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Atlanta Journal-Constitution
PERSONAL SHOPPER: Fresh, floury, bonafide. Atlanta pasta maker does things the real Italian way
By JOHN WATERHOUSE - Saturday, March 11, 2006
Elisa Gambino loves fresh Italian pasta so much that she traveled all the way to Rome to learn how to prepare it herself.
Now she runs Via Elisa, a retail and wholesale business that sells fresh pasta and related products. In addition to pasta-loving Atlantans, she counts grocers Whole Foods and Muss & Turner's as customers.
This journey began four years ago, when Gambino left a desk job at CNN with pasta on her mind. Years of living in Italy had spoiled her. There, she says, fresh pasta is readily available for sale --- a relatively foreign concept to folks in the Peach State. To some manufacturers, fresh pasta equals frozen.
That's a thorny issue for Gambino, who hooked up with the Gamberoni family in Rome to hone her craft. The small group of pasta-making pros create pasta for Italy's presidential functions --- and they gave Gambino the inside scoop on making the best fresh pasta.
She even brought a member of the Gamberoni family back to Atlanta to help launch Via Elisa.
The original goal of the three year-old business was to supply Atlanta's professional chefs with the real thing. Via Elisa prepares fresh filled pastas for high-end establishments like the Capital City Club and the Atlanta Grill at the Ritz-Carlton downtown.
But Gambino listened to public demand and opened her doors to home chefs, too. A tight and tiny retail section of her shop sells fresh pasta, sauces, meats, cheeses and imported Italian cooking items (oils, honey, croutons) to anyone who's hungry.
Via Elisa makes pasta daily and provides cooking instructions to make life easy. At $15.50 per pound, customers bring home helpings of ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta or porcini mushrooms.
Bite into one of her tortelloni, and you might get a melt-in-your mouth blast of roasted butternut squash or the cheesy warmth of ricotta and Swiss chard.
Ready-to-bake cannelloni ($16 per pound) is a quick and easy way to impress guests at a dinner party. Pop the metal baking dish into the oven for 20 to 30 minutes and wow diners with a browned and bubbling mass of ricotta and artichoke topped with creamy tomato sauce.
The pasta goes quickly, so Gambino suggests that customers call ahead or order online at least a day in advance. Many of her customers are hooked at first nibble and come in weekly to serve their families Via Elisa's noodles. The perishable pasta lasts three to five days in the refrigerator, or can be frozen, if desired.
Regulars may have noticed a new edition --- Phatty Cake cookies --- at the store. Baked on-site, the selection includes Lovey-Os ($10 per bag), heart-shaped chocolate shortbread sandwich cookies that feature an oozy filling of mascarpone cream.
Gambino also takes her product to the streets, driving a truck into the nearby Collier Hills neighborhood every Thursday evening.
Gambino, a pasta version of an ice cream man, sells fresh noodles as part of a grass-roots marketing effort to spread the word.
Back at the Howell Mill store, Gambino shares retail space with Franco and Bess Boeri, who used to operate Salumeria Taggiasca in the Sweet Auburn Curb Market. The Boeris sell an array of imported Italian cheeses and Italian-style meats, including coppa (pork tinged with juniper berries for $14.99 per pound) and salami Calabrese, a cut of pork in a natural casing ($17.50 per pound).
Available at: Via Elisa, 1750-C Howell Mill Road N.W., Atlanta. 404-605-0668, www.viaelisa.com. Directions: From downtown, take I-75 north to Exit 252B (Howell Mill Road). Turn left. Turn right on Ridgeway Avenue. Via Elisa is on the left.
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