La Dolce Vita shouldn't be a well kept secret. For more then a
few years now, it has been at its location south of Deland on busy U.S.
17-92. And it was in a mall only a few blocks further south for 11
years before that--giving owner John (Giovanni) Bordanga a long
history of his creative Italian cuisine.
Probably the reason that not everyone seems to know about La
Dolce Vita--a place that lives up to its name--is that its regulars want
to keep it a secret. But the real secrets are in Bordenga's
culinary skills, particularly for serving imported pasta al dente and
his recipe for the yeasty Italian-bread rolls served with dinners and
pizza.
Then there are the sauces for Chicken Giovanni and Veal Giovanni,
the basis for his masterpieces.
"I made them up myself," said Bordenga, a native of
Sicily who grew up in the New York-New
Jersey area. "I experimented with the ingredients until I got
it just right. |
But
I also vary them. I make everything to order, because some people
don't like garlic or salt in their sauce. We make it any way they
want it."
That's true too of La Dolce Vita's extensive seafood selection,
from calamari with red sauce, served over linguine to seafood Capri,
which Bordenga describes as "a gourmet's delight." its
blend of scallops, crab, shrimp and lobster is served over linguine with
another creative Giovanni sauce.
He makes them by drawing on his lifetime in Italian dining rooms
and kitchens--including his mother's, as he was growing up.
"I worked in restaurants all my life," said
Bordanga. "And I learned from the combination of different
places where I worked. The bread, for example--we make it in the
kitchen. It's regular Italian bread, and at home we usually
braided it. Here, we make it in many different shapes; it always
tastes good."
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