and
was a creative endeavor, said Naderi,
The Old Haunt Rita (a margarita made
who also owns Roost in Montrose.
with yuzu juice, orange bitters and
They went all in, making all their own
syrups, even grenadine, as well as
using fresh-squeezed juices and fruit/
herb garnishes.
The fall menu provides a lot of
warm, autumnal ﬂavors; and it will
change again in the spring. Drinks, too,
are a relative bargain, with all cocktails
on the menu priced at $9. Even better: The daily happy hour, from 4 to 7
p.m., offers $7 cocktails, $5 craft beers
and $7 glasses of wine. There’s also a
daily punch bowl cocktail that always
sells out, Naderi said. “People like the
draw of the punch,” he said. “You can
physically see into the bowl so you
know what you’re getting into.”
Or maybe not. But that’s all part
of the fun of the Lillo & Ella spirits
enticements.
Mayra Beltrán photos / Houston Chronicle
Owner and mixologist Kevin Naderi developed a new cocktail menu at
Lillo & Ella in Houston.
[email protected]
Jack
Rose
A Old Haunt Rita: Tequila, yuzu
juice, orange bitters and wasabi
syrup.
Jack Rose: Applejack, lemon
and grenadine.
1 ½ ounces
applejack
¾ ounce lemon
juice
½ ounce
grenadine
¼ ounce 5-spice
syrup
Instructions:
Pour all ingredients
into a shaker with
cubed ice. Shake
lightly. Strain in to
a cocktail glass
served up. Garnish
with a lemon rind
and a cherry.
Five-Spice
Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 tablespoons
5-spice powder
from any store
Instructions:
Place all ingredients
in a small pot. Boil
for 10 minutes.
Strain and let cool.
Can be stored in the
refrigerator for up to
two weeks.
A Strapping Young Man:
Blackstrap rum, aquavit, 5-spice
syrup and coconut drizzle.
Greg Morago