Chef Dean Zanella

What's New in June - Chef

Chef Dean Zanella

Growing up in an Italian family, Executive Chef Dean Zanella had no choice but to be immersed in Italian cuisine, what with his father and grandfather fighting over who grows the better tomato, his uncle blessing the rabbits they raised before his mother served them for supper, and the never-ending search for the perfect bakery. As early as fourteen, Zanella was growing vegetables on the family property and kneading dough for pizzas and pasta in a neighborhood Italian restaurant.

After his culinary education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Zanella worked with Peter Merriman at his restaurant on the island of Hawaii. Zanella brought Merriman's influence, plus his commitment to natural flavors and local produce, to his later work at some great restaurants, including Charlie Trotter's and Gordon.
 
In 1994, as executive chef at Grappa, Zanella opened what Chicago Magazine dubbed one of the "Best New Restaurants" in the city.

Today, Zanella's Italian menus at 312 Chicago intertwines treasured family recipes, fresh contemporary presentations and years of experience. With the gifted chefs he's learned from and the natural talent he possesses, Chef Zanella will continue to impress as well as succeed in getting people to not only eat to live, but live to eat.

Chef Zanella's Italian menus intertwine treasured family recipes, fresh contemporary presentations and years of experience.  Chef Zanella continues to impress as well as succeed in getting people to not only eat to live, but live to eat. 

Chef Zanella is one of Chicago's premier Chef's today and Barilla was able to capture some of Chef Zanella's vast knowledge and experiences as they relate to pasta.

Q: What pasta cut do you prefer cooking with?
A: All except angel hair. I really like bucatini because it is hearty and has wonderful texture.

Q: Pasta is such a flexible food medium.  What do you think is the best thing about cooking with pasta?
A: It has to be that it is so versatile. If I am in the mood for meat, fish or vegetables I can pair any of these with pasta and have an amazing meal. Even if there is nothing in the house I always have some olive oil, pasta and cheese and can still have a great meal.

Q: Of all the pasta dishes you cook, which one do think people enjoy the most? 
A: That’s a hard one. I just think people like all our pastas because they can tell we put pride and time into these dishes and do not just pour a sauce over a bowl of overcooked noodles.

Q: What is your all-time favorite pasta dish?
A: Probably the rigatoni with veal meatballs that we make at 312 Chicago because it reminds me of a my grandmother’s food, she will always be the best cook I ever met.

Q:What do you think it is about pasta that makes people like it so much?
A: The comfort and familiarity level they have with pasta. Everyone has had a number of dishes with pasta that they liked and can remember.

Q: What do you think are the qualities of a good brand of pasta?
A: One that does not break up during cooking and hold the pasta’s true texture and flavors after it has been cooked.

Q: What’s your “pasta philosophy”?
A: Do not just make a sauce and through some pasta into it. Think the dish through so that you get a good pairing of the pasta and the other ingredients in the dish. The dish should be harmonious.

Q: Imagine you've been banished to a deserted island and can only bring one kind of pasta.  Which cut would you take with you and why? 
A: Bucatini, it can go with the shrimp and clams I catch or the wild boar I trap – remember it is an island!!!