thing,” explains Geiger. “When you see them doing their own
simple products like pasta, they’re likely to be taking more care
with the other things that are in their establishment.”
While just about any pasta is divine comfort food for many
people, seeking out the best of breed can turn the consumption
of this Italian staple into a memorable culinary experience. Here’s
our ravenously researched round-up of restaurants offering the
best fresh pasta in the South Bay.
• Pasta Armellino
Guests can watch the pasta being prepared at this new Saratoga
spot, which despite counter ordering serves first-class preparations
August/September 2018 89
Vina Enoteca
Peas and mint ravioli
with cured egg yolk
prosciutto crudo and
nasturtium
scratch. Well, almost everything. "I'll leave it to the professionals
in Parma, Italy, to make my prosciutto," he laughs.
During his gig as executive chef at Vina Enoteca, he oversaw a
spacious kitchen with a sizable extruder for the more unusual pasta
shapes, not a common device in most restaurants, and non-egg pastas
were slightly air dried, portioned and frozen to produce ultimate
texture and consistency. Geiger explains that similar approaches can
be found in high-end restaurants but that many such establishments
without an extruder still often make flat noodles like tagliatelle and
pappardelle as well as filled pastas like ravioli in-house.
In fact, this approach is a sign of a serious dining spot. “Seeing
more restaurants making more dishes from scratch is a great
HANNAH CHAMBERLAIN; OPPOSITE: CHRIS SCHMAUCH; PREVIOUS SPREAD: RICK CAMARGO