cover image The Mezzaluna Cookbook: The Famed Restaurant's Best-Loved Recipes for Seasonal Pastas

The Mezzaluna Cookbook: The Famed Restaurant's Best-Loved Recipes for Seasonal Pastas

Aldo Bozzi. Potter, $23 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-517-70181-2

Restaurateur Bozzi-with Mezzalunas in Manhattan, Miami, L.A., Aspen and, soon, Istanbul-offers a hugely satisfying collection of regional Italian fare of the sort for which a favorite neighborhood trattoria is treasured. Bozzi describes his chosen ambience and meals as casual, chaotic, amusing, sophisticated, light and genuine: in this case, a proprietor's words do not overstate. For appetizers, soups, salads, carpaccios, pastas and pizzas, the recipes promote an eating experience distinguished by variety (rather than a single entree) and remind one that simplicity marks the best Italian cooking. It is impossible to resist the clarity of taste to be found in Shrimp and White Beans, Venetian Style; Cavatelli with Arugula Pesto and Potatoes; Shells with Cotechino Sausage and Lentils; or Taste of the Sea Carpaccio with beef tenderloin cut into paper-thin slices and painted lightly with a sauce of anchovy, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and chili pepper. Generous with his applications of fresh herbs and even more so with his drizzles of olive oil, Bozzi fulfills his promise to excite the palate. (Dec.)