Chillin’ With Luna’s Sampieri
On warm summer evenings, the kitchen at Luna gets downright steamy.
Chef Regina Sampieri might take a moment to chill out - literally. She has been known to toss her white jacket into the Spokane restaurant’s walk-in cooler for a few minutes.
“You’d be surprised how nice it feels,” she said.
Not that she minds the heat. Sampieri, 29, was born and raised in Southern California, where lengthy hot spells are a common occurrence.
When she moved to Spokane a couple of years ago, Sampieri welcomed the change in seasons - although, with working two jobs, she had little time to notice. She waitressed at Clinkerdagger and ran the front of the house at Luna. Former Luna chef Brett Fontana talked her back into the kitchen and she took over for him when he left about a year ago.
Those credentials added diversity to Sampieri’s already impressive resume. After taking culinary courses at the University of California, Irvine and California State University, Long Beach, Sampieri enrolled in a program in Switzerland where she studied food and her other passion, art.
“I worked at a restaurant over there and sold a few paintings,” she said.
After a year, Sampieri went to visit her sister, who was living in the south of France, and ended up working at a tiny bistro there.
“I think traveling is one of the best learning experiences you can have,” she said.
Returning to her stateside roots, she easily found work in the kitchen of a traditional Italian restaurant run by two Sicilian brothers in Huntington Beach, Calif., where she honed the art of the one-pan meal.
“Almost everything they did there was saute,” she said.
She later worked as a manager for a small Italian bakery where they made fresh pasta and milled their own flour.
“I’ve always loved working in mom and pop-type places,” she said.
While that description might not readily come to mind when describing Luna, an elegant, upscale eatery on Spokane’s South Hill (5620 S. Perry, 448-2383), Sampieri said it fits.
“It really feels like a family there,” she said. “Some of the people I work with even call me Mom.”
She recently returned from a busman’s holiday to California where she noted that the ever-thriving restaurant scene has shifted from flashy presentations of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s to more straightforward, great-tasting food.
“Some of the glitzy, glamorous chains are gone and now you’ll find places that are comfortable, closer to the beach, filled with flowers,” she said. “The food is still creative and artsy, but it’s more about food than flash.”
Sampieri’s summer menu at Luna reflects that kind of approach.
One of the most popular items is a belt-busting 16-ounce New York steak that’s served with a rich port wine sauce, but Sampieri is partial to the light, simple pasta with fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic and olive oil. During warm weather, she likes to play up seafood, too. Fish dishes range from a pizza with tuna, tomato and basil to grilled swordfish and oven-roasted halibut with a fiery Szechwan sauce.
“I would rather have a good mix of things on the menu than mix it up in one dish,” she said. “With that fusion cooking, if it doesn’t work, it really doesn’t work.”
Luna’s Chicken Scaloppini
2 small yellow onions, diced fine
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 (8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Flour for dredging
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups mushrooms (preferably crimini), sliced
1 cup artichoke hearts, diced
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup marsala wine
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped fine
Salt and pepper to taste
In saucepan over medium heat, saute onions in 4 tablespoons butter until light golden brown. Add brown sugar and cook until completely melted. Add Worcestershire sauce and simmer until all liquid is absorbed. Set aside.
With meat mallet, pound chicken breasts to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut each breast into 3 pieces.
In large saute pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Dredge chicken in flour and add to pan. Cook over medium heat until lightly browned. Turn chicken and add garlic, mushrooms, artichoke hearts and reserved onions. Saute about 2-3 minutes over high heat.
Add white wine, chicken stock and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and reduce liquid for 2-3 minutes. Add cream and marsala and continue to reduce until sauce reaches desired thickness, about 5 minutes.
Before serving, add fresh basil and salt and pepper to taste.
Yield: 2 servings.
Nutrition information per serving: 1,137 calories, 62 grams fat (49 percent fat calories), 52 grams protein, 80 grams carbohydrate, 285 milligrams cholesterol, 1,113 milligrams sodium.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo
MEMO: Chef du Jour is a monthly feature of IN Food that profiles area chefs and provides one of their recipes for readers to try at home.