Il Fornaio more than little taste of Italy

Stepping Out

From the impanada di pesce (salmon turnover) from isolated Sardenia to the agnolotti con agnello (ravioli filed with lamb and pecorino cheese) from the spicy and earthy cuisine of Calabria, stepping inside Il Fornaio is like traveling in Italy.

That’s the concept behind the Corte Madera, Calif.-based chain, which recently opened in FlatIron Crossing. The eatery began as a chain of bakeries operated by Williams Sonoma and was acquired by restaurateur and entrepreneur Larry Mindel in 1987. Today, Il Fornaio, with revenues of more than $100 million, operates 25 restaurants and three wholesale bakeries at locations in California and in the cities of Atlanta, Broomfield, Denver, Las Vegas, Scottsdale, Ariz., Seattle, and Portland, Ore.

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“Our mission is to provide the most authentic Italian experience outside of Italy,” says Rachel Fogelhut, manager of the Broomfield location, which opened in November.

Breads are baked daily based on authentic regional recipes ? “il fornaio” means “the baker” in Italian ? and served with imported olive oils and balsamic vinegar for dipping. The company’s director of baking, Jan Schat, was one of three members of Baking Team USA, which won a gold medal at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, the world cup of baking, in Paris in 1999.

Il Fornaio’s menus are created by the company’s two dozen Italian chef-partners and based on authentic Italian recipes. They emphasize simple, fresh ingredients and traditional Italian cooking methods. Pizzas are baked in a wood-fired oven, fresh pastas are made in-house daily, and dried pastas are imported from Italy.

The wine list, which represents all of the major wine growing regions of Italy and a small selection from California, has won Wine Spectator magazine’s award of excellence every year since 1996. The company also serves its own label chardonnay and chianti classico produced by small specialty vineyards in California and Tuscany, respectively.

At the Broomfield location, Chef-Partner Benji Macias serves two specials daily. “I like a lot of seafood,” he says with a laugh. Specials might be pasta with seafood, filet mignon or a special gnocchi.

The Mexican-born Macias has been in the restaurant business for 16 of his 32 years. Four years ago, he joined Il Fornaio at the bottom, doing pantry work. He has moved up the company ladder even as he has moved around, from Sacramento to Las Vegas to Denver, back to Las Vegas and Sacramento, to Seattle and Walnut Creek, before coming to Broomfield. “I like traveling,” he says. Working his way up in the company has been “like going to Italy,” he says. “I’ve worked with Italian chefs from right to left.”

Macias presents a monthly Festa Regionale, an original menu featuring wines and foods from a different region of Italy each month and created by chefs in the company from those regions. Says Chairman Mindel, the company’s goal is to be “better than or comparable to the best independent Italian restaurant ? with prices that range in between casual dining such as Chili’s and high-end such as Morton’s.”

Has he succeeded? Gourmet magazine’s Caroline Bates wrote that she would plan her whole day around Il Fornaio, if she could, when she visits San Francisco. Sounds good. Buon appetito!