Storico Fresco Alimentari e Ristorante tortelloni ($19) tucks ricotta, walnut, spinach and mushroom filling under its cute pasta folds. Sit down and savor these tender pillows in the restaurant or buy some in the alimentari (market) to take home. Italian foods are adored and devoured gifts. Storico Fresco owners Mike Patrick and Pietro Gianni recommend picking out items for gift baskets, giving one of the 15 different varieties of olive oil or a bottle of aged balsamic vinegar, gift cards, and of course, fresh pasta and sauces.
Remember childhood stories of Strega Nona and her magic pasta pot? Plentiful and pleasing. Same magic happens at Storico Fresco Alimentari e Ristorante. Lunch guests visit the full-service restaurant and bar for a quick yet satisfying midday meal. Drawn to the surrounding Italian market, they browse around and pick up prepared foods and Italian imported goods for take-home dinner or some awe-inspiring entertaining on the fly. The menu ($7-$22) includes meat and cheese boards, antipasti, antipasti fritti, pasta, insalata and panini. Arancini (filled-rice fritters); Callipo tuna; mixed greens with Roman cipollini, artichoke, almond and honey saba vinaigrette; classic lasagna alla Bolognese; pi fasacc brown butter sage with Taleggio, ricotta cheese, spinach and Grana Padano filling; and prosciutto panini with 16-month prosciutto, grilled zucchini and Robiola cheese are just a few of the current temptations backed by even more imported goods, fresh pastas, five kinds of lasagna, grilled veggies and an array of salads. We see a Storico menu-planning habit forming. Totally Italy. Open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. For additional updates, follow the restaurant on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
No one cooks like an Italian nonna, who learned from the best, her nonna. Club delle Orecchiette and Storico Fresco Alimentari e Ristorante are devoted to carrying the nonnas’ Italian culinary traditions forward, preparing Italian dishes as they’ve been prepared for generations and passing along the skills and recipes so they’ll not be lost.
Established in 1998 in the town of Altamura in southern Italy, the Orecchiette Club promotes Apulian orecchiette art; valuing indigenous raw ingredients, such as durum wheat, and the use of these ingredients in homemade pasta, bread and traditional bakery products. Club delle Orecchiette will share this luscious legacy through upcoming classes and dinners at Storico Fresco, Buckhead’s all-in-one Italian grocery store and restaurant, during the week of October 6-11. Learn how to make two different types of pasta -- orecchiette and capunti -- in the Club delle Orecchiette Pasta Class offered on Thursday, October 6 at 6 or 8 p.m. and Tuesday, October 11 at 6 or 8 p.m. Each hour-and-a-half class includes wine, small finger foods and instruction, and students take home their handcrafted pasta. Tap this link and select a date to book seats at an Orecchiette Club pasta class; $80 per person plus $4.99 service fee. Experience an authentic Italian five-course meal created by “the nonnas” at Club delle Orecchiette pop-up dinners on Saturday, October 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday, October 12 at 7:30 p.m. Dinners celebrate the food of Puglia and wine pairings accompany each course. Select a date and buy tickets online, $150 per person plus $8.84 service fee. Leave class or dinner fully content, pasta in hand or nonna-prepared dinner and wine in belly, and happy knowing a portion of ticket proceeds goes to Club delle Orecchiette and its quest to educate the public about these culinary riches and the culture of healthy and natural food.
In an Italian expression nutshell, food is life is love. With this in mind, Tal Baum, owner of Bellina Alimentari, is ramping up the romance during February with ways to “Show Love Through Food.” From February 12-14, couples can enjoy an intimate dinner for two at Bellina’s Wine Bar with prosecco toasts, artisanal cheeses and meats, two signature pasta dishes for fork twirling and chocolate bread pudding for $38 per person; add wine pairings for $30 per person. For those whose love language is creating and learning together, Bellina Alimentari’s Culinary Club offers special classes including a Cacao Chocolate Workshop on Tuesday, February 9 from 6-7 p.m. ($30 per person); a Valentine’s Dinner for Two lesson with pasta tasting on Wednesday, February 10 from 6-7:30 p.m. ($48 per person); and Pasta Date Night, leading to romantic pastabilities, on Thursday, February 11 from 6-7:30 p.m. ($80 per couple). Take your sweet time finding just the right Valentine’s gift in Bellina Alimentari’s Market where shelves show off fine Italian chocolates, balsamic vinegars, biscotti and more. Shop in-store and online for thoughtful Valentine’s Day gifts such as a Date Night Box with all the ingredients needed to prepare an easy dinner for two ($32), a Truffle Dinner Date ($58) or the Dolce Vita with a choice of Italian treats ($75) so sweet that conversation hearts do not even belong in the conversation.
If you’re looking for a hot topic at your next aperitivo, set a bowl of Fiore di Puglia - Taralli al Peperoncino on the aperitivo board. Red chili pepper flakes spike the crispy, curly cross between a cracker and a pretzel. Highly addictive. Luckily, there’s a local source for these Italian crunchers from the Apulia region -- The Market at Bellina Alimentari. Drop some in your shopping basket at the Ponce City Market shop or the online Mercato di Bellina, $3.50 per 8.8 ounce package.
Eating an early dinner has never been more tempting! At Osteria Cibo Rustico in Toco Hills, guests that are dining between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. can order one free appetizer or salad Sunday through Thursday. Each table seated for the early bird special can choose form items like polenta fritta with tomato-basil sauce, Gorgonzola and fagioli verdi, ricotta alle erbe with toasted almonds and grilled bread, and polpettine house-made meatballs with tomato-basil sauce and Parmigiano. A crisp, cool salad like the mixed green mista with imported olives, the Cesare or the Coco mixed greens with toasted pistachios, grilled onions, shaved Parmesan and roasted red pepper vinaigrette may win the table over instead! The dinner menu has even more tempting options. (One per table, dine in only, not to be combined with any other offer.) On Mondays, early bird tables can receive double the deals with half off select bottles of wine and a free appetizer or salad if seated before 6:30 p.m. If you're running late, please come as you are. After all, osterias are delicious, casual neighborhood eateries!
