Want to catch-up with Italian cookbook writer and Food Network celebrity Chef Giada De Laurentiis and get an autographed copy of her popular cookbooks, Everyday Pasta, Everyday Italian, and Giada’s Family Dinners?

Just head tomorrow, February 20th between 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm, to the Crate&Barrel store on Union Street, in San Francisco, CA. During Giada’s book signing there will also be free sample tastings available for guests, made with Giada’s new Italian Gourmet specialty foods created in collaboration with Academia Barilla.

Space is limited, so please contact the store for more information and booking. Below find store info, including a Google Map for driving directions to the Crate & Barrel shop:

CRATE & BARREL
55 Stockton Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 982-5200

Get driving directions on Google Maps

As suggested by the Food Network Recipe Fan Club on their blog, you can also wish Giada big congrats on her first new little baby, a girl due in April!

Chef Central, the NY and NJ-based superstore for Chefs located in Hartsdale, NY and Paramus, NJ, is celebrating this month the Annual Italian Month.

Defined “…the most amazing place - a ‘Toys R Us’ for cooks…” (Chef Alton Brown) and “…a 15,000 square foot paradise for cooks…” (Epicurean Magazine), Chef Central also hosts a calendar of events, that this month include also two free gourmet tasting events with Academia Barilla.

Join Academia Barilla’s Italian Culinary Specialist Rosario Procino at Chef Central Hartsdale, NY on Wednesday February 20, or in Chef Central Paramus, NJ, on Saturday February 23. If you live in the North-East of the United States you might not want to miss this event dedicated to Italian cuisine.

The directions to the Chef Central superstores are here below, with a Google Map to help you with personalized driving directions:

Chef Central Paramus, NJ
Paramus Towne Square 240 Route 17 North Paramus, NJ 07652
(between Buy Buy Baby & Circuit City)

Store Phone: (201) 576-0100
Store Hours: Mon – Sat 9:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Closed Sunday

Chef Central Hartsdale, NY
45 South Central Avenue Hartsdale, NY 10530

Store Phone: (914) 328-1376
Store Hours: Mon – Sat 9:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Sun 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Rosario Procino will be all day available during store hours to give you his best specialist advice on some of the most delicious Italian gourmet products from Academia Barilla, such as the Academia Barilla range of Italian extra virgin olive oils, balsamic vinegar products, or the newly released line of hand-harvested gourmet sea salts from Sicily.

If you cannot attend the event at Chef Central just follow our blog, we’ll be reporting about other events across the United States hoping you’ll be able to catch our never-stopping team of Italian Culinary Specialist.

If you can’t wait for the next academia Barilla tasting event, just go ahead and visit us at our online store, where you can find a full range of Italian specialty food products as well as gourmet gift ideas.

The 1st Monday of the month at Palmieri Ristorante, in Brentwood, Los Angeles, is turning into a classic night for both LA residents and traveling gourmands. We already blogged about the gourmet menus prepared by Chef Ottavio Palmieri, but the Chef’s creativity never stops, so you can enjoy every week new dishes and a new menu concept designed by the Sicilian Chef.

Academia Barilla partners Palmieri Ristorante for the Wine and food pairing nights, that feature creative and traditional dishes put together by Chef Palmieri, with the help of Academia Barilla gourmet ingredients, every first Monday of each month including today, February 4.

Check out today’s menu, with the dishes’ names in Sicilian:

Pani (breads)

Semolina and Sesame seed bread

Pi N’Cuminciari (starters)

Brusciuvia
Vegetable soup with Fava, Garbanzo and Pinto beans, lentils, peas
Drizzled with “Academia Barilla” Sicilian extra virgin olive oil

Carpacciu di Pisci Spada chi Finocchi e Aranci
Smoked Swordfish “ Carpaccio”; Fennel and Orange salad sprinkled with Academia Barilla Orange sea salt from Sicilia

Wine pairing: Donna Fugata Anthilia 2006

Primi Piatti (pasta entrees)

Involtini di Pasta chi Milinciani
Spaghetti, smoked mozzarella, tomato sauce, Almond-basil Pesto, wrapped around sliced eggplant and baked in the wood-burning oven

Pasta ca’ Buttarga
Spaghetti with chili flakes, garlic and Academia Barilla Sicilian extra virgin olive oil, “Bottarga” and “Mollica”

Wine pairing: iGurrida Triumph Grenace 2002

Pisci (fish)

Involtini di Pisci Spada
Rolls Swordfish, “Piacentino Ennese”, bread crumbs, herbs, salmoriglio and caponata

Wine pairing: Sedaca 2005

Carni (meat)

Viteddu
Braised Veal medallion with eggplant, mozzarella, in a tomato and herbs sauce

Wine pairing: Tancredi Donna Fugata 2003

Cosi Duci (dessert)

Cannoli
Chest ”Mamma Dorotea” Tangy Orange flavored ricotta cheese and Pistacchios

Wine pairing: Ben-Rye 2006

Academia Barilla Italian Culinary specialist Francesco Zimone will be available on site for Italian culinary tips; ask him about the several ways to use the Academia Barilla Natural Sea Salts from Sicily, or other Academia Barilla products.

The dinner cover is $55.00 per person (+ tax & gratuity) and you’ll better book your table in advance by calling the Palmieri Restaurant at (310) 442-8446, as seats are limited.

The address is Palmieri Ristorante, 11650 San Vicente Blvd., Brentwood, Los Angeles CA - we provide a Google Map here below, so you can get accurate driving directions to the restaurant.

Quick note for all the Italian food lovers in the Miami Area - this weekend Academia Barilla Italian Culinary Specialist Costantino Cicchelli will represent Academia Barilla at Laurenzo’s 22nd Holiday Food, Champagne & Wine Tasting, the now classic pre-Christmas gourmet event in North Beach Miami. Here below a picture of last year’s event.

Costantino Cicchelli will be your cheese tasting host at Laurenzo’s Italian Gourmet Market in Miami next Saturday December 8th, offering to the Miami gourmands samples of Pecorino Dolce, Pecorino Gran Cru, as well as some tasting and cooking tips on how to use the new line of Academia Barilla Natural Sea Salt.

Ask Costantino about the Academia Barilla VIP program, he will be glad to give you detailed info, and sign you in. We will be talking soon about the Academia Barilla VIP program, too.

Laurenzo’s 22nd Holiday Food, Champagne & Wine Tasting is an evening event, starting at 7.30pm, and closing at 10.30pm.
We suggest to buy the entry tickets in advance, as they are sold at $44 advance, $55 at the door - call +1 (305) 945-6381 to get your advance tickets before the event goes sold out!

Address to Laurenzo’s Italian Gourmet Market and the 22nd Holiday Food, Champagne & Wine Tasting is 16385 W Dixie Hwy, Miami, FL 33160 - here is a Google Map to make things easier for you and help you with driving directions. See you in North Beach!

View Larger Map on Google Map