The holiday season is upon us, and while normally we’d be giving you recipe after recipe to make the best Italian feasts this year (and we still are!), it’s also a time that you can think about giving back and helping the thousands of restaurants who are getting ravaged by the pandemic.
With Covid restrictions in place, restaurants in Los Angeles have needed to get creative and are innovating in ways we’ve never seen before. Their takeout and delivery options are next level and there are now boxes and packages and kits that you can order to either make your own meals at home or just sit back and have the whole thing catered for you.
At La Cucina Italiana, we want to support every Italian restaurant that we can, so here’s a long list of some of the best, most interesting, and most innovative ways to get takeout and delivery this holiday season. Please do your part and order them for yourselves or as gifts and help save the restaurant industry!
Gucci Osteria
Famed chef Massimo Bottura opened his Beverly Hills joint a month before LA’s Covid shutdown. Despite the rough start, the team, led by chef de cuisine Mattia Agazzi, has put together a Michelin-level feast for you to eat at home. For $80, you get house baked bread with ricotta, giardiniera, an octopus salad, lentil minestrone, Brassica veggies with almonds, potato gratin mille foglie, Gucci leaf salad with macadamia dressing, tortellino in brodo, and the option to add some ossobuco for an extra $25. Dessert includes marble cake with crema pasticcera and after dinner sweets. There’s also a vegetarian option that’s equally decadent. Order here.
credit Jakob Layman
Rossoblu
Chef Steve Samson did his pandemic pivot early and has been offering up multi-course to-go kits for months. For the holidays, he’s serving up an eight-course classic filled with lasagna Bolognese, a prime beef roast, Dungeness crab salad, and so much more for only $79 (minimum two orders). On top of that, you can also have Steve do a tailor-made menu for you and host a fully immersive dining experience over Zoom! Yes, please. Order here.
credit Wonho Frank Lee
Gelato Festival
There’s never been a better time to eat your feelings, and this year, the gelato wizards over at Gelato Festival have you covered. For $69, Gelato Festival will deliver a gelato box to your door with 12 4oz containers of award-winning gelato created by chefs around the world. The box also includes fresh Italian coffee and chocolate covered cherries from Fabbri. Order here.
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Angelini Osteria
The holidays are cause for celebration, and what better way to do it than with Angelini Osteria’s Celebration Pods. The beautifully packaged pods include a three-course meal with your choice of more than a dozen entrées, bottles of Acqua Panna and San Pellegrino, and a variety of savory add-ons. With each pod, you also receive a curated Italian playlist from Gino Angelini himself that you can listen to on Spotify. The pods are $45 each and you need to order a minimum of eight pods – so for your large, quarantined family – this is perfect. Order here.
credit Angelini Restaurant Group
Eataly
If you want nothing to do with cooking or preparing a giant meal this holiday, Eataly has you covered. With four or eight person packages, you can regale your family and friends with curated charcuterie boards, Lasagna Bolognese, truffled mashed potatoes, and way more. The feasts are $275 for 4 and $525 for 8, and come with wine, tiramisu, and panettone as well. Just, wow. Order here.
Credit Eataly
Forma
Cheese lovers will have a lot to be thankful for when they see mongers from Forma offering up platters to go. You’ll have to call the restaurant (mention code FORMA-SM CHEESE BOX for 15% off), but your platter will be a custom-built cheese box filled with fromage favorites in addition to jams, honey, almonds, dried fruit, walnuts, and fruit & pecan crisps. Check everything out here.
Little Dom’s
Fans of this Los Feliz mainstay have two great options for the holidays. For the industrious at-home bakers, you can order their $20 Pizza Making Kit which comes with two portions of pizza dough, homemade tomato sauce, and a generous ball of mozzarella (and some helpful instructions). For holiday platters that serve up to eight people, there are giant portions of baked ziti or lasagna or their famed chicken cacciatore and loads of sides like mini rice balls, meatballs, and artichokes. Order here.
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Grá
If you want more fermentation with your holidays this year, turn to the masters of souring spreads who are offering a family feast for just $70. Order any pizza on their menu and you’ll also get their peach & burrata salad, pickled cucumbers, and a bottle of one of their notable natural wines. If you’re into trying things on your own, they also offer the best pizza-making-kit deal in town. For $15, you get two dough balls, homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil or for $20 you can have two dough balls, pistachio pesto, mozzarella, ricotta and honey! Order here.
credit Michael McSharry
Factory Kitchen
Would you like to have famed chef Angelo Auriana’s cooking in your own home? Well, for the holidays, you can order the Factory Kitchen Experience, which is a complete dinner that includes their Frittura (chickpea fritters), Modenesi (egg-pasta with Parma prosciutto, house-made truffle butter, and black truffles), Porchetta (slow-roasted pork belly), and Panna Cotta for only $48. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better deal from a better chef. Order here.
Luigi Fineo
No, this isn’t a restaurant. It’s a Michelin-starred chef giving you the ability to make world-class pasta at home with his easy-to-use pasta kits at low prices. Chef Luigi Fineo is now offering unbelievable kits that include fresh egg fettucine pasta, Parmigiano Reggiano aged 24 months, homemade sauces, a 9-inch focaccia, and instructions for at-home cooking perfection. The kits are $26, $28, or $30 and you have your choice of three sauces, a San Marzano tomato, a Napolitano beef ragu, or a basil pesto. All kits are available for next day delivery and you can get them by emailing thepastakit@gmail.com
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Uovo
The masters of pasta have a holiday treat in store for its loyal base of customers. They've entered the pasta kit game so you can test your own skills on freshly made tonnarelli that's shipped in directly from Bologna. Customers have a choice between arrabiata and pomodoro and each kit comes with a QR code that links to cooking instructions. For a little more than $40, you get four individual servings - a small price to pay for pasta flown in from Italy. Order here.
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Cover photo: Minestra nel Sacco by Rossoblu