This week's seven feature restaurants are offering up some truly authentic and creatively modern delizioso italiano and share their restaurant’s favourite, go-to dishes.

Al di la Trattoria

• WHO: Anna Klinger, chef/co-owner & Emilano Coppa, co-owner
• WHAT: A Northern Italian trattoria focusing on simply-prepared seasonal ingredients
• WHERE: 248 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, New York, USA

"I love the people. I love that we have had employees with us for fifteen-plus years. I love that neighbours have been coming since we opened in 1998. They come when they're in need of a quick meal during the week and to celebrate a special occasion. I love that the staff considers al di la their home away from home and that they all treat the restaurant and what we do as if it were their own.

"We have a network of farmers that we buy produce and eggs from in the area. I am frequently at the farmers' market at Grand Army Plaza and on Fifth Avenue and Fourth Street. I do my best to source locally whenever possible. Our pork products come from Heritage Foods, who work with farms who are deeply concerned about the welfare of their animals, we also use sustainable seafood from Pierless Fish."

Amongst Al di la Trattoria’s fresh, simple and seasonal favourites are Trippa – a warm stew of tripe with just a little tomato and served with grilled bread rubbed with garlic. Spring salad – salad of new spring vegetables, simply blanched and dressed with a few shavings of pecorino. Saltimbocca alla romana – pork loin pounded thin with a paper thin layer of prosciutto and sage leaves and served with crispy crushed yukon gold potatoes.

To read more visit al di la Trattoria’s Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery profile here.

Centrolina

• WHO: Amy Brandwein, chef/owner
• WHAT: Stylish Italian osteria & market featuring urban produce
• WHERE: 974 Palmer Alley, Washington DC, USA

“Our menu changes every day which allows us the flexibility to work with the freshest food. We work very hard to procure the best produce, fish and meat in the mid-Atlantic area to support our local farmers and artisans.”

Centrolina’s go-to dishes include; artichokes four ways: creamed, roasted, shaved, and fried; spaghetti with scallops, calamari, morel mushrooms, basil, and olive oil; and roasted whole Mediterranean sea bass with potato confit, tomato, olive, and basil.

News: This summer Amy Brandwein, chef and owner of Centrolina and James Beard Award Best Chef Mid-Atlantic finalist, will be expanding her presence in CityCenterDC by opening her second concept, Piccolina – an all-day café and enoteca.

Central to Piccolina’s culinary programming is the wood-fired oven, which will be the restaurant’s main cooking method. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, guests can expect items such as: wood fired omelet with ratatouille and gruyere, sacacce (lamb sausage, rapini, caciocavallo), eggplant parmesan and traditional lasagna as well as a growing collection of homemade breads.

To read more visit Centrolina’s Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery profile here.

Centrolina (Washington DC, USA)

ACME

• WHO: Mitch Orr, chef/co-owner & Cam Fairbairn, co-owner
• WHAT: Blurring the line between pasta & noodles, ACME refuses to be put in a box
• WHERE: 60 Bayswater Road, Rushcutters Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

“We utilize small local growers from the Blue Mountains and the Southern Highlands. Our focus is extremely seasonal with our menu changing constantly along with produce at its peak.”

ACME’s holy trinity of favourites include their baloney sandwich; linguine with black garlic and burnt chilli; and macaroni with pigs head and egg yolk. “These dishes show our love of nostalgia. Our way of taking familiar Italian flavours (garlic and chilli, cured pork and egg yolk) and remixing them with Asian leanings, making them unrecognizable and yet so comforting and familiar.”

News: Mitch and Cam have shared the news that ACME will close its doors at the end of June, allowing them to explore new opportunities. “The last five years wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our industry friends, suppliers and customers but most of all our staff over the years. Thank you to everyone who shared our vision and played a part in our journey. For the remainder of our time, we’ll be bringing back our favourite dishes. So book a table, share a meal and come give us some love!” say Mitch and Cam.

To read more visit ACME’s Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery profile here.

Thanks ACME, lots of luck!

ACME's Mitch Orr (L) and Cam Fairbairn

Solo Italiano

• WHO: Paolo Laboa, chef/co-owner, Mercedes Laboa, co-owner
• WHAT: An authentic Northern Italian restaurant specializing in handmade pastas & homemade plates
• WHERE: 100 Commercial Street, Portland, Maine, USA

“Solo Italiano turned three this year and along with now being owned by Chef Paolo Laboa and wife Mercedes, we could not be more thrilled about the place and niche we have found in Portland. The seafood is unbelievable here and the farmers are some of the most crafty and diversely-talented we have come across.

“A few of our favourite dishes include Sfoglia di Capesante: Maine celery root, honey and scallops. A harmonious blend of sea, earth and sun. Pansotti al Sugo di Noci: seasonal farm greens, local ricotta stuffed into a handmade 'pouch' pasta. Pesce alla Ligure: Maine's freshest, locally-caught fish with hydroponic cherry tomatoes, locally-cultivated mushrooms and farm parsnips (winter/spring) or new potatoes (summer/fall).

“We proudly donate $1 per mandilli sold to Full Plates Full Potential, a non-profit group that aims to end child hunger in Maine. We also partner with Maine Food for Thought (MFFT), a local food tour organisation focussing on Maine ingredients while tasting expressions of those goods from talented local chefs. Finally, we host an annual farmer appreciation dinner, inviting all our local farmers as guests of honour to a night featuring the breadth of their offerings, allowing them to share their stories with our guests and even sharing proceeds to benefit local initiatives such as the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and now The Telling Room (TTR). TTR empowers youth to tell their stories through speaking and writing.”

To read more visit Solo Italiano’s Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery profile here.

Solo Italiano (Portland, Maime. USA)

Ladro TAP

• WHO: Sean Kierce & Ingrid Langtry, owners
• WHAT: An Italian eatery & bar with wood-fired pizza & wine on tap
• WHERE: 162 Greville Street, Prahran, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

“We are most passionate about doing simple things exceptionally well whilst embracing genuine hospitality and sustainable principles. Reducing waste, food waste in particular, is a top priority for us. We have zero organic waste with all waste being separated into organic matter, recyclable, landfill. So one hundred per cent of all organic matter including kitchen offcuts, plate-waste and everything in between is put into a large closed-loop bio-composter and in twenty-four hours it is turned into compost. We sell this compost by the bag or bucket back to customers – they can even order it with their takeaway order. We also donate it to local community gardens and have an exchange in place with local farmers – compost fertiliser for produce.

“Included in our favourites are the Cone Bay Barramundi, pan roasted in the wood-fire oven with late Summer tomato panzanella. Made with sustainable fish, re-purposed un-used bread and the late ripening squishy ripe tomatoes. The Boscaiola Pizza: local, seasonal, foraged mushrooms, locally made fior di latte, garlic, basil, thyme and black pepper – simply assembled and cooked on our slow-proved pizza dough in the wood-fired oven. Lastly, our free-range chicken riblets with spiced and fried, seasonal tuscan slaw with mustard fruits dressing. Simple and delicious.”

To read more visit Ladro TAP’s Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery profile here.

Ladro TAP (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)

Erasmus

• WHO: Marcello & Andrea Gallotti, co-owners
• WHAT: Organic certified restaurant with a slow food philosophy, serving authentic Italian regional cuisine
• WHERE: Nürnberger Str. 1, D-76199 Karlsruhe, Germany

“Our ingredients are all organic certified and always seasonal, with very few exceptions. Our fish comes from sustainable fishers and we choose to use unknown fish to avoid the overfishing of certain species. We use the whole fish – the head gives us meat for our fish-meatballs served as an amuse bouche.

“Favourite dishes at Erasmus include; Baccala´alla potentina, cipolle, gelatina di latte, erbe selvatiche: black cod poached in milk with milk jelly, onions and wild herbs. The black cod is worked traditionally according to the style of Potenza, a town in Basilicata, then instead of being served in milk sauce, the milk is jellified and served with wild herb salad, homemade onion marmalade and black olives. This dish explains easily our philosophy – tradition is something always in movement, but allows people to recognize and define authentic flavours. Next is our risotto with green asparagus, green peas and marjoram. A vegetarian dish with almost a meaty fullness of taste where the ingredients are used whole (the skin of asparagus and peas give a wonderful stock). Lastly, Hohenlohe's lamb rack, gravy, Badenwichtel potatoes, artichokes Roman style – regional ingredients worked in the way I learned in Italy to give a crossover experience."

To read more visit Erasmus’ Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery profile here.

Erasmus (Karlsruhe, Germany)

Via Carota

• WHO: Rita Sodi & Jody Williams, chefs
• WHAT: Neighbourhood restaurant serving delicious Italian cuisine
• WHERE: 51 Grove Street, New York, New York, USA

"Inspired by the seventeenth-century villa in the hills near Florence which Rita Sodi once called home, Via Carota honours old-world Italian roots, lifestyle, food and décor.

“Whether it's a plate of grilled octopus or fried rabbit, our Italian food is like a collection of stories that arrive at your table, in a bowl or on a plate. Our aim is simple: to honour markets and farms from one season to the next, nurture our cooks and keep a balance in cooking between authenticity and spontaneity.”

Favourite dishes include Sottobosco – raw porcini with shaved parmesan, dried wild blueberries and walnut vinaigrette; coniglio fritto – fried rabbit with rosemary, garlic and fried bread; and tortino di carciofi: soft frittata with artichokes.

Via Carota’s menu comprises seventy-five per cent vegetable dishes and they are striving to become plastic-free and are reducing waste through good old fashioned thriftiness.

To read more visit Via Carota’s Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery profile here.

Via Carota (New York, New York, USA)