Andolini's Pizzeria adds porchetta pizza, arancini
Porchetta pizza and arancini are the new items recently added to the menu at Andolini's Pizzeria and Italian Restaurant.
Co-owner Mike Bausch said he got the inspiration for those dishes following recent trips to New York and Italy.
"It's our passion to produce unique versions of Italian classics," Bausch said.
Porchetta is a fatty, moist, boneless pork roast that is popular in Italian cuisine.
"It comes from the Lazio region of Italy, like the pecorino Romano we put in most all of our dishes," Bausch said. "The pork roast is stuffed with prosciutto, pancetta, pecorino Romano, lemon peel, garlic and several other spices, then slow-roasted and cooked on our pizza crust with whole-milk mozzarella."
Arancini, or fried rice balls, have about as many variations as the number of people who make them.
"Arancini is Italian for little orange, in reference to its shape," Bausch said. "Ours is stuffed with risotto, basil and several different cheeses. It's another example of Italian peasant food created by using the previous night's dinner and frying it into something new."
Andolini's restaurants are located at 1552 E. 15th St. and in Owasso at 12140 E. 96th St. North.
Wolfgang Puck Bistro slates 'Oscar Gala'
The red carpet will roll out at 7 p.m. Sunday for an "Oscar Gala" at Wolfgang Puck Bistro, 3330 S. Peoria Ave.
Dinner for the Academy Awards watch party will feature recreations from chef Wolfgang Puck's Governors Ball menu.
This is the 19th consecutive year Puck has created the menu for the Governors Ball, the glitzy official after-party of the Oscars.
Michael Fusco, executive chef at the Tulsa restaurant, will be serving 20-plus dishes for the evening, and drinks from the bar will feature cocktails from Ultimat and wines from Dreaming Tree.
For the Tulsa soiree, formal wear is requested but not required.
Cost is $75 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations: 918-292-8585.
Tour of Italy wine dinner scheduled at Biga
A Tour of Italy wine dinner has been scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Biga, 4329 S. Peoria Ave.
The menu will include roast salmon, arugula and pesto paired with Cantine Lunae Vermentino Liguria white wine, chicken Parmesan paired with Cocci Grifoni Tellis Marche Rosso red wine, and semolina gnocchi with oxtail ragu paired with Pelissero Nebbiolo Piedmont red wine.
"Our first stop is Liguria with a fantastic, hard-to-get white wine and a beautiful pesto with salmon," chef-proprietor Tuck Curren said in a newsletter.
"We move to Marche next in central Italy on the Adriatic Sea. The wine is from a family owned vineyard and is delightful.
"Our last stop is Piedmont in northwest Italy, home of the famous Nebbiolo grape. Robert Parker gave the Pelissero a 92 rating. This will go great with the oxtail."
Chocolate Italian cream cake is the dessert.
Cost is $45 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations: 918-743-2442.
Wines from Argentina to be featured at dinner
Wines from Argentina's Colores del Sol winery will be featured at a dinner at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Local Table, 4329 S. Peoria Ave.
Wines will include the Colores del Sol Reserve White, the Reserve Red and Reserve Malbec. Dishes will include Brazilian seafood soup; bean, corn and squash stew; carbonada criolla (beef, vegetable and dried fruit); and dulce de leche layer cake.
Cost is $25, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations: 918-794-8013.
Luigi's Italian Restaurant opens in Skiatook
Luigi's Italian Restaurant has opened at 104 E. Rogers Blvd. in Skiatook.
Vita Morino is the owner. The family also operates Luigi's restaurants in Bartlesville, Ardmore and Atoka.
Luigi's features traditional Italian dishes such as chicken artichoke bruschetta, calamari fritte, veal Marsala, chicken Milano, chicken piccata, spaghetti pomodoro and linguine pescatore.
The lengthy list of entrees run $8 to $20, with most about $12-$13.
The restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. The phone number is 918-396-7800.
It is located in downtown Skiatook in space most recently occupied by Woodrow's restaurant.
Owners to reopen A Sensu Japanese restaurant
A Sensu Japanese restaurant, which closed in April 2009, is scheduled to reopen Feb. 28 at its original location at 7123 S. 92nd East Ave.
The restaurant had a brief 11-month run but built a solid following based on co-owner Kiat "Jon" Jazwiec's sushi creations and Japanese entrees.
Jazwiec said health issues in 2009 forced him to take a break from the restaurant business. Then in 2011, business partner Roger Carter, who runs the front of the house, also was sidelined with health problems.
"Everything is fine now, and we are glad to be back," Jazwiec said.
He said A Sensu will have a lunch menu, and a few items have been added to the dinner menu, including a soft-shell crab dinner, chicken teriyaki and vegetable tempura.
"We are keeping the 2008 prices on 98 percent of our dinner and sushi items," Jazwiec said.
A Sensu will be open 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Monday and Wednesday-Friday, 2-10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. It will be closed Tuesdays.
