Philly restaurant pitching in to help earthquake victims

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- It's been almost a month since a deadly earthquake devastated part of central Italy.[br /][br /]With an enormous cleanup effort still ongoing, a local restaurant is stepping in to raise money to help out.[br /][Ads /][br /]When Joe Cicala, the executive chef of Le Virtu on East Passyunk Avenue, was creating a five course menu for their upcoming earthquake relief dinner, choosing the star course was simple.[br /][br /]"That would be bucatini all'amatriciana a tomato sugo, made by braising guanciale, which is a pork cheek," he said.[br /][br /]It's a simple, classic dish that takes good ingredients, and time.[br /][br /]"We add the tomato, a little bit of water, and cook on low for hours," said Cicala.[br /][br /]Le Cirtu specializes in the cuisine of Abruzzo.[br /][Ads /][br /]"So naturally it was a good fit for us to raise as much money as we could for this cause," Cicala said.[br /][br /]When an earthquake hit the nearby town of L'Aquila in 2009, the restaurant raised $14,000 in two nights.[br /][br /]"And we are experiencing the same response now because of the Italian-American community in South Philadelphia," said Cicala.[br /][br /]The first one, on September 22, sold out so quickly, that they added a second dinner on October 20, with the money raised going to the Italian Red Cross.[br /][br /]And if you can't make it, you can still support the relief efforts any time[br /][Ads /][br /]"Three dollars of every plate of bucatini sold will go to earthquake relief," said Cicala.[br /][br /]Joe's wife Angela, the pastry chef, is also auctioning off 20 of her original paintings, showing images of Amatrice's architecture lost in the earthquake, using authentic ingredients.[br /][br /]"And I am doing a little bit of recreations of them using espresso and wine and saffron, things that are very popular in Italy," she said.[br /][br /][url HREF="[br /]http://levirtu.com/category/events/" TARGET="blank" REL="nofollow"]For more information visit LeVirtu.com[/url]