Open for Italian food and beer 🤌

Meet the chef and owner of Donato Enoteca in Redwood City

When Donato Scotti moved to New York from his hometown of Bergamo, Italy, “it was too much of a shock,” he said. Then he moved to Los Angeles, but “he wasn’t a big fan of traffic.” But when he discovered the Bay Area, he said, “We have to stay here.”

In 2009, Scotti opened Donato Enoteca in Redwood City, a family-friendly yet upscale restaurant serving seasonally inspired modern Italian cuisine. Fifteen years later, his passion for Italian cuisine and his restaurant is still infectious. I met Scotti at his restaurant and asked him questions in advance of Donato Enoteca’s 15th anniversary celebrations this week.

I also got into beer and spoke with the co-owner of Dasbierhauz in Mountain View and the co-manager of Fibbar Magees in Sunnyvale. Dasbierhauz has some exciting expansion plans and Fibbar Magees (which has been around for 30 years!) has been remodeled.

Stay delicious,
Adrienne

The owner of Donato Enoteca looks back on 15 years in Redwood City

Fifteen years after opening Donato Enoteca in Redwood City, Donato Scotti speaks with the same energetic passion as if he opened the Italian restaurant yesterday. I sat down with Scotti to look back on the last 15 years—the evolution of the Bay Area’s Italian dining scene, his proudest accomplishment with Donato Enoteca, and more.

A fire at Mazra, a new German beer garden and a zucchini car race

• A fire broke out at Mazra’s in Redwood City last night. Although no one was injured, the Mediterranean restaurant will remain closed for at least four weeks, said co-owner Saif Makableh.
• Mountain View-based Dasbierhauz is opening its second German beer garden in Redwood City next month.
• The latest crawl: Sunnyvale’s Irish pub Fibbar Magees has reopened after a two-month renovation (and the bathrooms are stunning).
• First Born, the late-night concept of brunch restaurant Breaking Dawn, celebrates its soft opening on Thursday in Los Gatos.
• Vivace Restorante turns 30 tomorrow! To celebrate, the restaurant at the Belmont will feature live music and spirits and wine tastings from 5-7 p.m., followed by a special dinner.
• Pamilya, originally scheduled to open this month in Redwood City, is now being pushed back due to construction and permitting.
• Sushi Roku at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto is now open for lunch.
• Start your engines…or rather your zucchinis, because zucchini car races are back at the Los Gatos Farmers Market on Sunday.
• Former “Emeril Live” executive producer Karen Katz will host a book signing for her memoir “Getting Sauced” on June 26 at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto.

Hot Pot at Shabuway

One of the few restaurants I ate at as a child was Shabuway in downtown Mountain View. Growing up with a brother who was allergic to practically everything (except vegetables, meat, and rice), hot pot was the obvious solution for eating out. And I loved hot pot, so I had absolutely no complaints. Melt-in-your-mouth meat, spicy from the chili peppers floating in the broth, dipped in sweet and sour ponzu sauce – what’s not to love?

But all good things must come to an end, and Shabuway in downtown Mountain View has closed. It would not be an exaggeration to say I was devastated. I tried Happy Lamb and Superhot, also on Castro Street, and was very disappointed. Happy Lamb’s pots are oddly placed above the table, making cooking extremely difficult, and they don’t even have ponzu sauce (which, to me, defeats the purpose of a hot pot). And while Superhot does have ponzu and the pots are set into the table (as they should be), the meat is cut way too thick, so it doesn’t melt in your mouth.

So when I was strolling through downtown San Mateo and saw that Shabuway was still there, I knew I had to stop there and relive my childhood. And although the vegetable plate had changed slightly (most notably, the enoki mushrooms were replaced with king trumpets), the meat was just as incredibly tender as I remembered. Shabuway may just make me want to visit downtown San Mateo more often.

Shabuway145 E 3rd Ave., San Mateo; 650-548-2483. Open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

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