Where do real deal Italians – including local chefs and restaurateurs — go for pizza, pasta and vino? Angelina’s Pizzeria in Irvine.
“I love Angelina’s Pizzeria,” says restaurateur Bruno Serato, owner of the Anaheim White House. “It’s a great place to feel like I’m at home in Italy.”
That’s because owner Philip “Filippo” Fusco, who grew up in London and D.C. but whose parents are straight from Italy, keeps everything Italian, including all the wines on the list.
He wants only the best and will go to great lengths to get it including hiring Jonah Amodt, former chef of Andrea at The Resort at Pelican Hill. At a recent media dinner, chef and owner were showing off the new spring menu: charred octopus and braised chickpeas in a delectable tomato sauce flavored with marjoram; gnocchi bolognese with creamy burrata; a tender bone-in veal chop topped with apricot mostarda made from sweet, jewel-like fruit. Italian wines from Michele Chiarlo, Planeta Santa Cecilia, Tenute Chiaromonte Kimia and other vintners were expertly paired with each course by sommelier Antonio Bevacqua, a native of Tuscany.
“What’s really special here is all our ingredients,” Fusco said. “Everything we have is imported from Italy from the 00 Caputo flour to our San Marzano tomatoes. Our cheese is pure bufala mozzarella and it’s never frozen. We fly it over on Lufthansa and pick it up here. Our cured meats are imported from Italy and our branzino (European sea bass) and cipollini onions are Italian.”
In 2014, Fusco and his wife Sho acquired Angelina’s Pizzeria Napoletana in Dana Point and then started this restaurant in 2016. He is founder and CEO of PSG Capital Partners and Fortunato Capital Management. She also works in finance, developing business and marketing plans for large corporations. “Dana Point is the original, it’s like a Naples pizzeria it’s only one-third the size of this one,” he said.
Fusco said he kept an eye on this Irvine property for 14 years and as soon as he heard that a retail center was coming he put his name in. “We competed here against a number of larger chains but we were able to show them we were the best.”
He’s still looking to expand: First up a $700,000, 650-foot patio that wraps around the Irvine restaurant, providing 50 additional seats.
“The new patio will be steel with glass blinds and lights and heaters,” Fusco said. “It should be ready on Sept 1. We can host parties out there that we can’t in here because we’re so full.”
Next it’s Bottega Angelina, an Italian market and restaurant coming November to 32441 Golden Lantern, Laguna Niguel, the former Savannah Chophouse.
“It will sell artisanal Italian products: olive oil, cheeses, meats, gelato, pasta, cannoli, pizza, all fresh foods,” he said.
Amodt will be executive chef for all the restaurants. A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Scottsdale, Ariz., he has 14 years experience and his own following. The culinary teams from the Ritz Carlton and Pelican Hill are regulars at Angelina’s.
“That table over there is a bunch of general managers at Pelican Hill,” Amodt said. “They had a team outing and they decided to come here.”
Amodt has settled in and started experimenting. “We have two pizza ovens and the big challenge is to make the desserts and bread, we’ve burned a few focaccia and biscotti,” he says with a sheepish smile.
But his main goal is to cook seasonally with fresh ingredients. “I grew up in Woodinville, Washington, and the seasons are so short there, just a few weeks. But here in California it’s much longer so this will be a lot of fun.”
Fusco said he looks forward to having Amodt on staff just in time for his expansion plans. “What I like about the new chef is that he’s a team player — one of the greatest compliments I can give anyone.”
