Italian Chef To Join Eric LeVine For 2 'Traditional Sunday Italian Dinners' In Farmingdale

FARMINGDALE, NY — Chef Alessandra Aiello will bring her Italian heritage to Farmingdale when she joins chef Eric LeVine for a pair of "Traditional Sunday Italian Dinner" events on Aug. 13 and Sept. 17.

The events are both scheduled to run 3 to 6 p.m. at Vico, at 313 Main Street.

Tickets, worth $60, can be purchased for Aug. 13 or Sept. 17 here.

LeVine said he will help Aiello, but she'll run the shows.

"She's going to be talking about Italian culture, her experience living and growing up in Italy," LeVine told Patch. "We're going to do a menu that is very much hers and very much essential to the Italian culture in that region of Italy. She's amazing, and the experience is going to be amazing. I think we're going to do four different courses. It's going to be a great night out and a great way for people to learn about the Amalfi Coast of Italy."

LeVine called Aiello an "amazing storyteller" and said the events are for people who want to learn about real authentic Italian home cooking. He pointed to Aiello's Instagram page, Alessandra's Food is Love, for snippets of her narratives and culinary skills.

"You just feel like you're in Italy," LeVine said.

Aiello is from Vico Equense, while her cousin, Luisa Ferro, is from Capri. Aiello and Ferro have visited LeVine in the past.

"It was such a great experience to see how authentic the food is: not fancy, but flavorful and beautiful," he said. "That's the thing about Italy. What I've learned about it from her, from her cousin, Luisa, I've learned about that simplicity. It changed my approach to food as opposed to Italian American food, which is very different with heavy sauce, heavy cheese. It's not that way there. Learning that and educating, doing this for 43 years, it's always great to learn something new. With Alessandra, it's been phenomenal."

LeVine said he has learned "so much" from Aiello and applied that knowledge to Vico, a restaurant specializing in Italian cuisine from the Amalfi Coast. The owner, Perry Fortuna, has family in the Vico Equense region he and his family visit at least once a year. The result has been a menu with pizzas, pastas and entrees that people eat in Italy.

The simplicity of Italian cooking has been the biggest topic LeVine learned from Aiello, he said.

"Just using extra virgin olive oil. Fresh, simple ingredients. Not heavy sauce, not very coated. The simplicity of that. That has shifted my mindset of that style of the cuisine and what they do there. It's another door open to what I do."

LeVine said his career is about evolution, growth, change, trying new things and learning new skills.

"So having someone like Alessandra next to me, side-by-side, cooking with her, it gives more substance to my career, more capability, more ideas, a different approach," he said. "Really, for me, that's all I want in my career is to constantly evolve. Once you stay stagnant and stand still, you don't move forward, and I can't do that. I've never been that way. I'm always evolving."

LeVine was named Best Chef on Long Island in the 2023 Bethpage Best of LI Awards. He also cooks at 317 Main Street, neighboring Vico.

LeVine is a champion of The Food Network's "Chopped." He was also featured on "Morimoto's Sushi Master," "Beat Bobby Flay," "Food Paradise," and "Alex Vs America" among other shows.

The chef is also a multi-time cancer survivor who gives back by hosting culinary events that benefit local foundations, specifically the Olivia Hope Foundation.