Quick Take
The owners of Lago di Como are preparing to open an Italian deli down the street from the restaurant, on the corner of 17th Avenue and Portola Drive in Live Oak, in early September. Bottega del Lago aims to be a one-stop shop for Italian products and carry-out items, including Roman pizza, sandwiches, pasta and gelato.
In March 2021, chef Matteo Robecchi and his wife, Lindsay Rodriguez, helped make a good thing great when they partnered with Giovanni Spanu, the chef and owner of the 11-year-old Lago di Como in Live Oak. Together, the newly formed team reenvisioned the beloved neighborhood spot into one of the hippest restaurants in town, which set itself apart from other Italian restaurants with a menu that focused on Sardinian and northern Italian cuisine.
In September, Spanu, Robecchi and Rodriguez will open their second enterprise, Bottega del Lago, down the street from the restaurant, at the corner of 17th Avenue and Portola Drive. The deli and market aims to be a one-stop shop for Italian products and carry-out fare, while offering the same attention to detail and warm hospitality that Lago di Como is known for, said Rodriguez: “It’ll be a daytime version of Lago.”
The team is working to transform the corner store and former Little Caesars pizza into a multiuse space, and Italian iconography is at every turn. A handmade ceiling light shaped like the country of Italy decorates the ceiling of a room covered in vintage Italian food posters, which will hold a range of products imported from Italy, from dry pastas and sauces to cookies and pastries, as well as olive oil, vinegar and regional and seasonal treats.
Lago di Como already offers some of its customers’ favorite products from its menu to take home, including Italian sodas, certain cheeses and wine, says Rodriguez. When Bottega opens, those customers won’t have to special-order from the restaurant; they can just walk down the street and get whatever they need, she said.
The deli will offer paninis and sandwiches, with fillings such as mortadella, burrata and pistachio pesto, and roasted vegetables with mozzarella and sundried tomatoes, made on either homemade focaccia or, as in Italy, artisanal demi baguettes. It will also sell carry-out items such as lasagnas and pastas for a grab-and-go dinner, as well as Roman pizza by the square or tray. On Saturdays and Sundays, Bottega del Lago will offer rotisserie chickens and porchetta, slowly roasted on a stunning cherry red rotisserie.
Eight different kinds of pasta will also be made on site, and visitors will be able to watch the production via a large window from the outside of the restaurant. All of the equipment, from the panini press, to the pizza oven, to the pasta cutting machine, are Italian-made.
There will also be a small café area, with espresso and 12 flavors of gelato. After an opening in early September, it will be open Wednesday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
1701 Portola Dr., Live Oak.
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