Greenpoint resident Salvatore Pluchino wants to transport his neighbors to a kitchen in Sicily for an evening.
On Saturday, February 3, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Pluchino is hosting a pasta-making party in the former Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory location at 99 Commercial Street in Greenpoint. Over the course of the evening, guests will learn to make homemade pasta from scratch and taste fresh extra virgin olive oil from family-run farms in Sicily.
The party starts with an authentic Sicilian aperitivo paired with Sicilian wine and mocktails. Then, all the guests will make fresh pasta from scratch under the guidance of Pluchino. Afterward, guests will serve and eat the homemade pasta with a traditional Sicilian sauce called norma, followed by dessert.
During the party, Pluchino will also talk about fresh extra virgin olive oil and show guests how to taste it and recognize which ones are of the highest quality.
Pluchino purposely does not call these events classes, but instead uses the term party. “The entire event is organized in a way that feels like more of a gathering with friends rather than a cooking class,” he told Greenpointers.
Tickets to the party cost $95, and there is an option to add a bottle of olive oil to your ticket for an extra $20.
Pluchino is the owner of Seligo, a small natural Sicilian food brand based in Greenpoint that he started about three years ago. On the website, Seligo sells extra virgin olive oil, unrefined pasta, and unrefined chocolate. Seligo does not have a brick-and-mortar store, as Pluchino mostly sells to other retailers.
Pluchino told Greenpointers that although he lives in Greenpoint full-time, he often collaborates with gourmet shops in the Catskills, especially near the towns of Hudson and Catskill, and organizes similar pasta-making events in that area. Pluchino plans to host a series of events in Greenpoint in the future.