accolades
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Personal Shopper
By JILL SABULIS- for the Journal-Constitution
The holidays have a way of sneaking up on you. Somewhere around Columbus Day, one wrong turn means an unwanted shortcut straight to Thanksgiving week.
For those caught unprepared, here are two fail-safe suggestions that will win raves from guests:
Whether it is a dinner party entree or a precursor to the holiday meal itself, pasta is a sure bet, and Atlanta has a new source for the real thing: freshly made, not dried or frozen.
Via Elisa is a 6-week-old company selling cut unfilled pastas such as fettuccine and selections such as ravioli filled with porcini mushrooms. All the customer has to do is boil the water and add butter or a simple sauce.
The company is the baby of former broadcast journalist Elisa Gambino, 39, whose Italian-American parents moved their family to Rome when their daughter was 16. "They were reverse immigrants," says Gambino. Three and a half years ago, she, her husband and their daughters moved to Atlanta, where Gambino served as assignment manager for CNN's national bureau. "I just kept looking for pasta [to buy]," she says."I finally saw there really was a need."
So the routine desk job and her unfulfilled quest for fresh pasta like the kind back home were the catalysts that took Gambino from journalist to pasta entrepreneur. Along the way she spent a month in Rome learning the craft from renowned Gamberoni pasta-making family, and one of the Gamberoni sisters came to Atlanta in May to assist. "We basically replicated their shop here," Gambino says.
The result is fresh pasta made from organic flour and eggs, imported semolina and 100 percent whole milk ricotta from the same cheese-maker outside Rome that the Gamberonis use. For fillings, Via Elisa uses seasonal vegetables such as Swiss chard, asparagus, squash and sweet potatoes. A favorite is tortelloni filled with ricotta with a hint of fresh lemon.
Via Elisa's pastas are available at three local gourmet stores: Star Provisions at the corner of Howell Mill and Huff roads; Salumeria Taggiasca, the Italian food shop at the Sweet Auburn Curb Market downtown; and Ali-Oli gourmet-to-go food shop in Buckhead.
Anyone can buy directly from the source by calling ahead to place an order. Be warned, however, that quantities are limited, and Gambino frequently sells out. Check the Web site at www.viaelisa.com each evening for the next day's specials.
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