Valentino Restaurant Offers Regionally Inspired Italian Dinners For LA Food Bowl

Valentino restaurant in Santa Monica is hosting a Wine Spectacular Series with four dinners curated by restaurateur Piero Selvaggaio and James Beard Award-winning chef Luciano Pellegrini.

The dinners are part of the new Los Angeles Times Food Bowl, a monthlong celebration of food, restaurants, and social responsibility. The first two dinners, held May 5 and May 12, celebrated the cuisines of Piedmont and Tuscany. The two remaining dinners, to be held May 19 and May 26, will serve dishes from Sicily and then collaborate for a Cal-Italian Spectacular dinner, respectively.

The Sicily dinner menu includes stuzzichini, arancino, carpaccio di fichi d'India e pescepada scottato, pasta al nero de seppia, farsumagru, and biancomangiare.

The Cal-Italian dinner menu includes tartare di gamberi Santa Barbara e olive taggiasche con salsa al pompelmo, bucatini ripieni di porcini e speck, medaglione di filetto prime affumicato con salsa di miele e cacao amaro, robioletta di bufala su crostino con marmellata d'aglio primizio, mousse di pistachio con cuore di cioccolato picante, and biscotti. This special dinner will be held in Valentino's wine cellar, where Piero will open rare and hard to find classic California wines.

In addition to hosting wine dinners to support the LA Food Bowl, Valentino has announced a new collaboration with chef Luciano Pellegrini and the launch of a new dinner menu. Highlights of the new menu include tuna tartare with orange flavored burrata sauce, smoked quail on potato and asparagus salad with blueberry sauce; tagliatelle with sweet gorgonzola and egg yolk bottarga; prosciutto stuffed ravioli with cantaloupe cream sauce; bone marrow-stuffed veal shank with polenta and acorn-fed Iberico pork with spinach, potatoes, and tomato salsa.

Centered in Los Angeles, the Food Bowl festival will bring together the best in local dining experiences while promoting social awareness about food waste and hunger. LA's largest culinary event to date, Food Bowl will include special programs with internationally renowned chefs during rare U.S. appearances. Proceeds benefit Share Our Strength/No Kid Hungry. For tickets, go to the festival's website.