Going Green Memphis/Ciao Bella

Ciao Bella Italian Grill and Chef Jonathan Steenerson were written up in the December 12, 2011 issue of Commercial Appeal Going Green. Click here to view the article.

Hungry Memphis: Ciao Bella Gets Flexible

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Ciao Bella Gets Flexible

Posted by Hannah Sayle on Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 8:04 AM

Tuesday night I went to Ciao Bella with our resident vegan blogger, Bianca Phillips, to check out the restaurant’s new options for diet-restricted diners. Chef Jonathan Steenerson wants Memphis to know that his kitchen is a friendly place for vegans and carnivores, carb-lovers and gluten-freebies alike.
Steenerson let us sample a number of vegan items that aren’t on the menu, but are available by request. We were particularly impressed with the grilled vegan mozzarella and tomato salad with balsamic reduction and a vegan coconut lemon sorbet.

We also sampled the vegan cheese-less pizza, made with roasted vegetables and Ciao Bella’s delicious pizza crust. And our gluten-free friends will be happy to hear that a gluten-free pizza crust is in the works.

For more on Ciao Bella’s flexible menu, check out next week’s Food News.

Vegan Crunk: Bluff City Vegan Eats: Ciao Bella

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Bluff City Vegan Eats: Ciao Bella

Italian restaurants are pretty hit or miss for vegans. Usually miss. Many use egg-based, fresh pastas, and that rules out pretty much everything except a bland platter of marinara-topped penne pasta (because penne pasta isn't usually made from fresh egg pasta). But there's one Italian restaurant in Memphis looking to change that stereotype.

Ciao Bella, a dimly-lit romantic restaurant hidden away inside a shopping center in East Memphis, is looking to increase their offerings for people with special diets, namely vegans, vegetarians, and the gluten-free crowd. They generously offered to provide me samples of their new vegan offerings last night, and I was more than impressed.

For starters, we were served Vegan Grilled Mozzarella Over a Fresh Tomato with Balsamic Sauce and a Tomato Broth:

This large hunk of vegan cheese (I'm guessing it was Follow Your Heart) was lightly grilled, so it had a slight hint of char-grilled taste. But somehow Chef Jonathan Steenerson kept the cheese from melting. It was drizzled with a tangy-sweet balsamic reduction. That tomato under the cheese came from a Woodson Ridge Farms, a local farm where Ciao Bella sources most of its vegetables. The chef told us all the vegetables we were served were hand-picked that very morning!

The next course was Spinach Fettucine with Roasted Almond & Chickpea Pesto in an Acorn Squash:

Wow! I'd never in a million years think to serve pasta in a squash, but what a good idea! With each bite of pasta, we scooped up a little squash flesh. The pesto was delectable. I'm so impressed that an Italian restaurant that serves meat would create a vegan pesto. Chef Steenerson really knows what he's doing with vegan food.

Next we were served Broiled Tofu with Brussels Sprout Puree and Purple Carrots:

Now, let me say this. I love tofu, and there's nothing I appreciate more than a chef who knows that the simple, clean flavors of fresh tofu deserve to shine. This tofu was done just right. It wasn't marinated, as far as I can tell. It was simply broiled to perfection, and the texture was spot on. With each bite of tofu, I scooped up a little of the uber-flavorful Brussels puree. Oh, and the purple carrots?! Magnificent.

By this point, we were stuffed. But there was yet another entree course — Vegan Pizza with Pine Nuts, Onion, Tomato, and Garlic with Olive Oil and a Balsamic Reduction:

This is the kind of pizza that needs no fake cheese. Y'all know I love the vegan cheese, but this pizza was better without it. The crust was light, airy, and somewhat reminiscent of puff pastry, and the basic toppings really stayed true to the light crust. Lucky for me, I still have some leftover since we were too stuffed to eat the whole pie.

Though we barely had room for dessert, we quickly devoured all of our Limoncello Sorbet:

Unlike most lemon sorbets I've tried, this one had a coconut base so it was thick and creamy like a dairy-based gelato. But the crisp lemon flavors stood out. I wanted about five more bowls of this. Ciao Bella is fortunately located next to Memphis' most popular local yogurt joint, Yolo. So they use Yolo's equipment to make their signature sorbets and gelatos.

Y'all know I tend to stick to comfort fare when dining out, but this food just might convert me into a gourmand. I'm always blown away when a non-vegan chef knows how to prepare stellar vegan food.

If you're planning a romantic vegan date or family dinner, Ciao Bella is definitely the most vegan-friendly Italian option in town. Chef Steenerson said he can create most of these dishes on any night. They're not on the menu yet, but if you tell your server you're vegan, he'll whip up something special. If you have a chance to call ahead, that might help too. For my gluten-free friends: Chef Steenerson said his first shipment of gluten-free pasta arrives today, so he can accommodate you too!

Ciao Bella is located at 565 Erin Drive. Call 901-205-2500.

For original link, click here. 

 

1/2 Price Pizza Mondays

Come by Ciao Bella on Mondays between 5-7PM for 1/2 price 12in and 14in pizzas. *Available for dine in only.

4Memphis Magazine Recipe: Phyllo Pizza with Smoked Mozzarella and Cherry Tomatoes

Pick up 4Memphis Magazine's December issue or go online to see this recipe.

4Memphis Magazine Recipe: Ciao Bella's Avgolemono Soup

Check us out our recipe for Avgolemono Soup in the November issue of 4Memphis Magazine. This is a hot seller at the restaurant and now you can make it yourself.

New Winter Menu

Ciao Bella is pleased to announce the launch of our winter menu tonight! Come in and try our new dishes including a blue cheese wedge, makaronikopita, Toasted Almond and Horseradish-Crusted Trout, Osso Buco and many others!!

Our wait staff tested the new menu items this weekend, so if you have any questions about the new menu items - please ask one of them!

Also, don't forget that we have 1/2 price pizzas 5-7pm dine in on Monday nights and 1/2 price bar menu in the bar 4-7pm Sunday - Thursdays!!

Norococo: Tasted - Ciao Bella

Thursday, October 27, 2011

by Norococo
Tasted - Ciao Bella

I have a theory. If it takes the chef over 30 seconds and several breaths to describe his carefully prepared dish, it’s probably going to be incredible. In fact, it might even cause a culinary explosion in every single one of your taste buds. One of my favorite dishes of the evening that sparked this theory indeed had the longest description, so lengthy I had to hear it twice and slowly to get it all down. Here’s the complete description given to me and Christopher by Chef Branon Mason: Chilled orzo pasta salad tossed with the house dressing, baby greens, red onions, roma tomatoes, black olives, feta cheese, and baby heirloom tomatoes. (Explosions definitely erupted.)

To say our meal at Ciao Bella is one of the best we can remember is not an exaggeration. I also say this not because our fine dining experiences have dramatically decreased due to financial problems (that’s a whole other story), but let’s just say I’m officially tired of eating Taco Bell Nacho Supremes when I go out. Inventive dishes using all fresh ingredients, I would never grow tired of eating. Chef Branon, admittedly young in the business but studying under executive chef Jonathan Steenerson, proved there’s nothing more valuable to the restaurant’s vitality than communicating his talent and love of food through his dishes. Hopefully, I was able to translate this as well through the photographs as you may notice subtle but thought out details such as the bowl lined with basil pesto in the duck confit & gnocchi dish. As a special, the protein paired with the gnocchi may also be prepared with Kobe beef depending on what night you dine. Other ingredients in this dish include roasted portabella mushrooms, goat cheese, and pine nuts in a veal reduction demiglaze.

The other special to the menu as beautifully presented to us were the pan-seared diver scallops with pomegranate reduction, toasted almonds, and mandarin oranges. Oh so perfectly cooked and dressed, scallops immediately jumped from my list of least favorite seafood to the top of my food list that I would wrestle Christopher over to get the last bite.

Lastly, we ended the somewhat epic meal with none other than my all time favorite dessert – tiramisu. Tiramisu, in general, is my perfect dessert – light, creamy, a bit of chocolate, a bit of vanilla, and a bit of coffee. Ciao Bella’s version had the perfect combination of all these things and the perfect balance of sweetness. Good thing Christopher knew to stay clear of my path to this plate. I would’ve pulled out my best wrestling moves to get the last bite of this tiramisu.

Thanks so much Ciao Bella for the great meal. Special thanks to Kristen Waddell and Chef Branon and our server Mary.

Ciao Bella Italian Grill
565 Erin Drive
Memphis, TN 38117
Ph +1.901.205.2500

Web / Twitter

For Great Italian, Say Ciao Bella

October 4, 2011 4:06 pm

by Kerry Crawford

ilovememphisblog.com

There’s a good reason that Memphians have loved Ciao Bella for the last 10 years. The casual East Memphis restaurant serves great Italian food. They also are great at curing extreme pasta cravings (like the one I had a few nights ago).
We started with one of Ciao Bella’s appetizer specials – seared scallops with blood oranges.




Both scallops and blood oranges are on my shortlist of favorite foods, and these were excellent. They came dressed with a tangy, fruity sauce that complimented both. I’m pretty sure this isn’t on the regular menu, but it should be.

Speaking of the regular menu, it’s pretty impressive. There are pizzas, pastas, Italian-inspired entrees and plenty of seafood. I couldn’t decide between the pasta and seafood, so I went with the lobster ravioli ($18).



The orange and white striped pasta was much spicier than I thought it would be. I think part of the spice came from the roasted red pepper cream sauce, but the pasta definitely had some flavor on its own.The raviolis were stuffed with chunks of lobster. It wasn’t some lobster mash, either – there were big, visble hunks of meat.

Atmospherically, Ciao Bella is cozy and intimate in a way that makes you forget that you’re in a strip mall. The lights are dim, and when I was there for week day dinner, there were plenty of couples on dates. It’s casual enough for a regular dinner but special enough for an important dinner.
The restaurant is a also larger than it seems from the outside. There’s plenty of seating in the dining room, bar and on the twinkle-lit patio.

Ciao Bella is open Monday – Thursday from 5 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. and from 5 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. They’ve got a full bar and wine list, and they take cash and credit cards.

Go there:

Ciao Bella

565 Erin Dr

Memphis, Tennessee 38117

(901) 205-2500

Ciao Bella cooks for Good Morning Memphis

For those of you who missed Good Morning Memphis today, our own Executive Chef Jonathan Steenerson joined the team in promoting our upcoming event to celebrate the life of fallen Memphis Police Department officer Timothy Warren. Jonathan also served Ciao Bella diver scallops with butternut squash puree with pancetta and toasted almonds. Check it out!!

Fallen Officer Benefit at Ciao Bella | My Fox Memphis | Fox 13 News

Ciao Bella 10th Anniversary Celebration

Eating Local, Eating Green: Possibilities abound for preparing eggplant

By Melissa Petersen

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Commercial Appeal

My first gardening recollection is of eggplant. Dad decided to grow some when I was about 7. Who knew that a family of four shouldn't plant the whole six-pack of seedlings? Dad refers to it as the "bumper-crop eggplant year." I refer to it as the year neighbors shunned us when we arrived with bags of fresh eggplant to share.
Back then, I still ate breaded frozen fish sticks, so I can't claim my palate was well developed enough to enjoy the soft but meaty texture of the super-abundant summer vegetable.
Like tomatoes and potatoes, eggplant is a member of the nightshade family and comes in a gorgeous selection of purple, white and green. As Americans, we have some ground to make up to incorporate eggplant into our culinary repertoire. Italy, Turkey and Greece all claim to have more than 100 ways to cook eggplant. Right now, I've got five -- but I'm working on it.
The local bumper crop is in full swing. Look for glossy and unblemished skin and fruit that feels heavy and firm. The raw texture is spongy. Large or old eggplant will have a seedy texture. I prefer them a little smaller, with almost no seeds. Cooking -- grilling, baking, frying and sautéing are your best bets -- makes the texture almost creamy. Some folks heavily salt, rinse and squeeze dry the eggplant before cooking to draw out bitterness and deflate the air pockets (keeps it from absorbing too much oil).
However, with really fresh eggplant, I've had great success without any salting.
Eggplant is a star on local restaurant menus including Mayuri on Quince. The Cove puts it on their Italian veggie pizza, and you'll find variations on the classic Eggplant Parmesan at restaurants like Grill 83 and Ciao Bella. If you're lucky enough to see the eggplant-fig ravioli on the menu at the Brushmark, trust me, that's your pick for lunch.
The bland flavor works as a canvas for the robust flavors of summer. Herbs, tomatoes, garlic and lemon are the eggplant's friends. Use strips of eggplant in place of lasagna noodles to hold up the sauce and cheesy goodness. Brush with olive oil and grill. Or cut in half and bake cut-side down until soft; then puree with garlic, tahini, lemon juice and olive oil to make the classic Baba Ghanouj to use as a dip or spread.
With something this plentiful, it's use it or lose it. Start with one or two. Don't worry.: Dad won't be leaving extras from his garden on your doorstep (he lives in California and has never grown eggplant since that one fateful year).



Melissa Petersen is the editor of Edible Memphis, a magazine that celebrates the abundance of local food, season by season. It is available at various locations around town. Contact her at ediblememphis.com. 


Farmer Van's Eggplant Parmesan
2 medium eggplant, sliced 1/2 inch thick
Mayonnaise
1/3 - 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
1-2 cups marinara sauce
Brush both sides of the eggplant slices with mayonnaise and place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Top with grated parmesan cheese and bake at 350 degrees until tender, about 10 minutes. Serve with some warmed marinara sauce.
-- Recipe by Van Cheeseman 

Eggplant Salad
2 medium eggplants, cut into 1-inch slices (skin on or peeled)
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tbsp. honey
Juice from 2 lemons
¼ cup olive oil
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
3 cups fresh arugula
½ cup feta cheese
1-2 tbsp. fresh mint, finely chopped
Brush eggplant slices with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook on a hot grill for 2-3 minutes until golden and grill-marked. Turn slices over and grill second side until golden, grill marked and fork-tender. Remove from grill and cool. Cut into 1-inch cubes.
To make vinaigrette: In a small bowl, whisk honey and lemon juice. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
In a large bowl, mix grilled eggplant, tomatoes, arugula and cheese. Stir in vinaigrette. Garnish with finely chopped mint. Serve immediately.
-- Recipe by Melissa Petersen