KOLO ATE: Giuseppe’s Bella Italia Restaurant

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - Giuseppe’s Bella Italia Restaurant serves up fresh pasta and raviolis made in-house every day by Giuseppe himself.

“We make everything from scratch, from the sauce to the dessert,” said owner and chef Giuseppe Zappala.

Zappala was born and raised in the Lake Cuomo region of Italy, which inspires many of his unique recipes.

“The way we do it in Italy; just simple. Not too many spices,” added Zappala. “Most restaurants the tomato sauce is cooked for like hours and hours. When you cook it, overcook, it’s kind of like tomato paste.”

The sauces are cooked to order, usually taking between 15-20 minutes. And it goes on top of pasta just rolled and cut that day.

“The secret to make fresh good pasta is to use semolina,” explains Zappala.

It’s a more course, purified wheat flour used in all of his pastas, except for the gluten-free dishes. But it’s the ravioli’s that are his calling-card, including one made famous at the Eldorado.

“The mushroom ravioli, I started making for the Eldorado back in 1984,” said Zappala.

He worked there for nearly 30 years before branching out on his own, where he now has 10 different kinds of ravioli on the menu, including a special just added last week.

“The Giuseppe ravioli. It’s a new one, nobody has it on the menu,” added Zappala.

It’s made with prosciutto, pistachios and riccotta cheese. There’s also plenty of protein dishes to choose from, including fish, chicken, steak and pork on the menu. And make sure you save room for dessert.

“We make our own Gelato,” Zappala pointed out. “We make different kinds of gelato fresh, all of the time.”

And a tiramisu that first became popular at his old restaurant, La Trattoria, back in the 1980′s.

“We became famous for the tiramisu, and after one year, every restaurant in town put it on the menu,” said Zappala.

You can try it yourself by going to Giuseppe’s Bella Italia Restaurant, located at 8155 S. Virginia Street. It’s open Tuesday-Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch, and 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. for dinner. You can check out the menu at www.bellaitalia-reno.com

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