Who is Daniel Bellino Zwicke

Daniel in SICILY

At The TEATRO GRECO – SIRACUSA

2017

Daniel Bellino-Zwicke? Who is he? He’s a Best Selling Cookbook Author and one of New York’s Big Dogs of Italian Wine, a former Chef of such restaurants as; Woods, Corrado, and Bar Cichetti … Daniel studied Hotel / Restaurant Management at New York Technical in Brooklyn .. Besides being the chef at the previous named restaurants, Daniel worked with Michel Fitoussi at the famed Palace Restaurant in the late 80’s as well as at the Odeon under the great Patrick Clarke.

Daniel got out of the kitchen in the late 90’s to become The Maitre’d at the uber hot # 1 Celebrity Hot Spot in New York at Da Silvano Ristorante where he took care of people like; Keith Richards, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Uma Thurman, Richard Gere, Joe Pesci, Robert DeNiro, Calvin Klein, Nick Pileggi, Nora Efron, Graydon Carter, Gwyneth Palthrow, Madonna, Lucy Lui, and-on-and-on, the list is way to long to name them all.

Daniel took care of the high-flying clientele and “so called” Top People in The Worlds of Fashion, the Record Business, Publishing, along with Movie Stars and Rock Stars . Daniel is known for his easy going ability of taking care of all the big stars needs in a casual attentive manner without being intrusive in any way, and are the reasons he is well-known to so many Movers & Shakers of the World.

Daniel had made quite a name for himself as the creator and Executive Chef / Wine Director and Managing Partner of Bar Cichetti, the 1st ever Venetian Wine Bar (Bacaro) in America, which was Daniel’s proud creation. As Chef / Wine Director of Bar Cichetti, Daniel firmly established himself as one of New York and America’s Top Italian Wine Guys .. He is personal friends with most of Italy’s top wine producers, the likes of; Marchese Ferdinando Frescobaldi, Sebastiano Rosa winemaker of Sassicaia, Marchese Piero Antinori (proprietor) of Antinori Wines, Giovanni Folnari of Nozzole, Gianlucca Grasso, Gianpaolo Venica, Cavalier Luigi Cappellini of Castel Verrazzano, the Conte Capponi Sebastiano and Nicola Capponi. Just like all the Movie Stars & Rock Stars that Daniel knows, the list of Italian Wine Luminaries is even greater.

As we’ve already stated, Daniel left restaurant kitchens behind to become a noted Italian Wine Guy and Maitre’d who has a reputation of dealing with a high-profile clientel. But not only them of course, there’s everyone else, shall we call them the regular folk? Hey, they make up the bulk of any restaurant business, not the celebs, though celebrities help to draw in everyone else. Daniel will take good care of you as a number of his clients we have interviewed will tell you. He friendly and quite personable and really knows his stuff.

Daniel has great passion for the food and wines of Italy that’s almost impossible to duplicate. Frankly, Daniel is one of the best. He can tell you wonderful stories about the wine you are drinking; its history, who the owners and people who make the wine are (his Friends). His trips to all these Wine Estates all over Italy have given him the experiences that he conveys to his many clients. And Daniel’s knowledge and passion for the food is equal to that of his vast knowledge of Italian Wine. Often you’ll be drinking a bottle of Italian Wine that Daniel suggests and he’ll pull out his iPhone and show you pictures of the people who own the estate and make the wine. One example would be Daniel’s good friend Luigi Cappellini who owns Castello Verrazzano in Greve in Chianti (Tuscan) Italy. He’ll show you pictures of him and his cousins Anthony & Joe at Verrazzano when Daniel took them there and they stayed on the property and ate breakfast and dinner in the castle, while drinking the great wines of Castello Verrazzano.

Daniel Bellino-Zwicke with Luigi Cappellini

of Castelo Verrazzano

After 5 years at DaSilvano, Daniel went on to become the Wine Director of Barbetta Restorante on West 46th Street in New York to head up the Greatest Italian Wine List in all of America. Daniel says, “the cellars are amazing.” Places like Babbo and Del Posto (now closed) get more press for having great Italian Wine Lists, which they do, but Daniel says, “The Wine List of Babbo & Del Posto are awesome, but in comparison to Barbetta, they are akin to Childs-Play.” No exaggeration, merely fact Daniel says. And within that Wine List which is the Greatest Italian Wine List in all of America, is the Barolo / Barbaresco section of which Daniel says is the greatest Barolo list in the World with its many Verticals of all the great Barolo Crus, like, Vietti Barolo Brunate and Lazarito, Cerretto Bricco Roche Bricco Roche, Marcarini Brunate, Michele Chiarlo Cerequio, Aldo Conterno Grand Bussia, Giacomo Conterno Barolo “Monfortino” Giacamo Conterno “Francia,” Mauro Veglio’s Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziata, Contratto Barolo “Cerequio,” Elio Grasso Ginestra and more …

Daniel said he was quite fortunate in his job as Wine Director of Barbetta for 5 years as he was able to taste and drinks so many of these great Barolo Crus of various vintages, as well as all the multi vintages of Barbaresco, Amarone, Brunello, Super Tuscans, Champagne, and the all the top California Cabernets and Meritage Blends such as Opus One and Insignia.

Daniel published Got Any Kahlua? The Collected Recipes of The Dude in the Summer of 2013, followed by SUNDAY SAUCE which has been a # 1 Best Seller Italian Cookbooks on Amazon for 5 months … Daniel published another # 1 Best Seller in June of 2014 with SEGRETO ITALIANO / Secret Italian Recipes & Favorite Dishes ..

Daniel says he’s currently working on a book on Chianti one of his great passions, as well as another Italian Cookook and an American Cookbook, all yet to be named ..

INTERVIEW by Michael Roma

Marchese lamberto Frescobaldi

with Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

and Lamberto’s Father

Marchese Leonardo Frescobaldi

Sebastiano Rosa (Winemaker of SASSICAIA)

Daniel and Giovanni Folnari of Nozzole

BOOKS by DANIEL BELLINO ZWICKE

SUNDAY SAUCE

WHEN ITALIAN-AMERICANS COOK

AMAZON.com

SEGRETO ITALIANO

Secret Italian Recipes

AMAZON.com

POSITANO The AMALFI COAST

TRAVEL GUIDE – COOKBOOK

AMAZON.com

Positano The Amalfi Coast Cookbook / Travel Guide is the latest by Best Selling Italian Cookbook Author Daniel Bellino Zwicke. It was just published on February 11th 2021 and is already a Best Seller in Italian Cookbooks and Travel Books as well. Author Daniel said that he is quite happy of the early success of the book POSITANO and hopes it continues and grows, and Daniel asked us to say hello and thank all of his loyal readers both old and new.

Daniel has mad a companion Website to POSITANO The AMALFI COAST COOKBOOK & Travel. The website is calledPositano-Amalfi-Coast and can be reached by clicking this Link @ Positano-Amalfi-Coast.com

Daniel said he made the website as he realizes that people love pictures in books, and as his books normally do not contain pictures, he made the site to fulfill this need, as the website has hundreds of beautiful pictures of Capri, Positano, Naples, Minori, Ravello, and the rest of the Amalfi Coast of Southern Italy. As well as having these pictures, excerpts and recipes from the book at the publication of the book, the website will be ongoing and will continue to have new pictures posted to it, along with articles, news, and ongoing pertinent information on Naples, Positano, and the Amalfi Coast of Italy.

Note : If you are on the Kindle Edition of Positano The AMalfi Coast Cookbook / Travel , you will be able to reach the website Positano in a Link inside the Kindle Book

The RAGU BOLOGNESE COOKBOOK

The WORLD’S BEST RECIPE

RAGU BOLOGNESE

AMAZON.com

SINATRA SAUCE

The COOKBOOK

Daniel Bellino “Z”

AMAZON.com

The Feast of The 7 Fish

ITALIAN CHRISTMAS

AMAZON.com

La TAVOLA

ITALIAN-AMERICAN NEW YORKERS

ADVENTURES of The TABLE

AMAZON.com

GOT ANY KAHLUA ?

aka The BIG LEBOWSKI COOKBOOK

AMAZON.com

Bellino on Vino

Author / Italian Wine-Guy Daniel Bellino-Zwicke with Wines from

some of his Best Friends ; Francesca Planet, Gianni Venica, Roberto Gundler, Antonio Rallo,

and the Columbini Family of Fattoria Barbi, Daniel’s favorite Brunello ..

Daniel Bellino-Zwicke? How is he? He’s a Best Selling Cookbook Author and one of New York’s Top Big Dogs of Italian Wine, a former Chef of such restuauants as; Woods, Corrado, and Bar Cichetti … Daniel was in the Hotel/Restaurant Management at New York Technical .. Besides being the chef at the previous named restaurants, Daniel worked with Michel Fitoussi at the famed Palace Restaurant in the late 80’s as well as at the Odeon under the great Patrick Clarke.

Daniel got out of the kitchen in the late 90’s to become The Maitre’d at the uber hot # 1 Celebrity Hot Spot Da Silvano where he took care of people like; Keith Richards, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Uma Thurman, Richard Gere, Joe Pesci, Robert DeNiro, Calvin Klein, Nick Pileggi, Nora Effron, Graydon Carter, Gwyneth Palthrow, Madonna, Lucy Lui, and-on-and-on, the list is way to long to name them all.

Daniel took care o f the high-flying cliental of the Top People in The Fashion World, Record Business, Publishing, Movie Stars and Rock Stars and is known for his easy going ability of taking care of all the big stars needs in a casual attentive manor without being intrusive in any way, reasons for him being well known to The Movers & Shakers of these high profile business feilds.

Daniel had made quite a name for himself as the creator and Executive Chef / Wine Director and Managing Partner of Bar Cichetti, the 1st ever Venetian Wine Bar (Bacaro) in America, which was Daniel’s proud creation. As Chef / Wine Director of Bar Cichetti, Daniel firmly established himself as one of New York and America’s Top Italian Wine Guys .. He is personal friends with most of Italy’s top wine producers, the likes of; Marchese Ferdinando Frescobaldi, Sebastiano Rosa winemaker of Sassicaia, Marchese Piero Antinori of Antinori Wines, Givanni Folnari of Nozzole, Gianlucca Grasso, Gianpaulo Venica, Cavalier Luigi Cappellini of Castel Verrazzano, and-on-an-on, just like all the Movie Stars & Rock Stars that Daniel knows, the list of Italian Wine Luminaries is even greater.

As we’ve already stated, Daniel left restaurant kitchens behind to become a noted Italian Wine Guy and Maitre’d who really knows how to take care of those high-end clientel. But not only them of course, there’s everyone else, shall we call them the regular folk? Hey, they make up the bulk of any restaurant business, not the celebs, though celebrities help to draw in everyone else. Daniel will take good care of you as a number of his clients we have interviewed can tell. He friendly and quite personable and he really knows his stuff and has a passion for the food and wines of Italy that’s almost impossible to duplicate. Frankly, Daniel is the best. He can tell you wonderfule stories about the wine you are drinking, its history, the owners and people who make the wine (his Friends) and his trips to all these Wine Estates all over Italy. And his knowledge and passion for the food is equal to his knowledge of Italian Wine. Often you’ll be drinking a bottle of Italian Wine that Daniel suggets and he’ll pull out his iPhone and show you pictures of the people who own the estate and make the wine. One example would be Daniel’s good friend Luigi Cappellino who owns Castel Verrazzano in Greve in Chianti (Tuscan) Italy. He’ll show you pictures of him and his cousins Anthony & Joe at Verrazzano when Daniel took them their, they stayed on the property and ate breakfast and dinner in the castel, with the great wines of Verrazzano.

Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

with Luigi Cappellini

of Castelo Verrazzano

After 5 years at DaSilvano, Daniel went on to become the Wine Director of Barbetta Restorante on West 46th Street in New York to head up the Greatest Italian Wine List in all of America. Daniel says, “the cellars are amazing.” Places like Babbo and Del Post get more press for having great Italian Wine List, which they do, but Daniel says, “The Wine List of Babbo & Del Posto are awesome, but in comparison to Barbetta, they are Childs-Play.” No exageration, merely fact Daniel says. And within that Wine List which is the Greatest Italian Wine List in all of America, is the Barolo / Barbaresco of which Daniel says is the greatest Barolo list in the World with it many Verticals of all the great Barolo Crus, like, Vietti Barolo Brunate and Lazarito, Cerretto Bricco Roche Bricco Roche, Marcarini Brunate, Michele Chiarlo Cerequio, Aldo Conterno Grand Bussia, Giacomo Conterno Monfortino and Francia, Mauro Veglio Rocche dell’Annunziata, Contratto Cerequio, Elio Grasso Ginestra and more …

Giacomo Conterno Barolo Monfortino

Daniel said he was quite fortunate in his job as Wine Director of Barbetta for 5 years as he was able to taste and drinks so many of these great Barolo Crus of various vintage, as well as all the multi vintage; Barbaresco, Amarone, Brunello, Super Tuscans, Champagne, and the top California Cabernets and Meritage Blends such as Opus One and Insignia.

Daniel had been writing for years, mostly essays, articles, and short stories. He wrote his first book La TAVOLA while he was at Barbetta in 2006 .. He said that 85% of the book was written in about 6 weeks time (quite fast), however he edited, polished it up and worked on it for another year before trying to get it published, which took five years. Actually La Tavola was published in June of 2012, followed by The FEAST of The 7 FISH which is the top selling cookbook of its genre. Daniel published Got Any Kahlua? The Collected Recipes of The Dude in the Summer of 2013, followed by SUNDAY SAUCE which has been a # 1 Best Seller Italian Cookbooks on Amazon for 5 months … Daniel published another # 1 Best Seller in June of 2014 with SEGRETO ITALIANO / Secret Italian Recipes & Favorite Dishes ..

Daniel says he’s currently working on a book on Chianti one of his great passions, as well as another Italian Cookook and an American Cookbook, both yet to be named ..

Marchese Lamberto Frescobaldi

with

Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

and Lamberto’s Father

Marchese Leonardo Frescobaldi

Sebastiano Rosa (Winemaker of SASSICAIA) Daniel

and Giovanni Folnari of Nozzole

BOOKS by DANIEL BELLINO ZWICKE

SUNDAY SAUCE

alla BELLINO alla PACINO

AMAZON.com

The Feast of The 7 Fish

ITALIAN CHRISTMAS

AMAZON.com

La TAVOLA

AMAZON.com

Jersey Crab Sauce Recipe

JERSEY SHORE CRAB SAUCE

There are plenty of Maryland Blue Crabs down on the Jersey Shore, as well as plenty of Italian-Americans. The two go together, and this Crab Sauce for pasta is a specialty of Jersey Italians who love seafood, along with their Brooklyn and New York neighbors. They all love it! So will you.

RECIPE

12 Hard Shell Blue Crabs

12 tablespoons Olive Oil

12 Cloves Garlic

1 for each Crab, peeled and chopped

1 Small Onion, peeled and chopped fine

1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

1 – 28 oz. can whole San Marzano Tomatoes

1 – 28 oz. can Crushed Tomatoes

1- 16 oz. can Tomato Puree

½ teaspoon dry Basil

¼ cup chopped fresh Italian Parsley

1 pound Lump Crab-Meat, fresh frozen or canned

1 pound imported Italian Spaghetti or Linguine

Put olive oil in a large pot and heat to high.

Place the Crabs in the pot and sauté at high heat for 10 minutes.

After browning the crabs, remove from pan and set aside.

Put onions in pan and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.

Add the garlic and red pepper to pan and cook on low heat for 3 minutes.

Add whole tomatoes to pan and cook on high heat for 4 minutes whole stirring with a wooden spoon. Add crushed tomatoes and tomato puree.

Add the Crabs back to the pot. Cook for 90 minutes on low heat.

Remove the crabs from pan and let cool on the side.

Remove all the meat from the crabs and discard the shells.

Add crab-meat to sauce with your extra pound of lump crab-meat and simmer on low heat for 10 minutes.

Cook pasta according to directions on package.

Drain pasta and put back in the pot it cooked in with 8 tablespoons of reserved pasta cooking water.

Sprinkle pasta with a little olive oil and mix.

Add 2 cups of crab sauce and half the parsley to pasta and mix.

Plate the pasta with sauce on 4 plates in equal portions and top with some more sauce and some parsley.

Notes: Do not serve with cheese! Italians never have cheese with Seafood Pasta. This is enough sauce for 2 to 3 pound of pasta, or about 12 portions, so after you make this Pasta with Crab Sauce with 1 pound of pasta, you still have plenty left over for another day.

The Finished Sauce

“Yummm” !!!

Screen Shot 2016-08-09 at 1.34.15 PM.png

Pasta with Jersey Shore Crab Sauce

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JERSEY CRAB SHORE SAUCE

and Other Great Recipes

SEGRETO ITALIANO

by Daniel Bellino Z

AMAZON.com

Author Daniel Bellino Zwicke – Best Selling Author – Cookbooks

1958

Where You Born in 1958 ?

WHAT HAPPENED ?

65 YEARS AGO

1958

Italian Cookbook Author

Daniel Bellino Zwicke

Born 1958

ALBEROBELLO, ITALY

2022

1958

SOPHIA LOREN & JAYNE MANSFIELD

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA

POSITANO The AMALFI COAST

ITALY Travel Guide – Cookbook

AMAZON.com

Written by Daniel Bellino Zwicke

Born 1958

ROME, ITALY

Author Daniel Bellino Zwicke

Born 1958

ROMA 2018

BEST SELLING ITALIAN COOKBOOKS

AMAZON.com

Author Daniel Bellino Zwicke

GREENWICH VILLAGE

NEW YORK NY

2020

During the early days of the 2020 Covid Pandemic, New York. Since there were not restuarants, cafes, or bars open in the early days of the Covid 19 Pandemic (Closed due to the Pandemic), I’d hang out at one of the little parks in my neighborhood, or get a coffee at the local Korean Market, and find a stoop to sit on in Greenwich Village. I’d sip my cofffee, make phone calls, test friends, look at Instagram, and real my Google New Feed. This was after I made myself Breakfast at home (never eating out). I’d make Tea everyday, and have either; a bowl of Cereal with slices of Banana, Oatmeal, or an Egg Sandwich. Then I’d hop in the shower and get dressed.

Yes, I’d go to the Korean Market on Bleecker Street, and get my coffee. Then I’d hand out on a stoop or in a park and hangout for about an hour and a half, before heading back home.

I’d go hame and make lunch, a sandwich, a Burger, Pasta, or heat up a bowl of Soup, if I had some. I’d drink Apple Cider and eat my lunch, listening to 1010 WINS News Radio to find out what was going on in the city, the rest of America and the World, and the latest Covid 19 news.

After lunch, I’d go out again for my second cup of coffee, go to the park, and again, make phone calls and Texts, listen to music, and look at Instagram and read news stories. After about an hour and a half, I’d head back home to make myself dinner. I ate all my meals at home, never ordering take out food, or eating out for almost a year, making 3 meals a day and snacks in-between, for more than 1,000 meals in a row, made by me for myself.

After dinner, I’d go out for the third coffee of the day, before heading in for the day. I’d get back home and spend the night watching TV before going to sleep. The next day, I’d get up and o it all again.

Daniel Bellino Zwicke

nyc

Bellino Makes New Yorks Best Burger – Cheeseburger Burgers NYC

MINETTA TAVERN

Good Burgers, but Far From The Best

New York’s Best Burger? Who makes it? Or who makes, plural, New York’s Best Burgers. Well first off, Minetta Tavern does not make the Best Burger in New York. Far from it. And of the Burgers at Minetta Tavern, forget the highly overrated Black Label Burger, the Minetta Burger has it beat, though there are better Burgers in New York. For, one, the Burger I make at my house in Greenwich Village, just two blocks away from Minetta Tavern is far superior, a buch tastier burger than you’ll get at Minetta Tavern., but there’s one thing we have in common when making New York’s best burger. And the Burger I make in my house is way Better than the Burgers at Minetta Tavern.

So what’s the difference you ask? And you want to know what it is I have in common with the Burgers at Minetta Tavern? The thing I have in common with Minetta Tavern when making my Burger that is without question one of the Best in New York, and for a whole lot less money (about $3.10). Yes, thing that Minetta Tavern has in common with me, in our Burger making, is that we both buy our meat from pat LaFrieda, it’s just that I use the better blend than Minetta Tavern. The Black Label Burger Blend by Pat LaFrieda is made with Dry Aged Beef, which though people would want you to think otherwise, dry aged beef is one of the worst things you can use to make a burger. Dry Aged Beef is old meat, and is actually meat that is deteriorating. It’s much better to use fresh beef when making a burger, and that’s all their is to it, and Minetta Tavern uses Dry Aged Beef for its Black Label Burger. Not good.

I have in the past year used numerous sources to buy ground beef for my burgers. I buy meat from one of the best Butcher Shops in New York, which is Florence Prime Meat Market on Jones Street in Greenwich Village. I’ve been buying Sausages, and Steaks from this great old Italian Butcher, which to me is the best butcher shop in all of New York. I mostly bought steaks here, and it’s relatively recently that I started buying ground beef to make burgers with. I was there buying myself a Newport Steak (Specialty of The House) one day, when I watched an elderly neighborhood lady getting individual Hamburger Patties made for her. I started chatting with here about the burgers, and she said she loved them, so I said I’d get some of them, my next time at the butcher shop, and so I did a couple weeks later. I’ve tried both the chuck and the sirloin ground beef from the market. They both made fine burgers.

Trader Joe’s recently opened in my neighborhood, and I’ve tried a couple different types of their ground beef (80/20 and 85/15 ratios), and they both made pretty good burgers.

Today, I wanted to get a couple burger patties from Florence Prime Meats, but they were closed when I got there, so I made my way over to Grestide’s. I went to the meat counter and spotted Pat LaFrieda’s Burger Blend made with Beef Brisket, Chuck, and Beef Short Ribs. There were 4 Patties in the package, for $8.99, at $2.25 a Burger, it’s more than I normally spend, but if I can get a better burger it will be well worth it. I’m still trying to get a Burger to taste as good as the ones I made from the meat that my cousin Joe gave me, that was a package of 4 Black Angus Burger Patties from Wayside Market in Southhold, New York, on the North Fork of Long Island. The Burgers I made with that meat, may very well be the Best Burgers I’ve ever had in my life. “I kid you not,” and I have witnesses to back me up on this. Anyway, I wanted to see if this Burger Blend from pat LaFrieda could come close, or dear I say, be better than those Burgers made with the Black Angus Patties from Wayside Market.

So I bought the burger blend and headed on home. I got my stuff ready. I sliced some New York Cheddar Cheese, and sliced some onions. I toasted and buttered an English Muffin, heat my pan, poured in a bit of oil, and threw my burgers in to cook. As the burgers were cooking, I put a little dijon Mustard on one side of the Muffin. I seasoned the burger with salt, and flipped it over to the other side. Then I seasoned the top side with salt and black pepper. The Burgers cooked another 4 minutes, and then I turned the heat off and let the burger rest for 3 minutes before putting it on top of cheese on on side of the muffin. A put a little nob of butter on top of the burger, then a little Ketchup before topping the Burger with the other half of the bun. I put it on the plate and brought it to the table. I grabbed the burger, bit into it, and from the very first bite, I htought “Wow,” it was a dam good burger, and better than any of the meat I’d bought in the past year, including Florence Prime Meat. Wow, this was impressive, and the Pat LaFrieda meat was well worth the bit more than I paid for it, and a real bargain when you consider that a McDonald’s McDouble cost about $2.69, and a superior burger like this, with more meat, cost just about .35 Cents more than the inferior McDonald’s Cheeseburger. Dam!

Yes, I loved the burger. This Burger that I just made at my house was without question better than almost any burger I’ve had in New York. my Cheeseburger was better than The Black Label Burger at Minetta Tavern, or the Minetta Burger, it’s better than the Shake Shack Burger which I normally love but wasn’t that happy with their burgers the last two times I was at Shake Shack (Mine is Better). My Burger tasted better than the JG Melon Cheeseburger (I Love), but not better than the Burger I had at Charle’s Prime, which was the only Burger I’ve had in New York City that was better than the Burger I made at home.: But as good as this burger I made at home with the Pat LaFrieda Burger Blend, “it was Dam Good, but not as Good as the Burger that I made at home with the burrgers from that box of 4 Black Angus Patties from Wayside Market of Southhold, NY.