My family doesn’t usually go out for Italian food, except for the occasional Americanized junk pizza when we’re feeling lazy or hosting a sleepover or what have you. My wife’s grandmother was born in Italy and passed her family’s cooking techniques to her grandkids, so most of the time, my wife’s two-day Bolognese sauce and white wine seafood linguine beat the pants off anything you can find at your basic Italian joint.
But La Botte is far from basic.
The building itself was clearly custom designed, built around three giant wine barrels emblazoned with a mural of a gondolier rowing past a domed Italian cathedral. Inside, the ambience is all charm. The lighting is dim, the decor pays homage to old Italy without being overbearing or cheesy, and Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin croon constantly over the whole scene.
A woman who embodies the distilled essence of “Italian grandmother” dances slightly and sings while she buses tables, “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore … .”
Her name is Caterina Agate, but she insists that everyone calls her Mama. She has owned La Botte with her husband, Nick, for 30 years and successfully “franchised” a sister restaurant in Buellton, but she still humbly wipes dirty tables, delivers drinks, and spends most of her evenings doing what she does best: making customers feel like family.
My family—which, again, never ever goes out for Italian—went to La Botte twice in the last week and will probably be back again soon.
The first night, we had a knock-out linguine alle vongole with sauteed baby clams and garlic in a white cream sauce, and a classic Margherita pizza made perfectly—crispy crust, fresh herb toppings, and a boldly delicious tomato sauce.
Everything was great, especially the friendly service from everyone we encountered (and especially the food), but the tiramisu was in such high demand that night that it was gone by the time we were ready for dessert. I don’t let much stand between me and my sweets, so we came back a few days later for a light caprese salad and a plate of those fantastic ladyfingers. Mama Agate dips hers in marsala wine and espresso then covers them with whipped mascarpone cheese and cocoa for a truly memorable dessert.
After our treat, Mama Agate sat with us for a spell and described her journey from Sicily to the States and her introduction to the restaurant business. Throughout the conversation, she cracked jokes and laughed easily, exuding nothing but warmth. She said she studied in Italy to be a translator and speaks five languages. She moved to Chicago in the ’70s and got a government job in the immigration department, but a few months after her arrival, some friendly neighbors with deep pockets loved her cooking so much that they fronted her the money to open a restaurant.
She said that the cooking part was easy, but learning to understand her American customers took some time. She eventually got the hang of that, too, and established a successful pizzeria, but she and her husband craved the California sun. They packed up and headed west in the early ’80s, settling in Lompoc and opening a new venture.
“I do it because I love what I do,” Agate said. “I get great joy from watching people enjoy their meal.”
Decades later, Mama Agate has a family that helps in the restaurant and is ready to take over the family tradition when she retires. Our waiter was her grandson, Joshua White, who studied filmmaking at Santa Barbara City College and recently won the school’s “Best Documentary” award for his 10-minute piece about his grandparents’ restaurant. Apparently, the video was seen by a Food Network executive who found Mama Agate and the family charming enough to invite her to compete on the channel’s Family Food Showdown. Agate said she is still working the scheduling details out with the network, but expect to root for a local family on the show sometime in the next year.
In the video, Agate explains why she strives to treat her customers like a part of that family:
“‘Amore!’ You’ve got to love the customer like family, more than family, because your family don’t pay you,” she said, beaming. “Every day I thank God for the customer.”
When contributor Nick Powell isn’t slurping down noodles, he’s searching for new restaurants to try. Send morsels to npowell@santamariasun.com.
Powell’s Picks
• I was a hungry boy taking a late lunch break at about 2 p.m. when I wandered into Efren’s Mexican Restaurant in Santa Maria this week. Everything on the menu looked pretty legit, but my rumbling tummy didn’t have time for leisure scanning. I quickly ordered a torta al pastor thinking it would have a bit more heft than a taco or two, but I never expected the behemoth that came to my table. It was huge and loaded with everything a boy could want. It might be the hunger talking, but I’m pretty sure that torta was the best I’ve ever had. Try one at 1625 S. Blosser Road in Santa Maria.
• Indulge all of your senses at the Music, Wine, and Sunday Supper at Rancho San Julian in Lompoc on Aug. 25 from 3 to 6:30 p.m. Appetizers made from locally grown produce will be served first, with wine. Then singer Meghan Lehman will serenade guests with acoustic jams in a rustic barn, with wine. The dreamy evening ends with a seasonal supper under shady trees, with wine. Visit theranchtable.com for tickets, with wine.
• Just north of our neck of the coast, you can sample cider, appetizers, and sliders celebrating everyone’s go-to fruit at the Avila Apple Festival on Saturday, Aug. 24, from 3:30 to 7 p.m. There will be beer and wine to boot with live music and more apples than you can shake a stick at. Tickets cost $40 and are available at avilaapplefestival.com.
• I guess this is going to sound gross to some of you fine folks, but I’ve got to recommend dumpster diving this week. People toss out nice stuff all the time, and this time, my wife came across an entire box of cookbooks someone was throwing out. So I guess really, I’m recommending cookbooks. Get one of those, and here’s the key: Use it. We made four dishes from John Sarich’s Chef in the Vineyards to celebrate our recent anniversary, and it turns out that if I’m taking my time and following detailed directions, I’m a damn good cook (my wife ain’t too shabby either). I’m talking heirloom tomato caprese salad, seared scallops over corn and chile relish, braised pears in a wine sauce reduction, and Cornish game hens with mole sauce made from scratch. You don’t have to drop a few hundos for fine dining if you’ve got a nice cookbook, the ability to read, a few hours to spare, and a teenaged kid obligated to do all the dishes.
Contributing writer Nick Powell is cooking up ideas for fresh food recommendations. Send a grocery list of ingredients to npowell@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 22-29, 2019.