Learn the secrets behind Rossoblu Italian restaurant
Since Rossoblu was founded, partner Hans Luttman has wanted the community to have full access to his Italian restaurant’s brand through hands-on classes.
Once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Luttman yearned to continue that mission. So the restaurant’s staff is offering online courses revealing the secrets behind its pasta, cocktails and pastries.
“One of the things we’ve worked on is to be involved in the community,” Luttman said. “We saw that as an extension of sharing our education and giving our community a different way to access our brand.
“We realized we had the talent to do it.”
That talent is bar director Adam Sanchez, pastry chef Rose Lawrence and sfoglino Francesco Allegro. The trio create their curriculum and maintain its variety, Luttman said.
“At its essence, they’re giving, in each class, the rudiments and foundations of making (the items) and then they just fuse different pasta shapes or recipes for pastries or cocktails to really exemplify what are the foundations of baking, pasta making and cocktail making,” Luttman added.
He has witnessed a change within the classes since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“One of the things I’ve found super delightful—especially with pastries and baking classes—is our audiences with that particular group is mothers with young children,” he said. “Children are getting involved. That’s what we’ve been seeing in the last six weeks or so. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Going forward, Luttman hopes to simplify and streamline the classes.
“Some of the classes are ingredients driven, when the student or guest has to come down to the restaurant and pick up the ingredients so they can be prepared,” he said.
“Sometimes there are some missed connections there and it gets a little challenging. We’re thinking about streamlining it down to a demonstration where the guests and students purchase the ingredients themselves and play along.”
In the meantime, the classes are fun ways to get the public involved with the restaurant.
“It’s a dynamic way for folks to connect with restaurants in a new fashion,” he said. “Some folks who attend the classes are still a little bit shy about coming to dine in because of COVID. There’s a great opportunity to kind of be excited about the restaurant industry, to be in touch with what’s happening and to be around the community.
“I think that’s one of the big byproducts of the educational component. It’s a chance for people to intersect and connect—even if you can’t attend in person.”
Upcoming classes
Pastry: Saturday, August 22
Join Rossoblu pastry chef Rose Lawrence online to learn the foundations of baking with two classic pastry items—olive oil cake and superfine chocolate chip cookies with fleur de sel. Starts at $25
Pasta: Saturday, August 22
Join acclaimed sfoglino Francesco Allegro in an online demo to learn how to roll fresh pasta al mattarello. In this demonstration class, guests will see how he creates his fresh egg pasta dough by hand, rolls out the pasta al mattarello and cuts out his pasta shapes. As a bonus, he’ll show students his secret to cooking fresh pasta. $25
Cocktail: Sunday, August 23
Join Rossoblu bar director Adam Sanchez online to learn how to shake up and stir two types of cocktails. This will be a demonstration class. $85
Source: LA Downtown News