For Alessandro Zecca and Danielle Duran-Zecca, a husband-and-wife team of culinary dynamos, the concept of romance language takes on many forms. It’s in their signature cuisine, “Mexitalian,” which merges Zecca’s Italian heritage with Danielle’s upbringing in Los Angeles as the child of Guadalajaran immigrants. It’s in their buzzy new LA restaurant, Amiga Amore, which serves up Mexitalian dishes in a cozy space created by the couple themselves. And it’s also in their shared love of cannabis and its incorporation into their fine-dining pop-ups.
Like so many love stories, this one started in New York City.
“I went to culinary school in Pasadena at Le Cordon Bleu,” said Duran-Zecca. “The restaurant scene in LA wasn’t as booming as it is now, and I needed a change. I got an opportunity in New York City and bought a one-way ticket, sold everything but two suitcases, and went to go work at Le Bernardin to get Michelin star training.”
After working in the famed French eatery for one year as a line cook, learning and elevating through the ranks, she landed a sous chef position at The Modern restaurant in The Museum of Modern Art in New York. Through that position, she met Zecca.
“We had so much in common,” she said. “He was opening up a restaurant, and he was also on crutches. He had hurt himself and we ended up living like off of the same train. I helped him home… I was just a really nice girl.”
Originally from Italy, Zecca had been working in New York as a restaurant manager. Having grown up in the kitchen of the restaurant where his mother worked her way from server to owner, he was ready to open a spot of his own.
In 2009, he hired Duran-Zecca ( …
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Author: Lindsay MaHarry / High Times
