Giada De Laurentiis Wants To Create The Chipotle Of Pasta Joints
Giada De Laurentiis is one busy chef. She's got a new cookbook coming out in spring inspired by her grandfather's Italian hometown, two new restaurants opening next year in Las Vegas and Baltimore, and a successful Food Network show to keep up with.
On top of all that, she'll be in New York next week for the NYC Food and Wine Festival, and while she's there, she's hosting a pop-up dinner at Chefs Club Counter. Besides being a chance for lucky fans to eat some of her recipes, it's serving as a test-run for a potential fast-casual pasta joint, POPSUGAR reports.
De Laurentiis told the website she's been wanting to do fast-casual for a long time. "I've learned from having a restaurant in Vegas that people love pasta, and they love pasta at all different price points, to be honest," the chef said.
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The October 15 pop-up dinner will include two pasta dishes – rigatoni with pork ragu and fusilli pasta with jumbo shrimp – as well as salad, Sant Ambroeus gelato, Whispering Angel rosé and Illy coffee (both brands are sponsors of the event). Tickets went on sale to Giadzy subscribers October 4, and to the general public today. Unsurprisingly, they're already sold out.
At the event, De Laurentiis hopes to get feedback from fans and see if the concept would be as popular as she thinks. If it does come to fruition, we hope to see some of the pasta dishes she's posted on Instagram, from her spicy ravioli to rigatoni with greens.
