“Life is a combination of magic and pasta.”—Federico Fellini
Cecile and I were invited to join our friends Nelson and Susan Bye for dinner at Tigelleria Ristorante located in historic downtown Campbell in a rust-colored stucco building with a tile roof that was decorated with stringed lights for the festive holiday season.
Tigelleria (pronounced tee-gel-leh-ria) is derived from the word Tigella (tea-jella), named after the tasty little circles of bread with a crispy crust and plump center that is made in a special cast iron pan called a tigelliera that is served with your meal. Its origin is Modena, Italy but can be found throughout Tuscany and Venice.
The restaurant’s creator is Venetian Elisabetta Benetollo. The dishes are made from traditional family recipes with her unique modern spin.
They are carefully crafted to highlight the fresh, natural taste of locally sourced organic foods as well as products direct from Italy. Many gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options available.
Cecile and I shared a delicious black kale salad tossed with lemon juice, honey & olive oil with mango, pine nuts and homemade goat & walnut cheese and a savory Garbanzo beans soup with a little kick of spice. For my entree I enjoyed a Spaghetti with Buffalo meatballs with olive oil and red chili flakes and garlic topped with fresh tomatoes. For dessert we all split a Pannacotta al pistachio with house made caramel sauce and a Merrigata: Delicious layers of crushed vanilla meringue cookies mixed with frozen whipping cream and dark chocolate.
Our friendly waiter was Jim and one of our food servers was Francesco whose tattoo saying on the back of his arms caught my eye (see photo) and I asked to see them. It read: “Too fast to live and too young to die.” Now that’s an existential statement if I ever heard one.
Back History:
Every year, the owner, Elisabetta travels to Bologna in Northern Italy to meet with friends from her University days, where they reminisce about old times and make a 2 1/2 mile pilgrimage to The Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca, a basilica church (circa 1765) which is located atop the forested Monte della Guardia. On one of those trips Elisabetta's friends bought her a tigelliera pan made of cast iron. This gift would become the inspiration for a place she envisioned where people in the Bay Area could gather with friends over great food, wine and tigella—as we joyfully did.
Buon Appetito!
