New Italian restaurant has pasta making classes

A new Denver restaurant is offering up fresh Italian food with a focus on local. Now the owners of DiFranco’s want to teach you their recipes with a series of cooking classes. Owner Ryan DiFranco says the focus really is on local.

“It’s a way to really get into the community,” he said. “Italians are all about family, so we start creating this local family.”

In the spirit of family, he’s inviting strangers into his kitchen to learn a thing or two. On the menu for this class is fresh, handmade ravioli.

Using flour and local eggs, we kneaded fresh pasta dough then rolled it through a pasta machine to make thin sheets. The dough is filled with creamy ricotta, then pinched and cut into perfect pasta pillows. Topped with a simple sauce, the chefs-in-training then got to enjoy their freshly made feast.

“This looks delicious,” said participant Tim Lovato. “It’s not going to last very long.”

Lovato already has an idea of when he’ll use his new found pasta prowess.

“[I’m} definitely going to get the ingredients, set it up for a date, maybe,” he said. “Impress somebody the right way.”

In about an hour we made a beautiful meal with ingredients from right in our own backyard; it’s what DiFranco’s is all about.

You’ll find DiFranco’s at 955 Lincoln St. in Denver. They plan to offer more cooking classes. You can learn more at www.difrancos.com