Cooking Class: Avanzare

Chef Tony Garcia prepares a mix of his favorite Italian cuisine creations at this month’s 417 Cooking Class.

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Tony Garcia opened Avanzare restaurant in 2002. The restaurant’s building on South Glenstone Avenue, which is the former home of Metropolitan Grill, was opened only three weeks after Metropolitan Grill relocated. Garcia had the entire building remodeled during that time. “It all happened really fast,” Garcia says. “We had people working all through the night.” Garcia had different crews working various shifts to complete the fast renovation. “I’d have one group of guys work for eight hours, then they’d leave and another group would come for eight hours, then they’d leave and another group would come,” Garcia says.

But after two weeks of remodel work and a week of inspections, Tony was behind the counter at his restaurant cooking up many of his delicious Italian dishes. “We were busy right away, I wasn’t even really open yet, I was just cooking for friends and stuff,” Garcia says. “But people kept coming in, and eventually my restaurant was full.”

Avanzare didn’t face the skepticism that new restaurants often do. Garcia feels this is partially because many people knew him from his former position as head chef at the former Italian restaurant Teatro. “I had a lot of followers,” Garcia says.

Garcia will prepare some of his favorite recipes at this month’s 417 Cooking Class. The first course will be a platter of four appetizers: lamb with Gorgonzola cream sauce, cheese-stuffed ravioli with tomato cream sauce, blackened scallops with spicy tomato sauce and veal straccetti alla pizzaiola. The second course will be insalata di tuna with lemon vinaigrette. Filetto fungi with grilled asparagus, risotto and portobello sauce will fill the plates for the third course. Semifreddo with pineapple sauce will be prepared as the dessert.

417 Cooking Class

The 417 Cooking Class is a series that highlights the best local chefs and their creations, plus wine pairings provided by Vino 100. In the following pages, you’ll find recipes for the four-course dinner that Avanzare’s Tony Garcia will prepare on October 21 at Metro Builders Supply’s sparkling demonstration kitchen.

WHERE: Metro Builders Supply,
3252 N. Glenstone Ave., just north of I-44 in Springfield
WHEN: October 21, 6 p.m.
TICKETS: $60 per person. Contact Amy Turner at 417-883-7417 for details. Tickets are limited to 24 people on a first-come, first-served basis.