What do you get when you combine three of our most favorite things: cheese, pasta and pepper with a well-staged production? Cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper) is the traditional Italian dish you need to experience at Cotoletta! Tucked neatly within the Belmont Hills area of Philadelphia, Cotoletta is a charming BYOB that has been introducing guests to this quintessential pasta dish with a performative twist for the past two years.
Owner/Chef Beth Amadio says that her dinner guests “enjoy seeing a little ritual with a meal.” Often, die hard food lovers are interested in the process of creation of great dishes. But, at Cotoletta, even casual diners can get excited while having a front-row seat to the Roman process of mixing pasta within a gigantic cheese wheel.
Chef Amadio
Similar to the tableside theatrics of deboning fresh fish, or tossing a crisp Caesar salad, or lighting banana foster ablaze, observing the orchestration of cacio e pepe up close gives that over the top wow-factor. Here’s how it’s done at Cotoletta:
Step 1: Prepare the Cheese Wheel Bowl
It all begins with an 80-pound wheel of imported aged Pecorino. Chef Amadio uses a large fork to prepare the “cheese wheel bowl” to accept the pasta by scraping and loosening tiny chunks of cheese for each serving.
Step 2: Cook the Spaghetti
Spaghetti is prepared al dente and then prepped in a bit of starchy water (to provide clingability) and a little shaved parmesan is added.
Step 3: Light Some Booze on Fire
Before the pasta is poured into the cheese wheel bowl, the chef lights half a cup of bourbon aflame and pours that in first, to give the cheese a gooey meltiness. Once the alcohol has burned off, the cheese bowl is ready for the hot pasta.
Step 4: Add the Pasta
After the pasta is poured in, it hangs out for a few seconds before being swirled around with tongs for about a minute to coat it with the Pecorino.
Step 5: Swirl
Is it possible to be hypnotized by food? Watching chef Amadio expertly twirl the noodles in the cheese bowl — the heat of the hot pasta melting the firm, salty cheese — is completely mesmerizing.
Step 6: Plate
Plated in a white bowl, the pasta is ready for a hefty dose of freshly ground pepper, added tableside. Cacio e pepe comes in appetizer- and entree-sized portions.
Since Cotoletta is a BYOB, we recommend toting along a bottle or two of crisp, dry white wine, such as Verdicchio, or a light chardonnay, to cut the richness of the cheese. If you favor red wine, an Italian Barbera d’Asti or a light merlot would also work well.
Chef Beth recommends adding one of her house-made desserts afterwards because “cannoli and tiramisu go with everything!”
Cotoletta is located at 201 Jefferson St., Bala Cynwyd; phone: (610) 660-5224.
- Photos: Ed Williams
