Sam the Cooking Guy Puts a Twist on Italian Cuisine at His Next Restaurant
Food & Recipes

Sam the Cooking Guy Puts a Twist on Italian Cuisine at His Next Restaurant

A new Italian fusion restaurant is coming to Little Italy, in the heart of Piazza della Famiglia. Basta!, which means “enough” in Italian, will open on Thursday, June 6, on the pedestrianized plaza across from the Little Italy Food Hall. Guests can dine and drink with a prime view of the iconic Little Italy Fountain and the passersby that come through the bustling neighborhood. Occupying 1,646 square feet, the indoor-outdoor restaurant has a patio terrace, bar, and dining area.

Rigatoni alla vodka.
Basta!

It’s the latest project from Sam Zien, known to YouTube fans as Sam the Cooking Guy, and the Grain & Grit Collective. The hospitality group also operates Little Italy Food Hall, Samsburgers, Not Not Tacos, Coo Coo’s Nest, Carnitas Snack Shack, and Broken Yolk Café in Orange County.

The kitchen is led by culinary director Gavin Mills, who’s worked at No. 1 Lombard Street, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and who won an episode of the first season of Chopped in 2009. The menu combines the creative energy of Mills and Zien and results in untraditional dishes. The dishes are “silly [and] playful,” Zien tells Eater San Diego. “Fun is what I think we do well with our restaurants.”

Array of small dishes including tortellini and bruschetta.

Array of small dishes including tortellini and bruschetta.
Basta!

A few standouts on the menu include bone marrow garlic bread, sardines, and handmade cavatelli with Santa Barbara uni. “This dish itself could be the gateway for most people who aren’t fans. There’s a beautiful creaminess to the whole dish,” Zien says. The restaurant will also feature traditional Italian plates such as rigatoni alla vodka and ricotta tortellini with asparagus.

The dessert menu features sweet treats including donut misu, a tiramisu version made with glazed donuts instead of ladyfingers, and deconstructed cannoli chips and dip.

The drinks menu will have wines from Italy, Valle de Guadalupe, and California, as well as limoncello and an Aperol cocktail with guava and coconut cream called the Dea Tropicale.

In the future, Zien says he would like a standalone restaurant with a bar and patio. The concept could be a combination of his other restaurants, Samsburgers and Not Not Tacos, and he’s looking in Mission Valley.

Sam Zien, known as Sam the Cooking Guy, on a moped in Little Italy.

Sam Zien, known as Sam the Cooking Guy, on a moped in Little Italy.
Basta!