Anna's La Cucina Flegrea brings the tastes of Italy to Pittsburgh

Twenty years ago, Anna Fevola couldn't find what she calls “a really authentic Italian restaurant” in the region.

So, this native of Italy opened her own.

“There are many Italian restaurants, but they are Americanized,” says Fevola, 46, a native of the area north of Naples, Italy, who now lives Downtown. Noting that many American diners think marinara sauce is simply tomato sauce, she says authentic marinara is seafood sauce. After all, the Italian word for the sea is mare.

Fevola named her restaurant for her native area, the Campi Flegrei, which means “Phlegrean Fields.” The words “Phlegrean” and “Flegrean” were derived from the Greek word for “burning.” Ancient Greeks who had a colony a nearby Cumae noted the extinct volcanic craters and hot springs that punctuated the landscape.

Fevola grew up in the town of Monte di Procida, but considers her Market Square restaurant her house and the Italian sense of hospitality a given.

“So, I feed you what I love to make,” says this mother of three, the oldest of whom helps out in the restaurant two doors from Nicholas Coffee and up a flight of stairs.

Among the dishes Fevola loves to make are pasta entrees like Ravioli Ripeni ai Funghi, or ravioli filled with mushrooms, and served in a cream-and-mushroom sauce, with a dash of hot peppers, for $19.95; or beef dishes like Filetta al Vino Rosso, or filet mignon in red-wine sauce with a potato croquette and asparagus, for $32.95.

Having cooked most of her life, Fevola began her culinary career 20 years ago at Carnegie Mellon University's faculty lounge in the defunct Skibo Hall. There, she prepped and helped in the kitchen. She then worked in food service at a retirement facility before seeing a place for rent on Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill.

The landlord happened to be Italian. After seeing the space, Fevola boldly told him the place was too rundown to serve as a restaurant.

“He said, ‘I see you cooking here. I'm going to fix it up for you,' ” Fevola recalls, and her first restaurant was born in the late 1990s. Eventually, she bought the building and opened her restaurant. But after 15 years, she sold the building to move her restaurant Downtown, so she could offer lunch as she always had wanted.

The new location, which opened in November, seats 60 at tables that overlook a mural of her native region. Another 10 people can sit at the bar, or at bar tables near windows overlooking Market Square.

One recent diner was Marco Scapagnini, a wine-company sales and marketing manager who also is a freelance writer. He said he was in town as part of his research for an article on the best Italian restaurants in America.

Of Anna's La Cucina Flegrea, he said, “It's the best in Pittsburgh.”

Sapori Del Mediterraneo

(Flavors of the Mediterranean)

During the summers of Anna Fevola's childhood in Monte di Procida, Italy, she and her family often would visit the nearby Mediterranean seaside. When the family returned home, her mother would prepare a quick pasta dish using a minimum of hot water.

Using that technique, Fevola created this pasta dish that recalls all the flavors of a Mediterranean summer: mussels, grape tomatoes, capers and olives.

“This is all the flavors of my town,” she says.

Because a huge pot of water is not needed, “You could do this camping,” Fevola says. “You use things you don't even need in the fridge.”

The recipe uses canned olives and capers that people can take camping, or to beach homes, then combine them with mussels bought after they arrive. That convenience and combination of flavors make Sapori Del Mediterraneo a savory and quick dish, perfect for summer vacations.

Hot water

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 medium-size cloves whole garlic

1 tablespoon capers

1 tablespoon fresh jalapeno pepper

1 pint ripe grape tomatoes

2 cups rigate DeCecco penne

20 olives (green and black, pitted)

½ pound mussels

Handful of basil, chopped

½ cup shaved parmigiano cheese

Heat a saucepot or large teapot full of water and keep hot on stove. On another burner, heat olive oil in large heavy skillet with high sides. Then add the garlic, capers and jalapeno pepper.

After these ingredients are somewhat softened, add the tomatoes and pasta, coating with the oil. Ladle just enough hot water from the pot to cover the pasta in the skillet, adding more if the pasta is cooking quickly or needs softening.

Continue stirring the pasta. After the pasta is almost cooked, add the olives and mussels.

Continue cooking until the mussels open and the pasta is al dente. Add basil in the pot, then serve garnished with the cheese.

Makes 2 servings.

Sandra Fischione Donovan is a contributing writer to Trib Total Media.