According to legend, when he first tasted it, he exclaimed, “è una Norma!” as if to say, it is a masterwork like Bellini’s opera.

At Ciao Bello, Tony decided to do the dish with torchietti, a short pasta the shape of which is inspired by a wine press.

“You don’t find them in Naples but you do find them, when they’re in season, of course, in Venice where they are served only when in season, as we do here at Ciao Bello.”

What’s Tony’s favorite place to eat in Venice, the City on the Lagoon?

“I love Trattoria alla Madonna,” he told us the other day over a piping hot dish of breaded and fried soft shell Gulf crab.

“It’s really just a hole in the wall but it’s an authentic place, where you see tourists and locals. And it’s very reasonably priced. A classic Venetian trattoria and a great place for soft shells when in season.”

A perennial winner of the coveted Gambero Rosso Guide to the Wines of Italy Three Glass award, the Villa Bucci is simply one of those wines that everyone loves — from Italian wine enthusiasts to Italian wine industry insiders.

Made in a traditional style (no modern oak, creaminess, or high alcohol content here), this wine is all about minerality and crisp acidity, a perfect accompaniment to the many locally sourced seafood dishes here at Ciao Bello.

Above: The wild cherry trees have already begun to blossom in Tuscany.

Spring has come early this year in Italy.

A friend and colleague who is currently traveling there writes from Panzano in Chianti, Tuscany:

“Spring has arrived a few weeks early in Tuscany. The wild cherry trees are already blossoming and the buds and leaves on the vines have already begun to appear. The hills of Chianti are already covered with wild grasses and as I walked through the vineyards outside the village of Panzano, you can hear the bees at work and the birds seem to be enjoying the early warm weather. It’s as if they know that Easter is around the corner.”

For Italians spring and Easter are a time for renewal and for reconnecting. Families take time out and reunite in their hometowns — no matter how distant from the big cities where they work. Some might call it the Easter holiday the most important in the Italian cycle of life. It’s a national feast day celebrated by everyone, regardless of their beliefs or origins.

If you can’t make it home to spend Easter this year with family and friends, we hope that you will join our family at Ciao Bello where we’ll be celebrating the holiday in Italian style…

Ciao Bello is currently taking reservations for Easter Brunch and Easter Dinner.

PLEASE CALL (713) 960-0333 TO RESERVE

And it inspired a conversation about the “last taboo” of Italian gastronomy: the pairing of dairy and seafood.

I was at the restaurant doing a media dinner for my friend and client Tony Vallone, who shared the following anecdote about a luncheon in Naples a few years ago.

One of the guests, he said, an Italian-American, asked for grated Parimigiano Reggiano with his seafood pasta. The waiter politely responded that the restaurant didn’t serve cheese with seafood dishes. When the guest insisted, the waiter acquiesced, telling the patron that he would bring him the cheese. He disappeared, only to return after the gentleman had finished eating his pasta. “You see,” he said, “the dish didn’t need the cheese,” adding “in Italia si fa così,” this is how we do things in Italy.

The Italian taboo of mixing dairy and seafood stretches back to the Renaissance, when widely embraced Catholic customs required abstinence from dairy and meat on the numerous Lenten — di magro — days in the religious calendar. The bottom line: when seafood was consumed, dairy and meat were not. (I don’t have time to post about this today but this element of Renaissance cookery came to mind when I read Mark Bittman’s recent NY Times editorial on faux chicken; Renaissance cooks were obsessed with creating faux food, a gastronomic phenomenon that I called “culinary anamorphism” in a piece I wrote for Gastronomica some years ago.)

Of course, Tony’s cuttlefish risotto was made without the use of cheese (even though so many chefs in Italy and the U.S. discreetly fold some grated Parmigiano Reggiano into their seafood dishes). The secret to its creaminess? Tony had his chef caramelize and emulsify onions and then add them a few moments before the rice (Carnaroli) had cooked through. The viscous liquid gave the dish the all’onda texture that Tony likes in his risotto (whether sea- or landfood).

And it seems that we weren’t the only ones thinking about the “last taboo” of Italian gastronomy this week.

Today, Aldo Fiordelli, one of my favorite Italian-language food and wine bloggers and writers, posted this photo of “Linguine limone sgombro capperi essicati e parmigiano vacche rosse di Cristiano Tomei dell’Imbuto di Viareggio” (linguine tossed with lemon, mackerel, dried capers, and Red Cow Parmigiano Reggiano by Cristiano Tomei at the restaurant Imbuto in Viareggio).

Aldo notes that more and more Italian chefs are taking the bold step of using cheese in their seafood dishes, calling it their “last prejudice.”

Tony always says that for Italian cuisine to be authentic, it must also be creative. But I don’t think he would ever serve a dish like the one described by Aldo.

But hey, when in Viareggio, why not take a walk on the wildside?

—Jeremy Parzen

Rosè is so often misunderstood in our country.

Thanks to the aggressive marketing of “blush” wines and “white Zinfandel” in the 1970s and 1980s, we Americans have come to perceive rosè as cheap swill, more often than not sweet (and sometimes sweetened by the addition of raw sugar), and barely quaffable by any self-respecting wine lover.

But when you travel to Italy and dine in someone’s home, you’ll find that Italians love to drink rosè all year round.

In many ways, true rosè wines — made using the saignée (French) or Salasso (Italian) method — are the ideal of food-friendliness. The have gentle tannin, imparted by the skins of the red grapes. But they also have lightness, low alcohol, and freshness and clean flavors. And most importantly, when vinified in a traditional style, they have bright acidity — the key to delicious and healthy pairing of food and wine.

Currently at Ciao Bello, we offer our guests the Terlan Lagrein (grape variety) rosè from Alto Adige ($10). It has everything that a rosè should have but it also has just enough tannin that it can stand up to the pastas with meat sauces (like the Amatriciana). It will pair superbly with nearly anything on the list, really.

At Ciao Bello, Tony Vallone uses the same “doppio zero” flour for his housemade pasta as he does at Tony’s. He uses the same extra-virgin olive oil imported directly from Sicily. The setting is casual, the prices are family-friendly, and the atmosphere is jovial and relaxed… A slice of Italy in Houston.

Some might call it “Italian casual.” Others would call it “Italian comfort food.” And those who frequent Tony’s on Richmond might even call it “Tony’s lite.” We just call it “great food to be shared with family and friends.”

When legendary Houston restaurateur Tony Vallone decided to open Ciao Bello two years ago, his intention was to bring classic Italian cuisine made with authentic ingredients to the Galleria neighborhood (not far from the original Tony’s, which opened in 1965).

“Tony Vallone is the consummate classicist when it comes to wine and food,” wrote wine writer Dale Robertson in a recent edition of the Houston Chronicle. “You don’t stay open for nearly half a century by heading off willy-nilly in all directions.”

The Houston Press has called Ciao Bello one of the “top ten restaurants in the Galleria area” and veteran Houston restaurant reviewer Rob Walsh listed one of Ciao Bello’s housemade pastas as one of his “100 favorite Houston dishes.”

Black Truffle Mac & Cheese. Photo by Jessica Matos.

Acclaimed Houston artist John Ross Palmer’s works adorn the walls of both Ciao Bello and Tony’s. John Palmer and his husband and business partner Ryan Lindsay created the Vallone Award in 2011 to recognize outstanding contributions to the world of art and to honor their close friends and patrons (one of the first couple’s to collect John’s work and to display it in their restaurants), Donna and Tony Vallone.

Artist John Ross Palmer’s husband, attorney Ryan Lindsay, began regularly writing the John Palmer Art Blog when he joined John’s business in 2009. 

During Art Chicago 2009, John bragged to the Art Chicago Sales Director, Lisa Witherite, that Ryan writes that Blog “every single day.”  While Ryan was pleased with John’s enthusiasm, he then was thrust into the difficult job of typing out and posting the funny, inspiring and informative John Palmer Art Blog every day.

But Ryan got into a groove and began to thoroughly love telling stories about John, their travel adventures, cherished art collectors and, of course, their pets. Over time, the John Palmer Art Blog became extremely popular–with literally hundreds of visitors per day. At the conclusion of 2009, there was a Count-Down on the John Palmer Art Blog with the subject entitled “Noteworthy Collectors & Individuals.” This list was determined solely by Ryan and John. They looked back at the entire year and wrote down names of individuals or organizations that had the most positive impact on the business of John Palmer Art. These individuals or organizations did not always did not have to be collectors of John’s art—they could also be included if they helped us out tremendously in circumstances not related to sales. For example, John and Ryan’s Executive Assistant Amanda Assali made the list because she stuck with them through crushing economic times. Ryan’s former boss, Mr. Donn Fullenweider, made the list because he supported Ryan’s new career move and gave his blessing to Ryan’s dream of working with John and promoting his career as a professional artist.

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING AND READ ABOUT PAST AND PRESENT WINNERS OF THE VALLONE AWARD.