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Cheesy Goodness
A.D. Amorosi meets up with chef Kristian Leuzzi and cheesemonger Emilio Mignucci in advance of their collaborative dinner tonight at Bella Vista's Kris.
Cheesy Goodness
Last week, we gave you the details and menu for tonight's Cheese of the Moment dinner at Kris. Here, A.D. Amorosi talks with the men behind the meal to give you a closer look.
When Kris (1100 Federal St.) said it was reuniting owner/chef Kristian Leuzzi with DiBruno Brothers’ Emilio Mignucci for a dinner celebrating ripe cheeses, I had to think for a moment what that meant. Was it a neighborhood thing, what with both men fully ensconced in the business of the Italian Market forever? No. These guys have known each other since they were tots, as well as having grown up together on the line at DiLullo Centro as teenagers from 1989 into the early 1990s.
“Emilio was an experienced star at Centro when I arrived,” says Leuzzi, who reminded me that Emilio worked across the aisle from him in the vast kitchen. “I was the new kid, and Emilio was running the pasta station. Mignucci often asked me to come over and help out when things got crazy busy. He taught me a lot.” The pair bonded over furiously busy Saturday nights at the Center City pasta palace, and there were plenty of good times to be had after work at Locust Rendezvous and Copa Too. “The crew worked really hard and always went out to blow off steam together,” says Leuzzi.
Mignucci even played ball with Kristian's brother, Sonny, starting in first grade. “I knew the whole family,” says Mignucci. “Kristian’s a little younger than me.” That’s why Mignucci called the teenaged Leuzzi "the young buck" or "rookie on the set" when he apprenticed at DiLullo’s. “He got all of the worst duties, which, as you can imagine, is the way we all came up. But he showed his mettle and quickly worked his way up the ranks and became my partner at the pasta station before I moved on to take over my family business. Working at DiLullo's was probably the greatest experience in my culinary life. Cooking there was a real treat.”
That’s why this Cheese of the Moment dinner is so special to each man. Today, Leuzzi buys from DiBruno’s. (“I’ve been sourcing cheese, olives and meats from DiBruno Brothers my entire life. I love the Ninth Street store’s old-world charm”). Mignucci eats at Kris now with its casual feel and hung there often when it was the white linen-driven Kristian’s. The idea of their dinner together started one day when Leuzzi was in Emilio’s shop around the corner, talking about new product, rapping about the new vision of casual Italian dining that each man calls a goal. “We like the idea of promoting that casual vision, had some great pairing ideas and wanted to do dinner,” says Mignucci. “Actually, it is his creative ideas that got me really excited.”
For Leuzzi’s part, he wanted to craft dishes that integrate DiBruno’s most exceptional ripe cheeses with the ingredients he selected, creating balanced plates containing multiple layers of flavor that blend seamlessly together. “I wanted cheeses that were unique and offered complexity,” says Leuzzi. “I want to teach my guests that there’s more out there than what they usually purchase at their cheese shop.”
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