Meet Chef John Coletta
Welcome to Carmelina Brands Featured Chef, highlighting top chefs and industry professionals from around the world. We’ll be sharing culinary tips, recipes and anecdotes from featured chefs throughout the year, so check back often!
To kick off this Featured Chef, we’d like to introduce Chef John Coletta, respected Executive Chef and Co-Founder of Quartino Ristorante & Wine Bar in Chicago, and cookbook author of 250 True Italian Pasta Dishes.
For Chef Coletta, becoming a chef was a natural evolution. The son of Italian Immigrants and owners of a neighborhood restaurant, Chef Coletta spent his summers in central and southern Italy, where his interest in Italian gastronomy and culture bloomed.
Like native Italians, Chef Coletta is passionate about preserving the authenticity of regional Italian cuisine – La Vera Cucina Italiana, and sharing Italy’s traditional flavors and cooking techniques with others. This is an ideal we share at Mangia, Inc., mirroring our mission to educate and bring the flavors of Italy to the world. It’s the inspiration behind our authentic, artisan-packed, Carmelina ‘e…San Marzano® Italian tomatoes, and Carmelina Brands® Italian beans.
Chef Coletta’s culinary philosophy is, “Prepare Italian food, with Italian passion.” These words ring true when experiencing a meal at Quartino. Known for its distinctive Italian, small plates menu; Chef Coletta’s artisanal salumi, Neapolitan pizza, house-made pastas, cheese and olive plates, seasonal dishes and wines by the carafe, will instantly transport you to that hillside terrace trattoria you dream of in Italy. Quartino, now preparing for its 10th Anniversary in Chicago, has remained a thriving hot-spot due to Chef Coletta’s tireless focus on preserving artisan tradition, sourcing quality ingredients, and providing authenticity and value to his customers. With that said, it comes as no surprise that Chef Coletta is very particular about using only fresh, wholesome ingredients, like Carmelina Brands, and you can taste this in his dishes.
When it comes to making that perfect red sauce, Chef Coletta prefers to use Carmelina ‘e…San Marzano® Italian Tomatoes. “Carmelina tomatoes are grown and harvested from rich, Italian soil, producing an intensely fragrant, flavorful and authentic Italian experience, and I love that the tomatoes are packed in puree” says Coletta. “This is the ingredient that makes my simple tomato sauce taste extraordinary”
