By: Julieta Hernandez Photos by: Rachel Benavides
There’s a lot of ways Bellino’s owner and lead chef,brFrancesco Inguaggiato, will encourage bringing exciting new tastes and aromas from his hometown inbrSicily, Italy to his Texas dinner crowd. But, he will admit that pineapples still don’t belong on pinsa, the ancestorbrof American-styled pizza.
Trying out an original pinsa recipe is something a hungrybron-looker can anticipate if you haven’t tried their completelybrre-written menu. The re-imagined menu and extensive winebrlist are only a glance of what you can anticipate at the re-vamped Bellino Ristorante Italiano and its brand new bottega.br
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That quietly hidden, charming little Italian spot inside thebrVillage Shopping Center had been looking to expand for quitebrsome time now. Thanks to some buona fortuna, they were ablebrto open up their space within the same building; this freed upbrenough space for a separate dining area altogether, as well as a separate kitchen and an authentic bottega with goods andbrgroceries from Italy. Here, you can find rarities like squid-inkbrpasta, fresh bottarga, and cheeses on the wheel that are new tobrour time zone, and our taste buds.br
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“Thanks to the expansion with the bottega area, I was finallybrable to add pinsa on the new menu,” Inguaggiato mentioned.br“We can start making our own pinsa now that we have a newbrdry kitchen where we do our production of pasta, desserts,brand pinsa.”br
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Fresh, daily desserts and small meal portions line up nicelybrin the bottega where curious diners can take them home andbrimpress dinner guests.br
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The Bellino’s team was able to re-create their original kitchenbrarea as well, and make space for more in-house meals…not tobrmention their always fresh, homemade pasta. What they can’t make to-order, they make from scratch daily.br
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“I don’t put anything on this menu that I don’t like,”brsays Inguaggiato. “It’s quality first. Then, it’s tryingbrto respect the tradition of the recipe.”
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And when it comes to Bellino’s, good food is actually good food. Ingredients are purchased locally, as organic as possible, and oftentimes, atbrthe same farmer’s market the community shops from on Wednesdays.brInguaggiato puts a deep emphasis on bringing up his own local businessbrthrough supporting and uplifting other local businesses; which is whybrhe’ll always prefer local vendors to be a part of the dish.br
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“It’s especially important what we choose to eat, and what to buy; asbrwell as where we choose to eat, and where to buy,” he said. Lucky forbrus, Inguaggiato is just eager to share his culture with the Coastal Bendbrdining scene, as well as a wine list selected by his and his team’s palates.brBut, he will admit to always sticking with an Italian beer and a slice ofbrpinsa when he chooses.
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Contact:br
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3815 S Alameda St | bellinostexas.com
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