Italian market Bottega del Lago brings paninis, fresh pasta and gelato to Live Oak

Bottega del Lago, a new Italian market and deli from the owners of nearby restaurant Lago di Como, opened its doors earlier this month, bringing a cornucopia of Italian products, paninis, pizzas, handmade pastas and gelato to the corner of Portola Drive and 17th Avenue in Live Oak. 

It’s the second enterprise for co-owners Giovanni Spanu, Matteo Robecchi and Lindsay Rodriguez. The team first came together three years ago to reenvision the then-11-year-old Lago di Como into one of the hippest restaurants in town, with a menu that focuses on the Sardinian and northern Italian cuisines that chefs Spanu and Robecchi grew up with in Italy. 

With Bottega del Lago, they aim to create 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.

There’s a lot going on inside this little Italian jewel box. A market is stocked with imported shelf-stable goods including dried pastas and jarred sauces, boutique bottles of balsamic vinegar and fine olive oils, and little candies and treats. At the other end of the store is a gelateria with 12 different kinds of gelato ($6 small, $8 large), including traditional flavors like pistachio, amarena cherry, lemon and cappuccino. Espresso is available, and of course you can get an affogato (which, for anyone unfortunately unfamiliar with this little delight, is a shot of espresso poured over a scoop of gelato). 

Bottega also offers fresh pastas, such as spaghetti, fettuccine, creste di gallo and rigatoni, made on site – if you come at the right time, you can watch the noodles being pressed and cut from an outside window – as well as jarred pesto and sauces. Slices of homemade lasagne bolognese ($14), large enough to feed two hungry adults, have been selling out almost every day. Wide focaccia-style pizzas are pulled from the oven throughout the lunch rush and cut into thick square slices ($6.50 to $8 per slice). 

But it’s more than likely that if you visit Bottega del Lago, you will leave with at least one warm panini wrapped in red-and-white-checkered paper. The stacks of sandwiches displayed by the register are swiftly taken by workers on their lunch breaks, students stopping in after school and beachgoers on their way to the nearby shore. True to form, Robecchi, Rodriguez and Spanu created truly Italian combinations that are unavailable at other delis in the area, including mortadella and burrata with pistachio pesto ($13), and prosciutto, brie, arugula and truffle oil ($14). 

These simple sandwiches are packed with flavor. Quality porchetta is the star in Er Buri’ ($14), a sandwich layered with tender roasted pork, roasted bell peppers and eggplant, provolone cheese and spicy mustard. The Testina ($13) is filled with darkly colored, thinly sliced bresaola – a cured meat made from beef – pecorino cream, peppery arugula, powerful partially dried tomatoes and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. The memorable combination is funky and salty, creamy and tangy. 

By far its most popular sandwich is, interestingly, the least Italian. L’Americano ($14) is a hearty, muffaletta-style sandwich stuffed with three kinds of meat – salami, Italian ham and pancetta – and toasted with provolone, artichokes and pickled olive mix. Visitors are already falling hard for this combo. “We’ve been selling over 100 sandwiches a day, and around 65 of them are L’Americano,” said Robecchi. 

There’s more to come. Within the next few weeks, Bottega will offer porchetta and roast chicken on Sundays, slowly roasted on a stunning cherry red rotisserie. During the holiday season, the market will transform with cheerfully packaged seasonal goodies and gifts. But it’s the everyday delights, wrapped in paper, scooped into paper cups or taken warm from the oven, that fans will return for again and again. 

1701 Portola Dr., Live Oak. 

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