Recipe for success

Spring 2024 California Bountiful magazine

cross — Fabrizio Cercatore owned restaurants in his native Italy for 17 years before moving to California. Photo: © 2024 Lori Eanes

Italian-born chef builds culinary brand in California

Story by Barbara Arciero
Photos by Lori Eanes

Culinary entrepreneur Fabrizio Cercatore knows how to build a business. Literally.

When the COVID-19 lockdown disrupted his plans to open a restaurant in Berkeley in 2020, the Italian-trained maestro pizzaiolo, or master pizza chef, took on some of the construction himself.

“I did everything inside the restaurant, from the tile to running the electrical—and then the electrician came and did the connection—to drywall, even the sewer line I dug,” he recalls with a laugh. “It was a fun experience.”

Looking back, he notes the similarity between building a restaurant and making pizza—the latter of which is a passion he’s had since childhood.

“One thing really similar is the recipe,” Cercatore says. “You need to use the recipe to do the perfect concrete to mix. There was a lot of mixing to do concrete or stucco or drywall … like mixing flour and water for pizza.”

The end result of Cercatore’s construction efforts, Passione Emporio on 5th, opened fully in 2021 and today serves an array of authentic Italian food. That includes Cercatore’s signature pizza, pasta and gelato, which he makes in the same building as the 35-seat restaurant. Several of his products, including a pizza crust mix and frozen pizza dough, are sold online or in local markets under the Passione Brands label. Other products, such as his gelato, are marketed to food-service operators.

Cercatore continues to add to his Passione Brands offerings, more recently by importing Bronte pistachios from his native Italy. He also hosts culinary bay cruises and is reopening a takeout version of Hot Italian in Sacramento, a pizza restaurant he’d originally opened in 2009.

It all started with his passion for pizza, he explains. After all, “passione” means passion in Italian.

Barbara Arciero

Gnocchi with spring vegetables: “Gnocchi is a dish that I’m attached to,” Fabrizio Cercatore says, recalling fond childhood memories of rolling and shaping the dough with his mother.

Spring pea and mint crostini: Fabrizio Cercatore, who grew up in northern Italy and whose grandparents were born in Sicily, says this appetizer pays homage to the fertile soil and sun-kissed fields of his homeland.

Roasted garlic and herb asparagus: Asparagus is one of Fabrizio Cercatore’s go-to ingredients for spring. This dish not only showcases culinary finesse but also provides a delicious opportunity for creative expression in plating and presentation.

Grilled swordfish with lemon caper sauce: This was a favorite dish of Fabrizio Cercatore’s grandfather. The combination of succulent swordfish and the zesty notes of the lemon caper sauce beautifully encapsulates the warmth of tradition and Cercatore’s family connections.

Lemon ricotta cannoli: Store-bought cannoli shells make it easy to create this gorgeous Italian dessert, which provides balance to the other items on Fabrizio Cercatore’s spring menu.

Risotto primavera with California spring vegetables: Risotto is a flavorful yet blank canvas upon which to build a seasonal side. Here, spring vegetables are the stars, but in winter, for example, squash or porcini mushrooms are promising substitutions.