Chef Tony Mantuano
brings his authentic Italian know-how to Florida, with a restaurant in Disney Springs and a demo at Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival next week.
For many years, Tony Mantuano thought of Italian cooking as grandma’s cooking.
Now a James Beard Foundation award-winning chef, Mantuano has spent his life showcasing dishes from kitchens throughout Italy. Many of those are on the menu at his Spiaggia, the only fourstar Italian restaurant in Chicago.
“Just because you had one dish the grandma cooked you, there’s so much more,” Mantuano said.
Mantuano is bringing that perspective to the Orlando area with his nowbeing-renovated restaurant Terralina Crafted Italian in Disney Springs and a Nov. 1 culinary demonstration at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival.
Sundays and holidays found a young Mantuano watching his grandmother prepare the family meal. He remembers the aroma of olive oil, tomatoes and garlic wafting through the house and being fascinated as pasta dried on her bed.
Terralina will be reminiscent of those meals with the addition of a few shareable main plates.
“That adds to that conviviality of sharing at the table,” Mantuano said.
Terralina also will serve Italian cuisine cooked in Chef Tony’s signature olive oil, imported directly from Italy. A wood-burning oven will supply artisanal, handtossed pizzas and fresh vegetable dishes.
The restaurant, scheduled to open this winter in the space formerly occupied by Portobello Country Italian Trattoria, is inspired by the Lakes region of Italy, a popular vacation spot.
There also will be an indoor-outdoor bar and herb garden. “All of the stuff that makes you feel like you’re in someone’s home,” Mantuano said.
Restaurant operator Levy Restaurants is behind Terralina as well. Thanks to his now-wife, Cathy, Mantuano met company founder Larry Levy about 35 years ago. Mantuano cooked for him several times before Levy brought him on to helm Spiaggia.
The Mantuanos were sent by Levy to Italy to work in several restaurants.
“At the time, I got excited that he wasn’t looking for another Italian-American restaurant,” Mantuano said. “He wanted something really different and authentic.”
In Italy, Mantuano noted that simple cooking was true throughout the country.
“The ingredients change, but it’s about few ingredients and great ingredients,” Mantuano said. “That is something that I don’t think there’s any substitution for.”
Simple ingredients can be difficult to use, Mantuano said. Cooks need to know how to use them and when to add them.
One of the most underrated dishes — and the one new cooks tend to flub — is risotto, Mantuano said.
At his Epcot demo Wednesday, Mantuano will give some tips as he makes risotto. Tickets for the 2:30 p.m. seminar are on sale at disneyworld.com. Themepark admission is required.
“The art of making a risotto is pretty incredible,” he said. “It should be light and something you enjoy.”