FARMINGDALE, NY — Long Island’s reigning two-time chef of the year, Eric LeVine, will be joined by chefs Alessandra Aiello and Luisa Ferro, both of whom come from Capri, Italy, for a mozzarella and limoncello-making event at Vico.
The event is slated for 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the restaurant, at 313 Main St., Farmingdale. Tickets can be purchased here for $55 per person.
LeVine, Aiello and Ferro will teach patrons the art of making mozzarella and limoncello and serve up a two-course tasting.
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The appetizer features a limoncello spritz, Caprese salad and caciotta with honey and toasted almonds. The dinner will be ravioli Caprese, shrimp oreganata served up lemon leaf, and lemon torta Caprese.
The trio of talented chefs will also host a live Q&A.
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Aiello hosts the cooking channel “Alessandra’s Food Is Love,” where she has nearly 28K subscribers on YouTube and more than 11K Instagram followers.
Vico is an Italian restaurant directly inspired by the cuisine of the Amalfi Coast of Vico Equense, the region of Italy where owners Joe and Perry Fortuna have family.
LeVine said when Aiello and Ferro came over previously and the three spent time together, he had an “a-ha” moment.
“As a chef, as a cook, you see Italian food from a certain perspective,” LeVine told Patch. “Every region has its own vibe, its own thing. I’ve learned so much from the two of them in just little things that make the experience of that region of Italy. So now I can never go to an Italian restaurant and be like, ‘Oh, this is great,’ because what we’re doing at Vico is authentic to Joe and Perry’s family in Vico Equense.”
LeVine said he’s been cooking for 43 years — August will mark 44 — and that he loves learning from other people.
“When it’s that authentic, you can’t read that in a book,” he said. “You’ve got to feel that. Luisa, we’re making pasta; until I met her, I’d never made pasta dough with boiling water. It completely changed my approach to raviolis. I’ll never make a ravioli without it now. It’s just that much better.”
LeVine said he recently learned of a part of his Hungarian heritage he did not know existed and that he’s begun exploring it.
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“I’m still learning. I’m still growing. I want us to be better,” he said. “I want us to evolve into what’s next for us. Here at 317, at Vico, whatever we do together or whatever I do in general, I always want to constantly evolve. Once you stop evolving, I’ll hang up the apron. Once you stop creating, I’ll hang up the apron. Once it stops being fun, I’ll hang it up. I don’t know what I would do. This is my life. This is what I love doing. I’d rather be in the restaurants every day other than when I’m spending time with my girlfriend. It’s the greatest experience ever. It’s awesome.”
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