Antonio Arenas | Executive Chef | Emilia Restaurant | Redlands, California

Photo Credit: Antonio Arenas

Summer Meets Fall

Early autumn signals a culinary shift no matter what the thermometer outside says. Soups and stews return to menus as reliably as pumpkins appear on doorsteps.

At Emilia, an intimate, upscale new restaurant in Redlands, California, Chef Antonio Arenas sees creative opportunity in the transition from summer to fall. Emilia serves Mexican-inspired cuisine influenced by global flavors, which Chef Antonio brings to life in a luxurious Risotto alle Campesante with Passion Fruit Concentrate. Inspired by the elegant Italian seafood dish made with creamy risotto and capesante, tender sea scallops, Chef Antonio cooks aged carnaroli rice slowly over low heat, then tops it with pan-seared scallops, passion fruit sauce, and a drizzle of passion fruit-infused oil.

Chef Antonio originally made the recipe for Citrone Italian Chophouse in Redlands, California, the city he’s called home for 30 years. Now, in partnership with Bruno Escovar, Chef Antonio combines his background in French and Italian cuisine with the flavors of his native Veracruz and Baja, where Bruno has deep roots. Mexican at its core but not constrained by borders, Emilia’s team applies global technique and inspiration to reinterpret ingredients and flavors through a Mexican perspective. “It’s almost Mexican fine dining with a lot of nostalgic Mexican dishes,” Chef Antonio says.

A Passion for Contrast

Passion Fruit’s pronounced acidity is a natural complement to sweet sea scallops in Risotto alle Campesante. Its tropical character preserves the brightness of summer in a dish that epitomizes cool-weather fare. It also contrasts well with the buttery sweetness of the mascarpone Chef Antonio adds to the dish for rich, silky texture. Stretching tropical flavors like passion fruit into September while beginning to signal fall is exactly what diners want, Chef Antonio says.

Pairing passion fruit and risotto began as an experiment and evolved into a signature dish that expertly balances richness, sweetness, and acidity. “I love to create a different flavor and a dish that has a bunch of flavor,” Chef Antonio says

To start, he sears the scallops on both sides (“very well,” he notes) so the crust is crispy and a little smoky. The caramelization turns the reaction with the passion fruit oil into a burst of umami. He uses just a couple of drops of passion fruit oil to concentrate the tart fruit flavor and enhance the color and texture of the dish. “It makes a beautiful contrast,” Chef Antonio says. A squeeze of fresh lime adds a final bright acidic lift.

­User Tip: Open the Door to Discovery

Chef Antonio, 55, started working in kitchens when he was 17 and built much of his early career at large hotels in Veracruz, including Grand Fiesta Americana and Continental Plaza. The experience gave him a strong foundation in high-volume hospitality and imprinted a deep love of his native cuisine including seafood, chiles, mole, plantains, tamales and tortillas. “I love the food from Veracruz, the different textures and flavors,” he says, and for the past 30 years in America has worked to reinterpret those familiar flavors in more refined, elevated ways.

The Perfect Purée’s consistent, concentrated flavor speeds up the process. Thinking beyond passion fruit, one of his all-time favorite flavors, he’s experimenting with Coconut Puree in ceviche de coco, a coconut ceviche topped with coconut foam and finished with a drizzle of avocado oil. “I think The Perfect Purée is a very good product to experiment with different flavors,” Chef Antonio says.

For Chef Antonio, experimentation is increasingly important. He sees too many restaurants relying on familiar dishes and similar menus, which he concedes is safe in the present economy but can get boring. He encourages young chefs to explore new ingredients and push boundaries.

His advice is simple: create more, experiment more, and make room for products that can lead a menu somewhere unexpected. “I think it’s time to open the door,” he says. For Chef Antonio, the opportunity is not just to serve what guests already know, but to give them a flavor they haven’t tasted before.