Michael Chiarello - Bottega: Bold Italian Flavors from the Heart of Californias Wine Country

Bold Italian Flavors from the Heart of Californias Wine Country

Text copyright 2010 by Michael Chiarello.

Photographs copyright 2010 by Frankie Frankeny.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN 978-0-8118-7539-4

Designed by Michael Mabry Prop and food styling by Nissa Quanstrom

The photographer wishes to thank Anne Gaede of Pro Camerayou are a gift to all Bay Area photographers. Chlo and the girls, thanks for weeks of patience! Thanks to the entire front and back of the house at Bottega for your instrumental help through-out the creation of this book. To Claudia Sansone and Ann Spivack, many thanks for keeping us all in good spirits on such a tight schedule. And especially: Grazie, Michael! Youre an outstanding chef, entertainer, and a most gracious host. Bottega is an exhilarating restaurant to capture in motion!

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
http://www.chroniclebooks.com

Dedication

To Nick, Jol, and the rest of our Bottega family. You give our guests a simple and powerful gift. You throw the party and make each guest welcome. You are Bottega!

To my lifes partner, Eileen. That you knew what Bottega should look and feel like astounded me. You are what love should be.

To my kids: Aidan, lil chef/dirt bike rider/photographer; Giana, my little 4x4 country girl; Felicia, artist with a Pops-like sense of humor; and Margaux, lover of all things Spanish. I love sharing your dreams and watching as you achieve them.

Mom, I promise to work less, play more, love as I cook, and smile with my heart as I serve. I miss you each day but you live in the fabric of my spirit and everything I touch. The gift of how to love and leave room for growth is one I will share each and every day.

To our guests: thank you for loving what we do and for always, always coming back.

The Italian culinary journey that began for me at Tra Vigne in 1987 led to our opening Bottega in 2008, and many, many people have helped along the way.

First, always first, thanks to my wife, Eileen; once again you surprise and delight me by knowing in your heart that I belong in a restaurant. Thank you for the gigantic leap of faith that I can balance our family with the restaurant family. To Prince Aidan for suiting up in his whites and sharing with me the joys of our kitchen Saturdays. (Im hoping for many more to come.) To Giana, forever my baby girl, for insisting I take this opportunity with Bottega and finish out my culinary dream. To Felicia for being proud of her Pops for what we have created and for having the courage to work her way through school in my favorite Italian restaurant in San Francisco. To Miss Margaux for enjoying Bottega as an adult as she charts a course for her life ahead.

The Bottega Management Team: To Chef Nick Ritchie, my surrogate baby brother. I am eternally grateful to you for putting all your culinary soul into Bottega. Executive Sous Chef Ryan McIlwraith, you are truly and deeply talented and have sensitively brought your brilliance to the food, kitchen, and experience at Bottega. Pastry Chef Michael Glissman, super talent, great spirit, and best laugh in the biz. I so appreciate you applying your tremendous skillset to a cuisine that was literally foreign to you (which you now speak in dialect!). General Manager Jol Hoachuck, for taking the plunge with Nick and me, building the spirit that Bottega would become and for never, ever losing your cool. I have loved each and every day we have worked together over the last twenty years. Wine Director/Assistant General Manager Michael Iglesias, the day you walked in the door and said Im in! Bottega became a better restaurant. The rest of the kitchen and front of the house management: Nick Petrilli, Arthur Coutinho Doyal, James Darden, Allan (Badger) Mochwartwow, what a team! The entire kitchen and service staff: Your attention to the needs of our guests, and the quality of food and service makes me very proud. Bottega would not be possible without your dedication, input, and discipline. I will forever be in all of your debt and service.

Bottega partners: Without your absolute commit-ment to bringing the Bottega dream to life it would have stayed a dream and never become the success it is today. I am eternally grateful to all of you.

Michael Guthrie and Associates: The space you created for our food to ring true is amazing and twice what I dreamed of.

V Marketplace and Villagio Partners: Your vision and foresight is truly remarkable. I cant thank you enough for making room for us and our dream and letting it grow.

The cookbook team: Claudia Sansone, the most gracious, loving, and thoughtful book partner any chef could hope for. Your warm spirit was a guide in discovering the truth of Bottega and getting it into print. Ann Spivack, never have I met a writer that loved her topic as much as you have. Thank you for keeping my voice intact and bringing your creativity and passion to this book. Frankie Frankeny, with Molly Johnstone and Nissa Quanstrom, you did the impossible: You walked into the fray of a super-hectic restaurant, in the height of the season, and captured the Magic! What a pleasure and honor to work with you. Michael Laukert, my culinary brother of twenty years, thanks for rolling up your sleeves like you did at Tra Vigne, Consorzio, and NapaStyle. My life is much better with you in it! To super-testers Maria Bautista, Wendy Rupprecht, and Bob Schooler, grazie tante for making hard recipes easier for the home cook.

Many thanks to Michael Mabry, Peter Soe, and Lilyana Bone at Mabry Design. After the many projects weve done together, you still blow my mind with amazing, one-of-a-kind design as well as your calm and sureness at all the right times.

My publisher Chronicle Books for being a true partner in a world where that is hard to find. To Bill LeBlond, my editor and, more important, my friend. Thanks for your courage for letting this book be exactly what it needed to be. Thanks to Sarah Billingsley, Vanessa Dina, Doug Ogan, Tera Killip, Peter Perez, David Hawk, and Carolyn Miller for assuring it read and looked like the book we all dreamed it could be.

My NapaStyle family for knowing that if I followed my dream it would enhance the dream we built together. Much more fun to come!

My father Fortunato, my mother Antoinette, and my brothers Ron and Kevin. Forever you put up with my dreaming bigger than I could reach, working longer than I should, missing more than I wanted to, but your steady love and encouragement brought me around to what is truly important. My in-laws Denis and Judy Gordon, and my brother-in-law Tim, thanks for playing such a great supporting role in getting this off the ground. I promise I will keep my date nights with our little girl.

Mom, you are with me each day as I step into my clogs and, more important, each day as I take them off. You are forever etched into my culinary being as the person who taught me that flavor is more important than taste. That simple fact and your lovechanged my life.

Lets go throw the party.