A Memorable Afternoon With Pietro Scotti

I laughed, I learned and I ate scrumptious food all in one afternoon.  

Today I attended a fabulous, intimate event organized by CT Bites and Da Pietro restaurant in Westport:  A cooking demo and lunch with Chef Scotti.   I found out about it through “CT Bites Invites” that I had signed up for.  Man! Am I glad I did!  :-) 

The moment I entered the restaurant, I noticed all the happy smiling faces.  Everyone was simply delighted to be there … after all, who wouldn’t be delighted to spend an afternoon with Chef Scotti?  Chef Scott, his wife Janine and the staff were so warm and welcoming.  You can tell that, not only is this a great place to eat, but it is also must be a great place to work. 

Chef Scotti made three delicious dishes for us.  He started with a demonstration of how we can transform curds into fresh mozzarella cheese.   It was absolutely amazing to see a master at his craft.  His fingers worked the cheese with such panache.  He then rolled the cheese with arugula and fresh tomatoes.  After chilling it for a bit, he cut slices of the cheese and served it with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.   The dish was absolutely beautiful to look at and even better to eat! 

For the main course he showed us a very simple yet delicious recipe with swordfish, tossed in tomatoes, leeks and white wine, served on a bed of pasta.  Every ingredient in this dish shined … each very delicate and each really distinct in taste.  This is indeed mastery of an amazing chef!  

The trick for cooking perfect fish, according to Chef Scotti, is to cook the it on very high heat and do it fast …so that it does not get overcooked and chewy. 

The dessert was most definitely the grand finale! Are you ready?….get this…..chocolate bread pudding with bourbon sauce.  Soft, airy, moist bread pudding soaked in chocolate cream, with layers of bananas, topped with chef’s very special bourbon sauce.  An utterly, purely, heavenly creation!   What a simple recipe, and yet how complex in its flavor profile.  Chef’s special tip on this recipe was not to leave the bread soaking in the milk for too long…it tends to make the pudding mushy. 

Hats off to you, chef Scotti.  Fairfield County is blessed with your pure genius!

Click on the image below to view Da Pietro website.