Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

John Nye, corporate chef of Cucina! Cucina!, offers a pesto and goat cheese pizza in one hand; in the other, foccacia con cambazola.

Cucina! Cucina! invites guests into the kitchen

By Suzanne Cristallo

Cucina! Cucina! Italian Cafe opens its doors Dec. 19 for the first time in California in the new El Paseo shopping center on Campbell Avenue near Saratoga Avenue.

"Cucina" means kitchen, which is the "soul" of Italian homes and is the theme of this privately owned chain of "cutting-edge" Italian restaurants, started in 1988 by brothers John and Bill Schwartz, whose headquarters are in Bellevue, Wash. The El Paseo establishment is the 14th in the chain to open, with others operating generally in the Pacific Northwest.

True to the style of some mainstay Italian restaurants, Cucina! Cucina! is leaving its kitchen open to the view of diners who may enjoy watching a meal being prepared. Head chef Jefferson Murphy may be seen sautéing prawns, grilling salmon or tossing pasta with garlic, sauces and cheese while up to seven other cooks prepare wood-fired pizzas, fresh breads and pastries like tiramisu "pick-me-ups," rum syrup-soaked ladyfingers with cheese and whipped cream filling, chocolate curls and espresso sauce.

A full-service bar includes espresso and special after-dinner drinks such as Finlandia Chillers, vodka infused with various fruits and flavors.

Overseeing the 120 new employees is general manager Graziano Luciani, 43, who comes to the restaurant with over 24 years of experience in food preparation, including stints at Sheraton Hotels, where he served as executive chef, Tino's in San Mateo and downtown San Jose's Il Fornaio, where he was manager.

Luciani was born in a small village near Portofino on the Italian Riviera. The area he left at 5 years of age and returned to at 12 for school is part of Tuscany, which Luciani says is known for its "most beautiful food and wines."

"Some of our specials will involve Tuscan food," Luciani says, speaking with the reverence native Italians reserve for the description of their fare. "We feature a very light style of cooking, mostly red sauces instead of heavy cream; olive oil is used, and rotisseries allow the fat in our meat and chicken items to drip out," he says.

A resident of Redwood City, where he came to live with relatives when he was a child and where he returned when he was 15, Luciani is passing on his family heritage by speaking Italian with his 3-year-old son.

Cucina! Cucina! Italian Cafe, 1000 El Paseo de Saratoga, San Jose. Open Sun.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-midnight. 866-9222.