Farmingdale's Trento hires top Italian chef

After 13 years, Trento Italian Steakhouse was looking to up its culinary game. Emilio and Lorenzo Branchinelli, the father-son owners, decided that the chef for the job was Pierluigi "Gigi" Sacchetti, whose run of top-rated Long Island Italian spots started with Da Gigi in Lynbrook (2017-18) and extended to Farina 00 in Franklin Square, which opened in 2024 and closed during the winter.

Emilio had known about Sacchetti since the chef first started cooking on Long Island; his name came up when the family was casting about for new kitchen leadership. But it was only when they realized that Sacchetti, Emilio and his wife, Rosanna, were all from the same neighborhood, Piazza Ferrucci, in Florence, that it seemed fate had brought them together. The deal was sealed immediately thereafter.

In March, Sacchetti came aboard as Trento’s executive chef, and also as a corporate consultant overseeing the menus at the group’s four, more casual spots: Italiano in Bethpage, Bramalo in Bellmore, Americano Pie Bar in Islip and Gino’s Tuscany in Massapequa. (The Branchinellis are part of an extended restaurant-owning clan whose progenitor, Luigi Branchinelli, opened the first Gino’s pizzeria. "Emilio" is a common name among subsequent generations: Trento’s Emilio Branchinelli is the cousin of the one who owns Emilio’s in Commack, Pasta-Eria in Hicksville and Fanatico in Jericho. 

For Sacchetti, the new position is ... a relief. An owner-operator since he left Da Gigi, he is "so happy to be able to concentrate on one thing and one thing only — the food." Not only is he an accomplished technician, Sacchetti is a great shopper. He knows who imports the best Italian melons and mushrooms and cheeses, the best Norwegian king crab legs, the best Spanish suckling lamb, the best Japanese or even Tasmanian beef. All of these (and much more) wind up on Trento’s specials menu.

When Trento opened in 2013, the menu ranged from standard Long Island trattoria fare to more rarefied dishes such Chilean sea bass with grapes and prosecco. During the pandemic, Lorenzo said, it beefed up its meat offerings and appended "Italian Steakhouse" to its name.

Sacchetti is slowly working his way through the menu, but having lots of fun with the steakhouse part of it, finishing the prime strip ($42) with shaved Parmesan and arugula; rubbing the 12-ounce pork chop "tomahawk" ($36) with Tuscan herbs and offering a dry-aged daily special of either tomahawk steak, porterhouse or Fiorentina (the massive Tuscan steak).

He’s also veered into crudos and caviar, has introduced a "secret chicken Parm" that involves stuffing the business between two thin cutlets, offers spice-rubbed swordfish and potato-crusted Faroe Island salmon.

But, ultimately, Sacchetti’s heart belongs to pasta, "the umbilical cord that connects me to Italy," as he once put it. He hasn’t fiddled with Trento’s signature troffolini (stuffed with pears, ricotta, truffle cream) but the other six homemade pastas ($28 to $35) will be familiar to anyone who has thrilled to his cooking over the past decade.

Here is the creamy-but-tight cacio e pepe veiling tonnarelli (fat spaghetti); the tagliatelle in a meaty Modenese ragù; a true fettuccine Alfredo, made only with butter and 24-month-old Parmesan; the pappardelle with Tuscan ragù based on that most Tuscan of meats, wild boar (and finished with a little dark chocolate); the plump tortelloni stuffed with veal ossobuco and sauced with marrow-enriched veal jus; the saffron-infused potato gnocchetti with crab and shrimp in a rosé sauce.

All desserts at Trento are homemade and include some rarities such as diplomatico, layers of puff pastry, spongecake and cream. The kitchen also has a secret weapon in partner Lorenzo Branchinelli. Not only does he oversee the group’s pizzerias, but he sees to it that every restaurant — including Trento — makes superb sourdough loaves and focaccia.

Trento Italian Steakhouse, 1058 Broadhollow Rd., Farmingdale, 631-501-0303, trento110.com