FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Italian wisdom peppers Buca's cookbook

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

Buca di Beppo, the restaurant chain featuring "immigrant Italian dinners," opened at the Ward Entertainment Centre in Honolulu a year ago and its combination of quirky decor, plentiful plates and potent flavors hit with price-conscious pizza- and spaghetti-loving residents.

The latest news is Buca's new book, "Into the Sauce: From Our Cucina to Your Kitchen" ($24.95, at the restaurant or from bucadibeppo.com), a joint project of the chain's founders, Joseph P. Micatrotto and Phil Roberts, and corporate chef Vittorio Renda, an immigrant from Calabria.

Micatrotto first offers a little history: Roberts, who isn't Italian but created much of the shtick that is Buca di Beppo ("Joe's Basement"), first opened an Italian spot in Minneapolis. Later he partnered with Micatrotto, who had grown up helping out in his grandfather's basement catering operation in Cleveland's Little Italy, to create the chain. Micatrotto's love for his grandfather, Joe, and the older man's advice on cooking and on life, leaven the book with warmth and wisdom.

Renda's is the hand behind the recipes. Note the charmingly idiosyncratic wording — "brazier" for sauté pan, for instance. The recipes are from Renda's family and Micatrotto's, and some are from the restaurant (although you won't find all your menu favorites here).

The book is an interesting but odd mix, ranging from quick, easy recipes (Green Beans with Lemon and Fried Prosciutto) to confections so multilayered and complex I wouldn't try them without a pastry chef at my side (Crespelle della Festa, filled holiday crépes).

The instructions go from dangerously breezy to highly detailed. Some recipes call for ingredients that are puzzling or difficult to get (ricotta salata — a dried pressed, firm-textured form of ricotta I've never seen here, for example). Shortcuts are employed in some places — instant polenta, for example — while other recipes are pretty involved (stewed tripe, pizza from scratch).

Given all this, the book has something for almost every level of cooking experience, but I suspect it will speak most eloquently to those with a southern Italian background (ethnically or in culinary experience).