Page 8 - May 2015 Dining Guide

A TasteRose’s Bella Cucina, a new Italian eatery in Castle Rock, is the kind of place you go when you’re craving the classic dishes of your youth. The kind of place that serves things that bring back memories and delight your senses. The kind of place you go to when you’re looking to satisfy both your hunger and your longing for home.Of course, all these nostalgic requirements assume that your grandmother was an accomplished cook from the old country who knew exactly how to make the things that would delight both body and soul. Steve Rago, owner at Rose’s Bella Cucina, went looking for such a place in Castle Rock. When he didn’t find a place to cater to his cravings, the longtime restaurateur, along with his wife Donna, decided to open one and named it in honor of his grandmother, Rose Rago.“My grandmother was a powerful influence in my life,” said Rago. “She always made everything from scratch and when I was young I would help her cook.”A native of Genoa in Northern Italy, Rose married a Sicilian and learned to cook southern Italian favorites, too. Rago’s restaurant features dishes from throughout Italy, reflecting Rose’s adventurous cooking and willingness to learn about new ingredients and techniques.“The dishes on our menu are a mixture of foods from several different places all over Italy,” said Rago. “One of my favorites, though, is our Pasta Genoese. It’s something my grandmother made for us all the time. It has Genoa salami, spinach, garlic, red peppers with roma tomatoes, and herbs.”Each month, The Connection features a restaurant we feel our readers would enjoy. This month, newcomer Rose’s Bella Cucina in Castle Rock is featured. This casually-elegant place is still a fairly recent addition to the local dining scene andI wanted to call readers’ attention to it. As is often the case, Connection staffers recommended I give Rose’s a try. As you’ll learn in the article, there are lots of excellent items on the menu to satisfy an Italian food craving, but be sure not to leave the premises without a cannoli – made with a delicious ricotta cream filling and a perfect pastry shell.I went the restaurant for lunch, unannounced, so I could get a true gauge of what a meal for an average diner would be like. Finding both the food and the service at Rose’s to my liking, I feel good about recommending it to our readers.I’m not a restaurant critic, but I do very much enjoy tasty food, and it makes me happy to spread the word about a good place to grab a bite. And while a write-up in our restaurant spotlight is often really good publicity for a restaurant, it’s not advertising. A restaurant cannot pay to be featured, and there is no charge to the restaurant once they’ve been selected. Restaurants do sometimes elect to advertise with us after seeing the response they get from our readers, so thanks for telling them you saw them in The Connection. Perhaps you’ll even find a special or a coupon from them featured in a future dining guide .Are you a foodie too? I’d love to hear what you have to say about the local restaurant scene. I’m open to suggestions of upscale places or your favorite hole-in-the-wall. I like chains and I like independently-owned establishments. In short, if you have a recommendation for a restaurantfor me to try, e-mail me at lcrockett@ castlepinesconnection.com and let me know. You might very well see your favorite place featured on these pages.– Lisa Crockett, Food Editor8 The Connection Food & Dining advertise@castlepinesconnection.com