Something new is cooking at Limoncello Fresh Italian Kitchen (limoncellolv.com), where Top Chef alum Carla Pellegrino has taken the reins as the restaurant’s new chef and partner.
Congratulations on joining the Limoncello family. How did your partnership with owners Giuseppe and Jenny Bavarese come about? I have known Giuseppe Bavarese for nearly 11 years, and we’ve always spoken about collaborating together. Last October, Giuseppe asked me if I would be interested in opening a restaurant in Los Angeles. A few phone calls later, he asked me about the possibility of returning to Las Vegas and invited me to spend the weekend with him and his wife, Jenny Bavarese, to discuss Limoncello. It felt right to join Giuseppe and Jenny on their venture, and I am happy I did.
What excites you most about your new role with Limoncello? I am very excited to be back in the restaurant industry in Las Vegas, which has always felt like home to me. I couldn’t be happier to be back in the kitchen where I can cook and create bonds with my staff. I did not realize how much I missed it. To be able to do what I love beside my good friend Giuseppe makes for such a fun work environment!
While Limoncello has been around since 2019, what updates will you make to the menu? I first focused on making adjustments to daily preparation and giving my personal touch to what was already a great menu. Italian food is classic, and Limoncello has a great collection of signature, traditional Italian dishes, including a great variety of steaks and seafood. To that, we’ve added some classic dishes known by my followers, such as pork chops in a sweet and hot cherry pepper sauce and, of course, my meatballs with fresh pasta and delicious porcini mushroom sauce.
If you were ordering off the Limoncello menu, what would you get? I love whole fish, and you can’t go wrong with a whole, fresh-broiled branzino.
What do you love most about Las Vegas’ culinary scene? That it is a melting pot! The variety of choices people have in this city is just incredible, not to mention the amount of amazing Asian restaurants available on and off the Strip. Las Vegas has become one of the biggest culinary capitals in the country.
Who inspires you? I’m inspired by Jacques Pépin. Massimo Bottura inspires me too. I think he is pretty amazing.
Photography by: PHOTO COURTESY OF LIMONCELLO FRESH ITALIAN KITCHEN
