Giada De Laurentiis Will Throw Pasta Dinner in NYC This Month

For one night only, Italian TV queen and Vegas restaurateur Giada De Laurentiis will cook pasta for 90 New Yorkers at a pop-up dinner later this month. This will be De Laurentiis’ very first pop-up, and she’s keeping it simple: salad, a choice of two pastas, gelato, and wine.

The dinner, a full-service affair at Chefs Club Counter from just 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday, October 15, is meant to test out a pasta concept that’s been on her mind for years.

“Pasta is our number one seller across the board all the time,” she says of her eponymous Las Vegas restaurant. “I’ve always wanted to do a fast-casual pasta concept, and so in the vein of trying things, I thought it’d be fun since I’m in New York anyway [for NYC Food & Wine] to do a little pasta pop up.”

Even though the fast-casual concept is on her mind, nothing is in the works yet. De Laurentiis does have an upcoming Baltimore restaurant, but she is “not considering” New York City for a project, she says.

The “little” pop-up she’s putting on has Whispering Angel and Illy Coffee as sponsors, which means the wine and espresso will be on the menu. Pasta options will include rigatoni with pork ragout and fusilli with lemon and pea alfredo, plus the possible addition of shrimp. Dinner starts with marinated olives and a candied lemon and arugula salad with pancetta and parmesan slices, and it ends with Sant Ambroeus gelato.

Diners will be packed in tight, sitting down every 30 minutes starting at 5 p.m. The $60 tickets include service, with 100 percent of profits going to National Compassion Fund Las Vegas, and they go on sale October 4 here for members of her lifestyle website Giadzy, and October 5 to the general public here.