Cucina Fantastico
With an open kitchen, wood-fired oven and warm, inviting dining room, only the atmosphere rivals the food at Bado’s Cucina.
Sam Badolato in front of his restaurant's wood-fire oven.
Sam Badolato’s first foray into food preparation was a fluke.
At age 6, his Sicilian grandmother lined him up with his two siblings and took their six small hands in her own. Once her inspection ended, she pointed to Sam. Because his hands had been the warmest, Sam was recruited to help her knead bread.
Twenty years later, Badolato has opened his second eatery, Bado’s Cucina, featuring wood oven cuisine, on Route 19 in Peters Township, where he still uses the bread recipe taught to him that fateful day. The restaurant launched in March and since then, stories of its open kitchen and fresh ingredients have spread, attracting guests from all over the Peters area.
“It’s really caught on,” Badolato says, sitting in his restaurant’s homey dining room. “Everyone has been so friendly.”
Bado Cucina’s open preparation area, complete with stone hearth, propels patrons to an authentic Italian kitchen where guests gather to enjoy the menu. The hearth gives each dish a distinct flavor when it is cooked over fruit wood, such as cherry or apple. The set-up attracts the eye, especially if something particularly unique is cooking over the flame, such as badolato d’marinara pizza with shelled mussels placed right on top of the pie.
“People turn to get a glimpse of the next item coming out of the oven in awe,” Badolato says.
The fire, though small, accents everything in the small dining area, which was decorated by Becca Woodworth, Badolato’s girlfriend. Flame-flicker shadows dance on the mustard-colored walls, creating a relaxed ambience among the eatery’s nine tables. Soft lighting glows from small lamps hanging above a two-toned tile floor and high-back, dark wood chairs. Inspiration for the decor came from several sources. A restaurant Badolato visited in Maine with an open kitchen spurred the idea of fresh cooking in front of diners.
“I thought, ‘Why does everything have to be hidden in the back? Why can’t you cut it fresh as you need it?’” says Badolato, whose kitchen does not include a deep fryer nor microwave.
Badolato found another muse in an Italian town that shares his family name. Sam spoke with other restaurant owners in the European villa to get ideas for his own establishment — and his long-distance research worked.
“There was a family in a few nights ago that was from Italy,” Badolato says. “They didn’t speak any English. They told their American family that it was ‘fantastico’ how much this looks like a restaurant in Italy. That made me smile.”
The personal atmosphere at Bado’s Cucina differs from his first business, Badolato’s Pizza Grill and Ale House in Mt. Lebanon, which he owned with his brother. Sam, a graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, left the business to become more creative with his food.
“I put food together as if I were doing a sketch,” he says. “Presentation is all part of it.”
The diverse menu at Bado’s Cucina includes tapas, tiny portions perfect for sharing. Choices range from a lamb chop trio to an antipasto platter with cured meats, imported cheese and colossal shrimp.
Popular pizzas include the bianco, with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, oregano, tomatoes, romano and mozzarella and the asparagus and prosciutto, with wood oven fired asparagus, rosemary, olive oil, romano, mozzarella and prosciutto.
Other appetizers, such as oven-roasted portabella mushrooms stuffed with herbs and smoked mozzarella and spinach artichoke dip served with warm rustic bread evoke images of Italy. As a vegetarian, Woodworth helped Badolato bring new ingredients into his cooking and develop vegetarian/vegan menu items, like the vegan stuffed banana peppers with spinach, garlic and tofu.
Salads include the Cucina house with mixed greens, tomatoes, chick peas, imported romano, sunflower seeds and shredded zucchini tossed with balsamic vinaigrette or the fruit wood seared salmon with champagne vinaigrette.
Roasted red pepper ravioli stuffed with garlic and eggplant and sweet potato and sage gnocchi round out the pasta choices and sauces include marinara, vodka and fresh parsley, egg and butter with shaved parmesan. •
Bado’s Cucina is located at 3825 Washington Road in Peters Township. It can be reached at 724-942-3904. It is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday; and 4-11 p.m. Saturday. On Sunday, it can be reserved for private parties. BYOB.
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