![]() “We always talked about what was going on in the Strip. “I would suggest that food is the most important part of our heritage,” says Lagattuta in the WQED feature. He recalls talking to his grandma about one cookie recipe in particular. We have his manifest from when he came from Italy.” ![]() My dad’s here, my aunts and uncles are here there’s a picture of my grandfather. In a short feature for WQED, Lagattuta points out the pictures of his family that adorn the walls at Enrico Biscotti: “My grandmother’s standing right next to you, isn’t she? All the Italians are here I keep pictures of them around. Some of his students, like Kate Romane (of Black Radish Kitchen and E2), went on to chart distinctive courses through Pittsburgh’s recent culinary renaissance. He enjoyed sharing his knowledge with others. One of six children, Lagattuta grew up in Beechview and learned how to cook from his family as a child. Down a short alley nearby, there’s Enrico Cafe - marked by an iron biscotti with wings - that provides an intimate showcase for the late Lagatutta’s pizzas, beans & greens, and other traditional favorites. They also make panettone, focaccia, traditional Italian Easter bread, and many other things. Now, Enrico bakes 30 varieties of biscotti, from Anise Almond to Cinnamon/Lemon and Pineapple - about 2,000 pounds of them a day. “Larry said, ‘Won’t you let me take a shot at the biscotti?’” “I lost my biscotti guy,” Patti tells Pittsburgh City Paper he recalls saying. Louis at the time, until that purveyor burned down. ![]() Patti was getting biscotti for La Prima from a place in St. We sat out on the porch I’m watching the birds fly, the grass grow, and I thought, ‘What am I doing with my life?’” He had a focaccia stuffed with meat and cheese. At five o’clock in the morning, the sun comes up. “ called me three months later and said, ‘I have to make 30 pounds of pastries tonight I don’t know how I’m going to do it.’ We went to his basement kitchen and worked all night long. “One day, I said, ‘If you need any help, let me know,’ said Lagatutta on the podcast. ![]() It all began by hanging out at La Prima in the Strip, the most Italian of Pittsburgh coffee shops, and chatting with owner Sam Patti and Italian-born baker Antonio Branduzzi of Il Piccolo Forno. Lagattuta died June 26 of a heart attack, at home. (Scott Baio played the character based on Lagattuta.) Lagattuta’s story became a movie, “The Bread, My Sweet,” by producer/writer/director Melissa Martin, to whom Lagattuta was married at the time. He also shared so much of what he knew about Italian cooking and baking with several generations of Pittsburgh culinary students, whom he taught in his bread classes. So he ditched the suit and tie for a light dusting of flour, and opened a tiny shop, Enrico Biscotti, that has become one of the Strip District’s defining places. “Every time I went to work in the morning, I felt like I was going to jail,” said Lagattuta in a feature on The Italian American Podcast. In 1993, Larry Lagattuta quit his corporate job to bake biscotti. ![]()
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