Italian comfort rules at brand new Il Tegamino in Carmel

The are so many dreams going on at brand-new Il Tegamino (250-5790) it feels a little bit like Inception, with owner-operator Giuseppe Panzuto playingLeonardo DiCaprio, jumping from dream to dream, cellar to dining room, kitchen to patio. Only instead of layers of memory and surreality, it’s layers of pasta in the handmade lasagna di carnavale, just like Mama Panzuto used to make.

In fact, Rita Panzuto’s dreams are part of this. She died three years ago, but always dreamed her sons would once again open a restaurant. Today that restaurant, tucked in the cute and subterranean-seeming spot in the belly of the Court of the Golden Bough in Carmel (off Ocean between Monte Verde and Lincoln), is named after the traditional Italian pan, or tegamino, she used so frequently and lovingly.

“She always wanted us to do something together,” Giuseppe says. “This is an homage.”

The sons did their share of dreaming, for decades all told. Giuseppe and Salvatore Panzuto ran their own Italian tapas/wine bar-style place in their native Naples, Italy, when they were just 16 and 20. Now owner-operator Giuseppe, nearly 40, will conduct the front of the house as Salvatore, 44, steers the redone kitchen.

Fittingly enough, it’s built around many of Rita’s recipes: the Parmigiana di zucchine (thinly sliced zucchini layered with mozzarella, tomatoes, Parmesan and basil, $12), paccheri al ragú Napoletano (broad tube pasta with slow-cooked beef and pork, $22) and cotoletta di maiale (breaded pork loin scaloppini, $19). Then there’s the lasagna ($23), which is traditionally reserved for Easter (aka Carnival) feasts given the indulgent onslaught of ricotta, Parmesan, sliced hard boiled eggs, mozzarella, basil and petite fried meatballs. Only Rita did it whenever she wanted (which was often), because that was mama’s style.

When they collaborate, the brothers’ main aim is tapping their early favorites.

“We say, ‘Hey – you remember?’” Giuseppe says. “It’s about recreating flavors we had as kids.”

That means taking it back to Naples, where dad toted the boys along on fishing trips as early as age 3 and mom, when not working as a nurse, was obsessed with cooking. (Giuseppe plans to spear fish, like he did with dad, for nightly specials.)

The other dreams belong to a segment of my coworkers. They’re so into balls and their accompanying allegory that they organized a workday potluck for all ball-shaped foods. “Chuck’s balls,” cheese balls and pork doughballs flew.

More than one of them has echoed my refrain: “They had me at meatball bar.” The polpette pickings bring balls of beauty, with the beef meatball (with ground beef, pine nuts, raisin, garlic, bread, parsley and Parmesan); the pork ball (ground pork, onions, bread, sage, thyme and pecorino); the tuna-seafood ball (fresh tuna, capers, mint, potato and caciocavallo cheese); the crab-seafood ball (crab meat, chives, bread, celery and bell peppers); the cauliflower ball (cauliflower, black olives, bread and parmesan cheese); and mushroom ball (portobello and porcini, ricotta, thyme, bread and Parmesan). They’re $6-$8 each, or $20 for the medley.

For Guiseppe, the dream was always to do an eatery in Carmel, because even as he’s been all over the world, including tours to the Persian Gulf and Somalia with the Italian Navy Marines, Carmel was the place that welcomed him the most.

“It felt like the city adopted me,” he says with an accent. “I fall in love. Locals are the best customers I’ve ever had.”

Giuseppe has worked as a GM and partner at Cantinetta Luca after time at New York’s Il Mulino and Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel, among other stops. Salvatore got his start in Dublin, Ireland after culinary school, working at a Bono-owned restaurant for much of it, before moving to New York and California. Locally he’s worked in the kitchens at Luca, la Balena and Sierra Mar.

Giuseppe says he lives for a bustling restaurant, and has helped create that at Luca with smart wines and smarter service. Here the wines will lean largely Italian, with some Californian ($8-$13/glass; $30-$70/bottle). Besides Moretti, the beers are craft local ($6-$8).

They’ll flow for the soft opening Thursday, but not as much as eager eaters might think. This is where I remind you soft opening means helping them figure out what’s working, furnishing kind feedback and serving yourself a triple helping of patience. That’ll be particularly important given the fact seating will be limited to the dining room, which seats 18. (The patio and lunch will open in a few months.) No reservations. From a look in the kitchen Tuesday, Salvatore will appreciate the compassion, as he will be able to advance staff training.

The most intense dreams of late, in fact, have been his – at least when he’s been able to sleep. Apparently he’s so excited about opening, after six months of work on the new kitchen, the beautiful former Marie’s Garden Cafe space and the menu, sleep hasn’t happened so much.

In his dreams he’s run into his mother, and it’s made him emotional.

They’re back in the kitchen, and she’s telling him how proud she is. “She says we’re doing good, she’s happy about our future and we’re going to do better and better,” he says. “She reminds me, ‘Nothing is impossible.’” Like Italian Easter lasagna in a California Indian summer.

QUICKBITES

• Element Wine Bar was a River Road treasure. Now it’s long gone. In its place: River Road Grill, in that same 275 River Road slot, opening before the end of the year. More info shortly.

• Monterey City Council considered a long-term food truck permit for Cannery Row Oct. 6. Look for an update on the blog, www.mcweekly.com/edible.

• The duo behind ever-popular Dametra has arranged to take over PortaBello and The Grill on Ocean Avenue in Carmel from friend and ally TonySalameh of Anton + Michel fame.

• The eighth annual Sabu’s Safari dinner and auction to benefit the Red Cross raised $358,000 Oct. 3, more than 25 percent more than a year ago.

• Alvarado Street Brewery opens at 10am Sundays for NFL games (with RedZone), $4 house beers and strong brunch. Peter B’s opens even earlier with breakfast and more beer deals.

• Carmel Valley Wine Experience Harvest at Hidden Valley flows 1-4pm Sunday, Oct. 11, with top local wineries, restaurants and music ($85 online; $95 at door, 659-4000). See p. 28 for more.

• Here’s a different wine dinner. Saturday, Oct. 24, it’s a history-inspired winemaker feast featuring new wines from Monterey County’s oldest vineyard, with five courses by Chef Ismael Vizcaya in the grand parlor of the stately Martine Inn overlooking Monterey Bay, all on estate silver flatware ($85, 373-3388).

• Schooners Coastal Kitchen & Bar and Clos LaChance Winery do a magnetic four-course wine dinner 6pm Thursday, Oct. 15: pan-seared scallops, foie gras, sablefish and veal cheeks and more ($95, 372-BOAT).

• Namaste India Bistro now open in the former Loose Noodle on Lighthouse in New Monterey.

• Sustainable Chef Dinner Series continues at MEarth 5:30pm Thursday, Oct. 15 with LionFish Supper Club of Santa Cruz ($65, more atwww.mearthcarmel.org).

• Carmel Valley Ranch hosts a celebration of the resort’s grape harvest from its own Pinot Noir vineyard with a Harvest Weekend packed with events, Oct. 9-11. More at the CVR website.

• Carl Sandburg: “Nothing happens unless first we dream.”