Bellino on Vino

 

Author / Italian Wine-Guy Daniel Bellino-Zwicke with Wines from

some of his Best Friends ; Francesca Planet, Gianni Venica, Roberto Gundler, Antonio Rallo,

and the Columbini Family of Fattoria Barbi, Daniel's favorite Brunello ..

Daniel Bellino-Zwicke? Who is he? He's a Best Selling Cookbook Author and one of New York's Top Big Dogs of Italian Wine, a former Chef of such restuauants as; Woods, Corrado, and Bar Cichetti ... Daniel was in the Hotel/Restaurant Management at New York Technical .. Besides being the chef at the previous named restaurants, Daniel worked with Michel Fitoussi at the famed Palace Restaurant in the late 80's as well as at the Odeon under the great Patrick Clarke.

   Daniel got out of the kitchen in the late 90's to become The Maitre'd at the uber hot # 1 Celebrity Hot Spot Da Silvano where he took care of people like; Keith Richards, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Uma Thurman, Richard Gere, Joe Pesci, Robert DeNiro, Calvin Klein, Nick Pileggi, Nora Effron, Graydon Carter, Gwyneth Palthrow, Madonna, Lucy Lui, and-on-and-on, the list is way to long to name them all.

   Daniel took care o f the high-flying cliental of the Top People in The Fashion World, Record Business, Publishing, Movie Stars and Rock Stars and is known for his easy going ability of taking care of all the big stars needs in a casual attentive manor without being intrusive in any way, reasons for him being well known to The Movers & Shakers of  these high profile business feilds. 

Daniel had made quite a name for himself as the creator and Executive Chef / Wine Director and Managing Partner of Bar Cichetti, the 1st ever Venetian Wine Bar (Bacaro) in America, which was Daniel's proud creation. As Chef / Wine Director of Bar Cichetti, Daniel firmly established himself as one of New York and America's Top Italian Wine Guys .. He is personal friends with most of Italy's top wine producers, the likes of; Marchese Ferdinando Frescobaldi, Sebastiano Rosa winemaker of Sassicaia, Marchese Piero Antinori of Antinori Wines, Givanni Folnari of Nozzole, Gianlucca Grasso, Gianpaulo Venica, Cavalier Luigi Cappellini of Castel Verrazzano, and-on-an-on, just like all the Movie Stars & Rock Stars that Daniel knows, the list of Italian Wine Luminaries is even greater.

    As we've already stated, Daniel left restaurant kitchens behind to become a noted Italian Wine Guy and Maitre'd who really knows how to take care of those  high-end clientele. But not only them of course, there's everyone else, shall we call them the regular folk? Hey, they make up the bulk of any restaurant business, not the celebs, though celebrities help to draw in everyone else. Daniel will take good care of you as a number of his clients we have interviewed can tell. He friendly and quite personable and he really knows his stuff and has a passion for the food and wines of Italy that's almost impossible to duplicate. Frankly, Daniel is the best. He can tell you wonderful stories about the wine you are drinking, its history, the owners and people who make the wine (his Friends) and his trips to all these Wine Estates all over Italy. And his knowledge and passion for the food is equal to his knowledge of Italian Wine. Often you'll be drinking a bottle of Italian Wine that Daniel suggests and he'll pull out his iPhone and show you pictures of the people who own the estate and make the wine. One example would be Daniel's good friend Luigi Cappellino who owns Castel Verrazzano in Greve in Chianti (Tuscan) Italy. He'll show you pictures of him and his cousins Anthony & Joe at Verrazzano when Daniel took them their, they stayed on the property and ate breakfast and dinner in the castle, with the great wines of Verrazzano.

Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

with Luigi Cappellini

of Castelo Verrazzano

After 5 years at DaSilvano, Daniel went on to become the Wine Director of Barbetta Restorante on West 46th Street in New York to head up the Greatest Italian Wine List in all of America. Daniel says, "the cellars are amazing." Places like Babbo and Del Post get more press for having great Italian Wine List, which they do, but Daniel says, "The Wine List of Babbo & Del Posto are awesome, but in comparison to Barbetta, they are Childs-Play." No exageration, merely fact Daniel says. And within that Wine List which is the Greatest Italian Wine List in all of America, is the Barolo / Barbaresco of which Daniel says is the greatest Barolo list in the World with it many Verticals of all the great Barolo Crus, like, Vietti Barolo Brunate and Lazarito, Cerretto Bricco Roche Bricco Roche, Marcarini Brunate, Michele Chiarlo Cerequio, Aldo Conterno Grand Bussia, Giacomo Conterno  Monfortino and Francia, Mauro Veglio Rocche dell’Annunziata, Contratto Cerequio, Elio Grasso Ginestra and more ...

Giacomo Conterno Barolo Monfortino

Daniel said he was quite fortunate in his job as Wine Director of Barbetta for 5 years as he was able to taste and drinks so many of these great Barolo Crus of various vintage, as well as all the multi vintage; Barbaresco, Amarone, Brunello, Super Tuscans, Champagne, and the top California Cabernets and Meritage Blends such as Opus One and Insignia.

Daniel had been writing for years, mostly essays, articles, and short stories. He wrote his first book La TAVOLA while he was at Barbetta in 2006 .. He said that 85% of the book was written in about 6 weeks time (quite fast), however he edited, polished it up and worked on it for another year before trying to get it published, which took five years. Actually La Tavola was published in June of 2012, followed by The FEAST of The 7 FISH which is the top selling cookbook of its genre. Daniel published Got Any Kahlua? The Collected Recipes of The Dude in the Summer of 2013, followed by SUNDAY SAUCE which has been a # 1 Best Seller Italian Cookbooks on Amazon for 5 months ... Daniel published another # 1 Best Seller in June of 2014 with SEGRETO ITALIANO / Secret Italian Recipes & Favorite Dishes ..

Daniel says he's currently working on a book on Chianti one of his great passions, as well as another Italian Cookook and an American Cookbook, both yet to be named ..

Marchese Lamberto Frescobaldi

with

Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

and Lamberto's Father

Marchese Leonardo Frescobaldi

Sebastiano Rosa (Winemaker of SASSICAIA) Daniel

and Giovanni Folnari of Nozzole

BOOKS by DANIEL BELLINO ZWICKE

SUNDAY SAUCE

alla BELLINO alla PACINO

AMAZON.com

The Feast of The 7 Fish

ITALIAN CHRISTMAS

AMAZON.com

 La TAVOLA

ITALIAN-AMERICAN NEW YORKERS

ADVENTURES of The TABLE

"La TAVOLA"

AMAZON.com

MEMORIES of ITALIAN FOOD

ITALY & NEW YORK

AMAZON.com

 

Johns of East 12th Street - Red Sauce Joint

 "JOHN'S" - Since 1908

JOHN'S of 12th STREET

EAST VILLAGE

NEW YORK NY

JOHN'S of 12th STREET

OLD SCHOOL ITALIAN RED SAUCE JOINT

Since 1908

DeROBERTI'S ITALIAN PASTRIES

DeRoberti's

The Turn of The CENTURY

About 1906

Casatiti

A SICILIAN PASTRY

Translation - Women's Breast

NONNA BELLINO'S COOKBOOK

RECIPES From MY SICILIAN NONNA

AMAZON.com

SUNDAY SAUCE

aka The GODFATHER COOKBOOK

AMAZON.com

CAFFE REGGIO

GREENWICH VILLAGE

NEW YORK

Bourdain Disappearing NewYork NYC

 

MANGNARO'S GROSSERIA ITALIANA

Was on 9th Avenue in New York's HELLS KITCHEN

Sadly, they CLOSED after 100 YEARS in Business 

KEEN'S STEAKHOUSE

NEW YORK NY

ANTHONY BOURDAIN

VANISHING MANHATTAN

"OLD SCHOOL NEW YORK"

TONY with MICHAEL LOMANACO

At MAGNARARO'S ITALIANA

MANGANARO'S

Sadly, "They Are Gone"

MANGANARO'S GOSSERIA ITALIANA, 

was on 9th Avenue in NEW YORK'S HELLS KITCHEN

The neighborhood where Sylvester Stallone was born, and where author Mario Puzzo wrote the Best Selling Novel "The Godfather" as well as the screenplay to the movie.

Manganaro's Grosseria Italiana, commonly referred to as Manganaro's, was an Italian market and deli on Ninth Avenue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It opened in 1893 and operated for 119 years, helping to introduce the hero sandwich to Americans. The family closed the business and put the property up for sale in 2012.

The business was founded in 1893 by Ernest Petrucci as a wine and spirits store, Petrucci's Wines & Brandies, that also sold groceries. Its location at 488 Ninth Avenue near 37th Street was on a stretch of the avenue that remained lined with exotic food stores for decades. After the enactment of Prohibition in the U.S. in 1919, Petrucci's nephew James Manganaro, an immigrant from Naples, took over the store in the 1920s and changed the name; in 1927 he was able to buy the building. Manganaro may have invented the hero sandwich, and played a role in introducing it to Americans.

On his death in 1953, Manganaro's passed to his brother Louis and sister Nina Manganaro Dell'Orto and their spouses; in 1955, with a publicity agent's help, they invented the six-foot "Hero-Boy" sandwich, which was successful enough for one of Dell'Orto's four sons to go on the original version of the TV quiz show I've Got a Secret, and for the family to open a sandwich shop next door at 492–494 Ninth Avenue the following year, while continuing to operate a deli and lunch counter in the rear of the grocery store.

In 1962, Louis Manganaro retired and two of his four nephews took over the grocery store and the other two the sandwich shop, Manganaro's Hero-Boy, and the businesses were separated.

Sal Dell'Orto, who bought out his brother's half ownership of the grocery store, and James Dell'Orto, who bought out his brother's half ownership of the sandwich shop, fell out over rights to the "Manganaro's Hero-Boy" name, trademarked by the sandwich shop in 1969, and advertising for party sandwich telephone hotlines, which led to two separate court cases. The business' neon sign installed in the early 1930s, which became blinking in the 1960s, was turned off in 2000 so that Manganaro's Hero-Boy could not benefit from it.The grocery store was repeatedly found at fault over the hotline and was ordered to pay damages to the sandwich shop, and the financial drain plus waning popularity, some of it due to the declining neighborhood, led to the decision to sell the building and close. This was first announced early in 2011, but the building was withdrawn from the market; the business then closed in late February 2012.

Anthony Bourdain featured the store, on the episode title "Disappering Manhattan" on No Reservations TV Show.

AMERICA'S FAVOrITE

ITALIAN COOKBOOK

TONY TOO !!!

DeROBERTIS'S PASTICCERIA ITALIANA

1st Avenue NEW YORK NY

SINCE 1904

Photo - 1928

DeROBERTO'S PASTICCERIA ITALIANA

Year of Picture Unknown

 

LANZA'S

1st Avenue, New York NY

Lanza’s was an Italian restaurant in the East Village, Manhattan. It was opened in 1904 by Sicilian immigrant Michael Lanza in a tenement built in 1871. Lanza was rumored to have been a chef for Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. They closed in 2015. Eater reported it officially closed in 2017 after seizure by a marshal for non-payment of taxes. It is also said to have closed in 2016. The former restaurant's murals, stained glass, and sign were retained by Joe and Pat's, a pizzeria that opened at the location in 2018.

They were known to be a favorite of Lucky Luciano, Carmine “Lilo” Galante and Joseph “Socks” Lanza. 

LANZA'S

SINCE 1904

The DINING ROOM

Sadly, LANZA'S Closed in 2017

"STILL GOING STRONG"

JOHN'S of 12th STREET

CUCINA ITALIANA

Since 1908

Thankfully, JOHN'S is open (2024) and going as strong as ever, and will be around for many more years to come. 

Photo by Italian Cookbook author Daniel Bellino Zwicke

At one point in his long restaurant career, author Daniel Bellino worked as a waiter at JOHN'S for 7 years.

At the time, he worked as a cook in Italian Restaurants in New York. He worked 2 jobs for 7 years, cooking at various restaurants full-time, while working as a waiter / bartender at John's for 3 nights a week.

ANTHONY BOURDAIN

FOODIE JOURNAL

BEING TONY BOURDAIN

ANTHONY BOURDAIN

TRAVEL - FOODIE JOURNAL

With TONY'S BEST QUOTES

AMAZON.com

Pizza Night in Jersey NJ

 

Pizza Town

Route 46 , Garfield , New Jersey

"The First Place I ever had a Calzone!"

  My first memories of PIZZA were from Bella Pizza in East Rutherford, New Jersey. I was a young boy and this Pizzeria just opened on Park Avenue. It was a standard Pizzeria like many others found all over the New York-New Jersey metro area, serving solid pizza just the way the locals like it. The pizza was of a high standard as all the pizza must be if you’re going to make and sell Pizza in the heavily Italian-Populated New York and New Jersey areas. A large pie which you just ordered as a Pizza, the one that is known as Pizza Margherita in Italy is made of the pizza dough topped with tomato sauce, Mozzarella Cheese, salt, pepper, and a little olive oil. Basta!    The Pizza in America are much larger than those made in Italy and are cut into 8 triangular slices and are enough for 2 or 3 people to eat, or even four if you’re not that hungry or sharing a Pizza just as a snack in-between meals. I can still remember the price of the pizza at Bella Pizza in East Rutherford back in the 60s a whole pie cost just $1.50 and a slice was .20 cents. So if you wanted what they call in Napoli and all over Italy the Pizza Margherita, you just simply ordered a Pizza, or a Cheese Pie, or simply a Pie, meaning it was with Tomato, Mozzarella , and Basil and no other toppings. And if you wanted extra toppings, you just say a Pepperoni Pie, or half mushroom half pepperoni, or a Sausage Pie or whatever. That’s the way it was and more or less still is with ordering Pizza at your standard pizzeria. Nowadays most pizza cost between $2.25 and $2.75 a slice and about $16.00 to $20 and even more for a whole plain pie.    Anyway, as most kids did and do, we loved eating pizza, and on most Friday nights it was Pizza Night for many families in Jersey. Mom didn’t want to cook that night, the kids loved getting pizza and looked forward to it as a special treat on Friday nights, as we knew it as Pizza Night and we just loved it. We’d have pizza, Coca-Cola and some sort of sweets, a cake or Ice Cream for desserts after we ate our Pizza. Yes Friday Night Pizza was always a much loved treat as a child growing up in Jersey in the 1960s and 70s. We’d listen to WABC Radio and Top 20 Hits, R&B, and Rock-N-Roll and all was fine in the World, we had all that we needed. How I miss those sweet days of youth and a simpler time than today. Back then you had everything you needed in life. We had Radio and TV and we still do today. We had Cars that were beautiful unlike some of the ugly ones of today. We had the Telephone, no cel phones or internet, we didn’t need them. We all had a Football, a Basketball, a Baseball Bat, Baseball, and Glove to play Baseball, Basketball, and Football as all healthy American boys did back then. We didn’t have Video Games but we had Aurora Racing Car sets, maybe Electric Trains, and wonderful Board Games like; Monopoly, Candyland, Chess, Checkers, Stratego, and Battle Ship. And one of the most wonderful things we had back then in the 60s & 70s was great music unlike the Crap they call music today, we had Great Top 100 Hits, wonderful R&B sounds of Motown and The Philly Sound, we had The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Rock-N-Roll, what do the kids have for music today? Sadly, just Crap Rap and the other garbage they think is music. Yes it’s quite sad what has happened to music in the past 20 years. But yes we had everything we needed; Radio, TV, cars, a stereo, Sports, great music to listen to, and Pizza, we always had Pizza, we still do.    Well sorry, I got off topic, but it’s all part of the story you see. In Italy when it comes to Pizza it’s a bit different than the way Pizza is done in America. Pizza was born in Napoli where it is revered into a high religion and is to made just so. The Pizza is much smaller and is made for one and they do not make slices unless you are in Rome or other parts of Italy where they make Pizza that is made in large pans ahead of time and then cut into squares and heated up when a customer orders some. That’s Pizza Taglio, and most Pizza made in Italy is Neapolitan Pizza that is made to order. As we’ve said they are individual sized (about 12” round) for one person and made to order and are cooked in hot wood burning ovens to strict standardized specifications. A Pizza Margherita made in the true Neapolitan fashion is made with fresh tomato puree, olive oil, salt, fresh garlic, basil, and mozzarella placed on top, then the pizza cooks in the hot wood burning oven, and is ready in just about 4-5 minutes. Pizza Margherita was created by Raffaella Esposito in 1889 where he was working at Pizzeria di Pietro. He made the Pizza and named it in honor of Queen Margherita of Savoy who was visiting Naples (Napoli) at the time. American Pizza on the other hand is made with a cooked sauce and we tend to put more sauce and cheese than they do in Italy .    Now, my own experience eating Pizza in Italy. Well the first pizza I first had in Italy was Pizza Taglio (pan Pizza) and not the Classic Neapolitan Pizza, which is by far the dominant pizza in all Italy, and though there is Pizza Taglio which is sold in square slices, it’s a mere fraction as far as its presence goes, which is just about 1% of all Pizza consumed in Italy is Pizza Taglio, the rest being classic Neapolitan. Anyway, there’s very good pizzeria that makes Pan Pizza close to the train station in Rome. Like other pizzerias that make Pizza Taglio in Italy, there’s an array of different pizzas with different toppings that are already made and are laid out before you. You choose which type of pizza you’d like, tell them the size you want, they cut it and weight it to determine the price by weigh. Yes the pizza is a bit different in America, but it’s dammed good, and America makes the world’s best pizza outside of Italy. And as far as Pizza goes in America, everyone knows that the best Pizza in the country is made in New York, and especially in Brooklyn with great shrines to Pizza in the form of; Tottono’s in Coney Island, Grimaldi’s, and DiFara Pizza by Pizza Maestro Dom DeMarco. Then you’ve got John’s on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village and the first Pizzeria ever to exist in the United States Lombardi’s on Prince Street, established in 1905.    Anyway, enough with the technicalities of Pizza, sometimes things are analyzed too much, just eat it and enjoy. We loved eating Pizza on Pizza Night or any time of the week when we were lucky enough to get it. And there is one particular time that I always remember. We went on a trip with our local church to the big beautiful Riverside Cathedral in New York one time, and it was a very special trip. When we came home, the Priest and other church officials made a little Pizza Party for us in the church basement. They ordered a bunch of Pizzas for all the kids (Grownups too) and it was a very special thing for us, as pizza always was and even so to this day. Yes there’s nothing like when you’re a child and they have a Pizza Party for you, we just loved it. And so these are my memories of Pizza.




  Excerpted From "MANGIA ITALIANO" Memories of Italian Food  


     by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke  




 

Typical Large Pie for PIZZA NIGHT in The 60s

 

Read about PIZZA NIGHT , CANNOLIS, PROVOLONE, MEATBALLS, 

Growing Up Italian in America, Italian Food, Italy, and more, 

in best selling author Daniel Bellino-Zwicke's 

latest book, Mangia Italiano - Memories of Italian Food.

     

MANGIA ITALIANO !

The Latest From Daniel Bellino "Z"

PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE

POSITANO The AMALFI COAST

TRAVEL GUIDE - COOKBOOK

100 REGIONAL RECIPES - NAPLES

Including - PIZZA DOUGH PIZZA Recipe

POSITANO CAPRI NAPLES SORRENTO

AMAZON.com

.

 

Anthony Bourdain Foodporn Eats

 

Tony with Josh Ozersky

MINETTA TAVERN

Talkin BURGERS

And The PERFECT ONE

Recipe

FOOD OBSESSIONS

ANTHONY BOURDAIN

FOOD HIGHLIGHTS

The BLACK LABEL BURGER

MINETTA TAVERN

HOW to COOK a PERFECT BURGER

AMERICA'S FAVORITE DISHES

SECRET RECIPES

BURGERS STEAKS

TACOS BURRITOS

And MORE ...

AMAZON.com

CHEF RIAD Delivers TONY His BURGER

FLIGHTS & HOTELS

WORLDWIDE

EXPEDIA.com

ANTHONY BOURDAIN

TONY BOURDAIN

FOODIE / TRAVEL JOURNAL

With FAVORITE TONY BOURDAIN "QUOTES"

AMAZON.com

TONY BOURDAIN FOODIE JOURNAL

What's Better than that?

This awesome journal was created by the artist Bellino from his original painting of the late great Anthony Bourain, and is in Tribute to Tony. There are some of Anthony Bourdain's most famous quotes on life, work, travel, and eating for the pleasure of it all.

105 Pages with 95 blank pages to write recipes, travel adventures and info, stories, poems, take notes, whatever you like, it's yours to do with as you please. Just having Anthony Bourdain will inspire.

This book is 6" X 9" - With 95 Blank Pages and Tony's most famous quotes to boot. You Love Tony, you'll Love this book, so get yorus today.

GIFT IDEAS : Birthdays, Christmas, Bon Voyage, Friendship Gift, and any occasion.

TONY GOES to FITA BORGO

FITA BORGO with MICHAEL WHITE

PASTA & BISTECCA

"FOODPORN" !!!

ANTHONY BOURDAIN FOODPORN

ANTHONY BOURDAIN FOODPORN

MEXICO'S BEST STREET TACOS

DOMINICAN BREAKFAST

FRENCH TRUCKSTOP FOOD in BURGUNDY

Tony Eats COQ au VIN

A TRUCKSTOP in BURGUNDY

FRANCE

CHINESE FOODPORN

TONY GOES to FLUSHING

EATS CHINESE FOOD - FLUSHING QUEENS

NEW YORK CITY

SUNDAY SAUCE

TONY'S FAVORITE ITALIAN COOKBOOK

MEATBALLS alla SINATRA

SUNDAY SAUCE alla BELLINO alla PACINO

AMAZON.com