How Mother Wolf's Evan Funke Puts His Stamp on Roman Food, In Five Dishes

1. Puntarella Alla Romana

“Five years ago, you couldn’t find puntarella, the iconic chicory from Catalonia, in Los Angeles. When I would travel to Italy, I’d bring seeds back — both legally and illegally — and try to find farmers who were willing to grow it. You can now find greens like puntarella, Treviso, and Castelfranco at the farmers markets.

A puntarella salad is both a very quintessential Roman dish and a very wintery dish. It’s such a beautiful vegetable; it has chunky spears that almost look like super-fat asparagus, with long leaves shooting out. In Italy, it’s incredibly bitter, but the water here in L.A. has softened up the taste.

We dress the puntarella in a very simple anchovy vinaigrette made with anchovies from Chitarra, and finish it with a cheese called Caciotta Romana. It’s a soft, super-creamy sheep’s milk cheese. The cheese is not traditional, so this is an example of a dish that I’ve respectfully altered.”