What’s next when you’ve reached the culinary pinnacle?
Well, you could roll pasta.
That’s what executive chef Peter Armellino and the team at Saratoga’s Plumed Horse — who have held a Michelin star for a decade — are doing for a second act.
Across the street from the fine-dining palace, they are opening Pasta Armellino, which is described as a casual restaurant with an artisan touch, a place where you can buy an affordable meal from the top toque in town. Monday, Feb. 5, will be the first day of service.
“I’ve been a Francophile for the last 30 years,” Armellino said. “So it’s really liberating for me. I’ve been having a lot of fun.”
Look for Armellino, his new chef de cuisine and the team they mentor to meld French influences with Italian sensibilities and California ingredients. “It’s my cuisine, and pasta is the vehicle,” he said.
A small, well-defined menu will be offered at this no-reservations spot. “You do six pastas — and you do them perfectly,” co-owner Josh Weeks said of the concept.
Featured on the inaugural winter menu are pepper rigatoni with Berkshire pork, smoked mozzarella and spicy Calabrian peppers; gemelli with artichokes, chicken, lemon and herbs; tagliatelle with crab and uni; orecchiette with braised beef short rib and house-made ricotta; and two others.
Two soups, two salads and parmesan-dusted sourdough round out the menu.
Chefs will deliver dishes to the tables, allowing for interaction with customers.
For its Italian transformation, the 1850s-era house on Big Basin Way has been turned into a chic industrial space. A massive graffiti-inspired artwork by San Francisco’s Chris Kondo covers the wall of the main dining room, and a front room will do double duty as the dough-rolling room during the day and, at night, a private table for groups of up to 12 diners.
“It’ll be covered in flour, but that’s the cool part,” Weeks said with a laugh.
A United Nations’ worth of cuisines had previously called this address home. For decades it was a French restaurant (Le Mouton Noir and then Gervais); more recently it was known for New England-style dishes (East Coast Alice) and Mexican fare (Casa de Cobre).
Pasta Armellino will be open for dinner daily from 5 to 9 p.m., plus lunch on weekends, at 14560 Big Basin Way. Takeout will be available. 408-216-8838; www.pastaarmellino.com.
