Marcello's builds success from ashes of tragedy

Bad things can't keep a good man, or his family, down.

Octavio Perez came to Yuba City four years ago with his wife, Alma, and twin sons, Dominick and Nicholas, to open an Italian restaurant, because, "When I started in the restaurant business in 1985, I started in an Italian restaurant. I fell in love with Italian cuisine: the pastas, the sauces — the different textures in the different items versus other cuisines. Plus, it's easier to execute for a business. And it's a very popular food as well."

But why Yuba City?

"I came up here for the business," he said. "It was easier to start a business here than in L.A., where it's more expensive there."

At first things were going well for the Perez family business, Marcello's Italian Restaurant and Lounge in Yuba City, but disaster soon struck. "We had a fire just four months after we took over the business. We lost everything overnight," Octavio said, "but it never crossed my mind to let the restaurant go, because I had invested my life in this business.

"We're here to stay."

Since he rebuilt and reopened, things have gone well for the restaurant on Bridge Street.

One of Octavio's signature dishes is Chicken Marsala. "It's very easy and simple to make," he said, adding that another positive about the dish is that all the ingredients are available locally.

"We use the same recipe that I used in Los Angeles, but I modified it a little bit," Octavio explained. "What I do is instead of making the sauce separate from the chicken, I make the sauce as I finish cooking the chicken. That puts more flavor in the whole dish, because you finish cooking the mushrooms with the chicken with the Marsala wine.

"What I do first is marinate the chicken breast in fresh basil, olive oil, garlic, a little bit of black pepper and salt, oregano and Italian seasoning."

After that, it gets even easier.

The next thing Octavio did was put a little olive oil, about an ounce and a half, into a pan. While the oil was coming up to frying temperature, he butterflied the chicken breast and lightly breaded it with regular all-purpose flour.

After placing the breast into the pan, he cooked the chicken for about two minutes. Octavio then put in the mushrooms and garlic. He let it cook for another minute, then turned the chicken over and cooked it for three minutes on the second side. He then added the Marsala wine and cooked the chicken for an additional minute.

The final steps were to add the unsalted butter, white wine and chicken broth and let the sauce thicken just a bit.

Once the chicken was done, Octavio said it can be served with fresh vegetables, a baked potato or pasta.

• CHICKEN MARSALA

Makes four servings

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided use

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Basil and oregano, to taste

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

Chopped fresh garlic, to taste

1/2 cup dry Marsala wine

2 ounces unsalted butter

2 ounces white wine

2 ounces chicken broth

Putting it together

First marinate the chicken breasts in 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic, fresh basil, oregano, black pepper and salt.

Coat chicken with flour; shake off excess.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken for six minutes, turning once, until chicken is browned. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, for two minutes.

Add fresh garlic to your taste; cook for one more minute. Add Marsala wine. Let the chicken absorb the wine, then add unsalted butter, white wine, chicken broth and cook it for one more minute.

• • •

Here's a little background on Marsala wine from Wine Intro:

Once the British had a taste of Marsala, demand grew quickly. In the United States during Prohibition, things became even more interesting. The typical Marsala bottles made the wine look like medicine. People found that getting Marsala was less risky than other types of wine. While not as popular now, it is still used quite frequently as a cooking wine in Italian dishes.

Marsala uses the following grapes:

• White skin/berry grapes: Grillo, Catarratto, Inzolia and Damaschino for golden and amber Marsala

• Dark red skin/berry grapes: Pignatello, Calabrese, Nerello Mascalese, Nero d'Avola for ruby red Marsala

Marsala is made in the "solera" tradition — a melding of years. First, a keg is filled with wine from the current vintage of grapes. Subsequent years with similar tastes are placed in kegs above the first. When liquid is drawn out of the bottom (oldest) keg, it is refreshed with liquid from the next keg up, and so on. In this manner, the taste remains the same throughout the cycle, and every bottle you get has (potentially) some liquid from the very first vintage.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter John Hollis at 741-2400 or jhollis@appealdemocrat.com.