About Tigelleria

A pinch of vision, a good amount of talent; determination and discipline in equal parts, a dash of ingenuity, a business plan to taste. And a splash of luck to hold everything together.

Yes, you have to have that, and perhaps much more, to run a successful enterprise. But at the end of the day, what really defines and determines the fate of a company is its people.
With our good and bad days, with our idiosyncrasies and virtues, it is this combined payload that can chain-ball a company to oblivion or become its most valuable critical mass.

Front of the house:

Elisabetta Benetollo (Owner)

In a restaurant run by women, she's our queen bee.

With a master degree in economics, when she's not entertaining our guests upfront, you can find her in the back office working the books.

I wear recycled Patagonia, she wears Chanel. I drive a Prius, she drives an M3 convertible. I'm vegan, she likes her fillet mignon medium well. You see the pattern here?

With class, flair and an unwavering positive attitude, Betty is my wife, the love of my life, my glass half full, the perfect complement to an otherwise rather dull existence.

Alice Walsh (Maître d' & Lead Waiter)

She brings experience to the whole equation. Lots of it!

Alice probably has more experience in fine dining than all the rest of us combined. She knows every twist, every wrinkle, every pitfall of the restoration business.

Since her inception, she literally turned Tigelleria around for the better; with business sense, untainted professionalism and a constructive attitude.

I've learned there is no point in arguing with her: in the aftermath she's always right. And she rides a Ducati! How can a redhead riding a Ducati be wrong anyway?

Back of the house:

Cinzia Mandati (Executive Chef)

The old saying: “the best things come in small packages”, in her case, couldn't be truer.
With strength, charm, creativity and talent to spare, Cinzia is running a tight ship, while enjoying the respect and admiration of the whole crew.

Of classic Italian formation, her compliance to our culinary traditions is astonishing. Her ability to be imaginative without eluding them, equally impressive.

She's also running her private catering company: "DolCì". If you enjoy what she creates at Tigelleria, you'd be hard pressed not to let her cater your next event.

Scott Marsh (Sous-chef)

When he is not obsessing about the number 23, I totally relate to him. I see myself, 20 years younger: bright, shy, introvert, hopelessly in love with the latest cute girl.

Yet professionally he is one of the pillars of our kitchen. With a culinary degree and a formation in Michelin starred restaurants, he is knowledgeable, impeccable and dependable.

If only he'd admit that global warming is indeed caused by mankind…

Jose Mendoza (Sauté Chef)

One night I call out loud an order of “Spaghetti al burro”, which of course is just spaghetti with butter, a kid pasta. Jose looks at me in disbelieve: “what the hell is this kid eating?”.
The whole kitchen suddenly erupts in a general laughter: you know, “burro” in Spanish means “donkey”!

A mix of Italians, Americans and Mexicans makes our restaurant a remarkable melting pot to work in.

Focus, coordination, passion and absolute dedication make Jose the workhorse of our kitchen. A splendid character, one we couldn’t do without, a true pleasure to work with.

Jesse Villanueva (Pantry Chef)

Take precision and discipline, multiply them a thousand times and elevate the result to the power of commitment. That's Jesse.
Sharper than his own knifes, he's always on top of his station, no matter how many orders you throw at him.

Too bad he enrolled in the army and in a few months we are going to lose him. You have to envy the lucky officer that will have him as a personal chef.

Well, enjoy military-grade salads and appetizers while you can...

Oscar Bustos (Dishwasher)

In the middle of kitchen hell, I can shout “Oscar, I need the planetary bowl clean muy pronto!” and the answer is always a simple, polite and reassuring “si”.

You got to love the attitude: performing the dirtiest job with the cleanest of the intents.

Shy and humble, you notice he's there only when, no matter what you need, it’s ready, clean and properly stacked away in the right location.

Mirco Caramori (Jack of all trades)

When I'm not talking with Scott about black holes, string theories, sociology and the meaning of life, you can usually find me spinning my cart wheels down the produce aisle of the local “Whole Foods” store looking for organic fennel, of which we always inexplicably run out during service.

Vegan, environmentalist, vaguely misanthrope, PETA and GreenPeace activist, I wholeheartedly concur with Albert Einstein when he says: “two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe”.

I live by symmetries and finding a simpler and more elegant solution to mundane problems is my only solace to the ineluctability of entropy.