Belotti Ristorante e Bottega

Belotti’s most revealing dishes are its filled pastas. Casoncelli carry the memory of chef Michele Belotti’s mother’s cooking in Bergamo: beef, prosciutto and pork shoulder inside the dough, with smoked pancetta, butter and sage around it. The menu gives this family preparation company in the form of Piedmontese agnolotti and vegetarian scarpinocc. Together they explain the restaurant’s identity more clearly than a broad promise of “authentic Italian” food.

Michele grew up in Albino, near Bergamo, trained in kitchens in Lombardy and Piedmont, and moved to California in 2011. He and his wife, Joyce, developed the restaurant in Rockridge. That background remains legible on the plate. The agnolotti combine several meats and greens with a beef reduction; scarpinocc turn to Grana Padano, herbs, brown butter and sage. The choice lets diners compare filled pasta built around meat with a preparation whose character comes from cheese and aromatic butter.

The regional conversation continues with Veneto-style bigoli in a whole-duck sauce lifted by orange zest, and tagliatelle with wild boar marinated in grappa and Sangiovese. Braised beef with polenta offers a broader main course, while a Piedmontese bunet brings cocoa and amaretti to dessert. This is a useful restaurant for someone who wants pasta to be the reason for dinner: distinctive shapes, purposeful fillings and sauces tied to identifiable traditions. The full-service Rockridge dining room and the separate pasta shop on Piedmont Avenue serve different purposes; this profile concerns the restaurant.

Sources: Belotti: restaurant and hours · Belotti: Michele and Joyce Belotti · Belotti: restaurant menu · Belotti Ristorante e Bottega: Google Maps listing