Chef Deborah VanTrece is set to open Italian restaurant La Panarda next month in Cascade Heights.
The eatery, slated to open on May 12, will be located at 2317 Cascade Road SW, taking over the space previously occupied by VanTrece’s Latin Soul food concept Serenidad, which closed earlier this year after less than six months. In an interview at the time with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, VanTrece blamed the closure in part on the imminent opening of two similar concepts in the neighborhood.
VanTrece also owns Oreatha’s at the Point in Cascade Heights, as well as Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours on the Westside.
La Panarda will “focus on traditional Italian dishes while incorporating local and seasonal ingredients, with creative culinary twists,” according to a press release.
VanTrece, who was named a James Beard Award semifinalist for the first time earlier this year, drew from her time living in Italy while developing the menu. La Panarda’s seafood dishes will come from her time spent in the coastal city of Pescara, while other dishes will use Tuscan influences from the central Italian city of Siena.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
Named for an Italian culinary tradition influenced by a folklore story involving a mother who throws a feast to celebrate rescuing her baby from the mouth of a wolf, La Pandara will offer a complimentary stuzzichini (bruschetta of the day) and aperol spritz before each meal.
Small plates will include oyster arancini with pink peppercorn remoulade; marinated seafood salad with cornbread biscotti; and fried green tomato Parmesan with lemon ricotta.
Pastas and main dishes include osso bucco lamb shank with creamy polenta, wild mushroom and spring pea compote, and citrus mint gremolata; pappardelle pasta ribbons with an Angus beef short rib ragu; and escarole, collards and cannellini fregola. The menu will also feature a flatbread pizza of the day and a seven-course prix fixe option.
On the sweet side, look for dishes like Panettone bread pudding with vanilla bean whipped cream, and sabayon sauce and a gelato of the day.
VanTrece will serve as the restaurant’s executive chef, with her wife, Lorraine Lane, curating the wine list and her daughter, Kursten Berry, developing the cocktail list. Berry is also set to open her own cocktail-focused concept, Dulcet, in the Cascade Heights neighborhood, in the coming months.
La Panarda’s opening hours will be 5-10 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays.
A representative for VanTrece did not immediately respond to the AJC’s request for more information.
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