Chanan Kamen, Chef Of Osteria Coppa In Downtown San Mateo, Goes To Great Lengths To Produce Superb Pasta Like He Did At Quince

Chanan Kamen knows his noodles.

The executive chef of the brand-new Osteria Coppa in downtown San Mateo spent five years running the pasta station at the famed Quince.

Now he's brought his noodle know-how to the kitchen at the new venture from the people behind Sam's Chowder House.

Each handmade pasta dish we sampled only weeks after Osteria Coppa's debut was a benchmark: The restaurant is casual, but Kamen's rigorous technique is not.

His tagliatelle Bolognese was meticulously assembled from a long-cooked sauce of pork, veal and beef, its bricklike hue turned pink from the addition of milk.

As at Quince, the Piemontese specialty agnolotti dal plin is a fixture on Osteria Coppa's menu, its pinched wrappers filled with pork, veal and guinea hen and swathed in butter and sage.

Good as each of Kamen's pastas are, our favorite might be his tagliolini. The friskiness of smoked trout surges through the dish, as he uses scraps from the fillets to flavor the pasta's aromatic cream base. To finish, Kamen adds a sprightly quartet: lemon, parsley, tarragon and fresh horseradish.

We secured the recipe should you want to practice your pasta prowess at home (click here to download the recipe).

Go ahead and eat in: With food this good, Osteria Coppa is bound to stick around.

Osteria Coppa, 139 South B St. (at 1st Ave.), San Mateo; 650-579-6021 or osteriacoppa.com