FEBRUARY 2020 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 11
AT LI’S NEWEST FOOD EVENT
Chef Marco Pelligrini,
Osteria Umbra Smithtown
What drew you to a career in the
kitchen? I grew up learning this
from my mother and helping her in
the kitchen. Our family has a passion
for high-quality ingredients and creative
cuisine.
How would you define your cooking
style? I love to use the best
ingredients from all over
the world to take a traditional
Italian dish and
make it modern. This
makes every meal a
culinary experience.
Our diners will experience
traditional
flavors in a way they
haven’t before.
What dish do you enjoy
preparing most? As a good
Italian, I love to make fresh
pasta. But one of my favorite
dishes to make is roasted
suckling pig slow-cooked
over a wood fire.
What is your favorite food-related
memory? I remember as a child on
Sundays always waking up to the
delicious smell of food cooking in
the kitchen and the noise of my mom
shuffling around and the clanking of
pots and pans. Later, my brother and
sister and our whole family would
join us. For me, a meal is a reason for
family to come together.
Are there any misconceptions
among foodies that you would like
to clarify? Many foodies think you
have to add so many ingredients to a
dish and that’s what makes the dish
great and shows the skill of the chef.
My philosophy is to treat the ingredients
with more respect.
Osteria Umbra is located at 197 Terry
Rd. in Smithtown. It can be reached
at osteriaumbrali.com and opens in
March, right after
Taste The Greats.
Executive Pastry Chef
Daniel Andreotti,
Oheka Castle
What drew you to a career in
the kitchen? I’ve always been
drawn to the kitchen because it’s
simply a happy place for me to be
adventurous with recipes, play,
and create delicious food.
How would you define your
cooking/baking style? Methodical,
relying heavily on the recipe,
especially being exactly
precise with weights,
measurements, and
time, respecting
baking as a science.
When it comes to
decorating a cake, my
style would definitely
have to be freestyle.
What dish do you enjoy preparing
most? I adore family-style recipes
of any kind — big dishes of lasagna,
beautiful salads made from the garden
— and they can be down home
cooking or even hoity-toity fancy
dinner party food. I have two favorite
things to bake: flourless chocolate
torte and Swiss profiteroles.
What is your favorite food-related
memory? In my bakery in 1995, a
beautiful, tall, dark girl walked in
to help her sister choose a wedding
cake. I was very taken by her. Six
months later, the tall, dark girl,
whose name was Lisa, returned
to the bakery, this time to help
her best friend choose her
wedding cake. Lisa asked me to
be her date at this wedding. We
sat outside through most of it,
talking through the night. On
our next date, I brought her her
favorite cake, a nut cake set off with
coffee buttercream. Six months later,
I married Lisa.
Are there any misconceptions
among foodies that you would
like to clarify? Most people think
that any professional chef is automatically
a master
baker and cake
decorator. Not
true. Baking
is an art of its
own with a
high degree of
difficulty.
Oheka Castle is located at 135
West Gate Dr. in Huntington. It
can be reached at 631-659-1400 or
oheka.com
Marco Pelligrini
Daniel Andreotti
Get Tickets at
LIVE
JAZZ!
Dandy Wellington and his jazz
band will be performing at Taste
The Greats.
Dandy's appreciation for the
swinging big bands, elegant
parties, and beautifully tailored
clothing of the 1920s and '30s,
paired with his contemporary
edge, make him a certifiable renaissance
www.TastetheGreats.com
man and a true modern
dandy.
Taste the Greats, 8 p.m. to
11 p.m. on Saturday, March
14, 2020 at Oheka Castle.
Tickets are $100, or $165 for
VIP and afterparty access.
Tickets can be purchased at
TasteTheGreats.com
/oheka.com
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
/osteriaumbrali.com
/www.TastetheGreats.com
/www.TastetheGreats.com
/TasteTheGreats.com
