Wine Bar Food: Mediterranean Flavors to Crave with Wines to Match by Cathy Mantuano, Tony Mantuano, Jeff Kauck (Photographer)

From the Publisher

After the workday, in places like Seville, Milan, Barcelona, and other cities that dot the Mediterranean, people gravitate to wine bars to relax, meet friends, savor small dishes of flavorful food, and, of course, enjoy the local wines that perfectly complement the moment.

In Wine Bar Food, acclaimed restaurateurs Cathy and Tony Mantuano show you how to re-create this irresistibly appealing part of the Mediterranean lifestyle at home. Organized by city, from Lisbon to Rome, and paired with accessible wines from each region, the delightfully unpretentious, simply prepared dishes can be shared as small plates by many or make a sit-down dinner for two or more. The 100 recipes emphasize flavor and ease of preparation over strict authenticity, so you’ll be able to round up the ingredients effortlessly to create delicious meals any night of the week, including:

Flaming Ouzo Shrimp (from Athens)
Pork Ribs with Garlic, Chilies, and Tomato (from Naples)
Pea, Bacon, and Pecorino Salad (from Nice)
Amaretto Polenta Pound Cake (from Venice)

Rich with great advice on affordable wine gems and recipes for some killer wine cocktails, Wine Bar Food has everything you need to make weeknight dinners and gatherings with friends simple, fun, and flavorful affairs.

Publishers Weekly

Husband-and-wife team Cathy and Tony Mantuano (chef-partners of the Spiaggia in Chicago, and authors of The Spiaggia Cookbook) share their delightful versions of wine bar recipes from across the Mediterranean. Each chapter focuses on a specific city (Rome, Seville, Nice and Lisbon, to name a few) and includes fun, fresh cocktails as well as simple yet delectable small plates and regional wine suggestions. The authors encourage mixing and matching recipes from different cities, explaining "the point is to bring a little bit of the wine bar lifestyle-good food, good wine and simple technique-into your home." The couple includes background information on each dish, giving the reader a distinct sense of each recipe, all written with clear and thorough instructions. From Venice there is Whipped Baccalà with Polenta Crostini, and Black Pasta with Scungilli. Cocktail recipes include Limoncello Martinis from Naples and Mediterranean Lemonade made with ouzo, anise-flavored liqueur from Athens. Unique dessert recipes round out the assortment of options such as Mascarpone-Filled Dates with Chocolate and Lavender Ice Cream Sandwiches. With excellent sections on cured meats, imported cheeses and specialty pantry items, this is a wonderful book for food and wine lovers alike. (Apr.)

Susan Hurst - Library Journal

The Mantuanos, husband and wife restaurateurs, collaborated on this work focusing on regional foods and wines from the Mediterranean, which is organized around ten iconic cities (Venice, Milan, Florence, Rome, Naples, Seville, Barcelona, Nice, Lisbon, and Athens) and offers approximately ten recipes for each. The recipes range from snacks/tapas to more substantial entréelike preparations, as well as desserts, and recipes for wine cocktails for each area. At the end of each section is a two-page entry on the wines of the region, including descriptions of major wine types and names of well-known local producers. No specific wine pairings are provided with the recipes, however, which would have made the book more useful and interesting. Interspersed between the city chapters are also short sections on artisanal cured meats, prepared pantry items from the areas, and cheeses. A resource guide for hard-to-find items is included at the end. Overall, the focus seems to be more on food than wine. Nicely illustrated; purchase where there is interest.

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