Cutline: Executive Chef and Co-Owner of Da Vinci Ristorante is Shingara Singh, better known as Chef Peppino. He is preparing his homemade tagliatelli, sautéing it with shrimp and cherry tomatoes.
By Sandra Miller
Shingara Singh, better known as Chef Peppino, was destined to be top chef. He grew up on a farm in India where he helped his father grow wheat, sugar cane, and vegetables, and his mother kept him out of the kitchen.
When he turned 16, he decided to join his brother, who was cooking in Germany, and lived with an Italian family in Hanover. This family owned an Italian restaurant, Leonardo Da Vinci, and within a month Singh moved from washing dishes to preparing food, and was christened Peppino. Discovering his passion for cooking, Peppino learned everything he could about traditional Italian cooking during his seven years there. At 23, he moved to Boston and was in the kitchen at The House of Blues in Cambridge, then became executive chef at La Campania in Waltham, where he developed a loyal following.
After 10 years, Chef Peppino and his longtime friend and Poland native Wioletta Zywina opened Da Vinci. A year later, the restaurant is apparently doing pretty good.
Shortly after opening, the restaurant received recognition from the distinguished James Beard Foundation as the “notable new restaurant in Boston.” Chef Peppino even has been invited to prepare lunch for members of the foundation at the prestigious James Beard House in February.
Despite the economy, DaVinci’s has had about 11 holiday parties this month, and reports busy weekends. During the week, they offer a three-course dinner for $29 on Mondays and Tuesdays, a $59 five-course dinner on Wednesdays, and are taking reservations for three-course and five-course New Year’s Eve tasting dinners. Says general manager Michael Wolfson, “We had a great December.”
Chef Peppino chooses to stick with mostly Italian recipes that are “clean-tasting,” and so he doesn’t offer much in cream sauces. The only heavy sauce, a gorgonzola on beef tenderloin, will be replaced in January with a lighter chianti sauce.
The pasta is cooked to order, adding to the freshness of the dishes. His divine Bolognese sauce cooks a minimum of five hours to add to the flavor – when Wolfson first started at DaVinci, it was only served as a special. “It was the best I’d ever tasted,” said Wolfson, a big Bolognese fan. “I insisted that they put it on the menu.” They did. He’s gained 30 pounds in the past year, although he insists he’s eating for three – his wife is six months pregnant, and he’s eating in sympathy for her. “It’s my duty,” he says.
Peppino just got in some black and white truffles from Costa’s in Charlestown, which he will be creating some specials around this week. For his winter menu, he’s working on some recipes surrounding mushrooms and baby turnips. Peppino also loves the gamier meats, such as rabbit, pheasant and quail, and serves a “two way duck” with crispy leg confit and grilled breast, finished with a dry apricot pear brandy sauce.
He also had me try two unusual sorbettis, one made from celery and lemon, which accompanies a beef carpaccio appetizer, another with basil, which he serves to special guests. They were different, but delicious. Over the summer, he served arugula sorbet, which he had to convince his customers to try. Peppino insisted, telling them, “Trust me.’” They did, and they loved it, he said.
For a more traditional dessert, he recommends the hot chocolate soufflé, which takes 20 minutes to make, so he tells customers to order ahead.
The food is delicious, thanks to Peppino’s long hours and dedication to making things from scratch. His day begins at 7am with a trip to the Chelsea fruit and vegetable market, then he makes his own sausage, bread, gnocchi and pasta. Part of the night he’s in the kitchen, and the second half, he’s out talking with the diners. “This place is my wife,” says Peppino, who is single. “I want to make my guests happy. So far, I’m doing good.”
His foccacia , a light and tasty onion-encrusted bread, is served with a chickpea spread that he seasons with mint for an extra depth, and his own basil-infused olive oil. His pasta is made to order, for extra sparkle.
He also doesn’t list the fish on the menu, since it depends on what’s fresh that day, and what tips he receives from his former Campania colleague Max Harvey, now at the Summer Shack. When DaVinci’s had a dinner party that ordered wanted halibut, Peppino went to the fish market that day and didn’t like the fish, so he convinced the dinner party that night to switch to sea bass. “They said, ‘We love a chef who picks his own fish!’” recalled Wolfson. “They were blown away by the striped bass.”
Peppino may work long hours, but he’s so bubbly and enthusiastic about his food, that his energy translates into his dishes.
“He has a passion,” says server Benni Nika. “He doesn’t do it for money. It’s a gift.” Nika makes a motion as if grinding pepper: “God seasoned him with a gift.”
Tagliatelli with Shrimp
Serves one
4 oz. Tagliatelli (or two ounces for lunch or appetizer portion)
8 each shrimp 16/20, cleaned
1 oz. fresh garlic, sliced thin
5 cherry tomatoes, halved
½ oz. butter, unsalted (he likes Cabot)
½ cup dry white wine, such as a chablis
1 tbl extra virgin olive oil (he prefers Il Moretto)
4-5 leaves parsley (chopped)
Pinch sea salt
Pinch of coarsely ground black pepper – his is a mix of pink, black and white peppercorns.
This is such an easy recipe, taking just minutes to make once the ingredients are prepared. Made with fresh pasta, this recipe is light and bursting with flavor.
Heat extra virgin olive oil in a sauté pan. Add sliced garlic until lightly brown.
Add shrimp, 30 seconds on each side. Add butter and cherry tomatoes, and cook for one minute.
Meanwhile, place pasta in salted, boiling water for two minutes.
Add wine, parsley, salt and pepper to sauté pan and cook for two minutes.
Drain pasta and add to sauté pan, cooking for a minute.
Twirl the twirl the pasta in the sauce, and remove the pasta to the plate. Add the shrimp and tomatoes, and then pour the sauce over it all.
Top it with a drizzle of EVOO and microgreens.
“I want people to see the plate first, and then eat,” says Chef Peppino.
This dish was served with a 2006 Terradora di Paolo, Falanghina, a dry, oakless white wine. Their wine menu is heavy on the Italian, but a month ago they expanded to a more international range of wines.
Da Vinci Ristorante
162 Columbus Avenue near Park Square
617.350.0007
www.davinciboston.com.
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