“Many chefs put the pasta at the center of their menu,” says Chef Lorenzo Boni, Barilla’s executive chef for North America. “And then they really care about the quality of the pasta.” He’s not just talking about Italian restaurants: The best contemporary eateries in a multitude of categories—from New York, to Chicago, to Austin—have embraced pasta at the core of their offerings, which is why many of them look to Barilla and its newest line: Barilla Al Bronzo.
For Chef Lorenzo, and many other experts, two components are key in pasta: consistency and quality (and they work hand-in-hand): “Consistency is the difference between a good restaurant and a great one. With pasta, it’s the same,” he says. But just as importantly, “The quality must always be uncompromised.” With Barilla, and the addition of its Al Bronzo cuts of Bucatini, Mezzi Rigatoni, Orecchiette, Spaghetti, Fusilloni, and Penne Rigate[da1] , both professional chefs and home cooks are able to tap into an entire new level of pasta perfection.
The name Al Bronzo refers to a pasta-making technique as storied as Barilla, which has been crafting pastas since 1877. The key is in extruding the pasta, still in dough form, through a bronze die. This method, which is at once time-tested and specialized, creates a coarser, more porous surface on the pasta. The end result: a much better pasta dish. Why? First, bronze-die-cut pasta releases starch that is more easily released into the cooking water, preventing gumminess, preserving nutrients, and making for better bites. Second, when the sauce is added, it mingles more easily and thoroughly with the pasta, creating a more uniform, authentic, delicious experience.
But Barilla goes even further with Al Bronzo. They begin with the finest ingredients: “Only
carefully selected batches of durum wheat,” says Chef Lorenzo, which makes a difference “for a complicated recipe of protein content and other quality markers we look for.” Along with a bronze die process, Barilla Al Bronzo uses innovative micro-engravings within the actual die. This patented technique creates microscopic grooves and caverns in the pasta—inside and out—giving each piece an extraordinary hold on its sauce with every bite.
“That texture of the surface of the pasta helps it combine with the sauce , and also aids the release of starch while cooking,” says Chef Lorenzo. “It makes a huge difference, and is definitely an innovation in pasta-making.”
Chef Lorenzo’s own pasta roots reach back to his birthplace of Bologna, in a region famous for its ragùs, which can be served with tubular pastas like Mezzi Rigatoni. In the Barilla Al Bronzo version of this shape, the microscopic grooves have been added to the inside of the pasta, as well as the ridged exterior, ensuring every incredible mouthful has impeccable balance of sauce and flavor. Chefs looking more southward, to Naples and Campania, might select Al Bronzo’s Fusilloni, a rolled pasta ideally enveloped in that region’s simple tomato sauces, adorned with local provolone or mozzarella. Fans of Puglia, and its native seafood and broccolini, might look to the delicate concave rounds of Barilla Al Bronzo Orecchiette, used often in that region. For every region, there is a pasta that fits: from Roman Spaghetti all’Amatriciana to Ligurian pesto irresistibly clinging to Penne Rigate. These are delicious matches made in heaven, or over centuries of tradition and care throughout Italy, made even more so by Barilla’s Al Bronzo line.
There is a variety of Al Bronzo pasta for all home cooks as well, and here Chef Lorenzo has a key piece of advice: Cut your pasta cooking time down by a few minutes. And after you’ve drained your al dente pasta, “Finish it in the skillet with the sauce and a little bit of the starchy water,” he says. No matter which pasta you’re cooking with, “It will help marry the pasta with the sauce.”
This unification is something that countless home cooks, and chefs at internationally recognized restaurants, are achieving with Barilla Al Bronzo. It’s not just one factor; it’s the combination of several—including tradition, innovation, ingredients, and texture—to create Al Bronzo’s unique approach to the best possible flavor. And the best possible experience.
Whether you’re sitting down to chef-made Penne Rigate pesto or your grandmother’s tomato sauce with Spaghetti, “If the pasta is not of a great quality, it’s going to affect the overall quality of the dish,” says Chef Lorenzo. It’s really an issue of fundamentals, something good cooks—from everyday kitchens to the top foodie destinations—know well. “The pasta, it’s really the foundation,” he says. Sì, chef!
In a celebration of pasta season from September 22 to October 21, 2025, Barilla Al Bronzo will appear on the menus of 20 Austin restaurants, showcased in imaginative dishes that blend Texas Hill Country flavors with Italian cuisine—think Orecchiette with Prosciutto di Parma and Texas Peas, or Bouldin Creek Shrimp over White Sauce Mezzi Rigatoni, among others. Photos courtesy of Barilla and Page and Plate Studio.
Be sure to visit these participating restaurants and experience each kitchen’s own creative twist:
68 Degrees Kitchen (2401 Lake Austin Blvd.)
Amici Ristorante Pizzeria (9521 US 290)
Asti Trattoria (408 E. 43rd St., Suite C)
Corinne (304 E. Cesar Chavez St.)
Dovetail Pizza & Bar (1816 S. 1st St.)
Foreign & Domestic (306 E. 53rd St.)
Gina’s on Congress (314 Congress Ave.)
The Grove Wine Bar & Kitchen (Westlake: 6317 Bee Cave Rd. #380; Lakeway: 3001 Ranch Rd., 620 S.; Cedar Park: 1310 E. Whitestone Blvd. #500; Northwest Hills: 7719 Wood Hollow Dr. #100)
Gusto Italian Kitchen & Wine Bar (4800 Burnet Rd.)
Juliet Italian Kitchen (Barton Springs: 1500 Barton Springs Rd.)
La Traviata Italian Kitchen (7415 Southwest Parkway, Building 4, Suite 100)
Lenoir (1807 S. 1st St.)
Mangia La Pasta! (1300 E. Anderson Lane, Building D, Suite 1204; takeout only)
Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill (303 Red River St.)
Numero 28 (452 W. 2nd St.)
Second Bar & Kitchen at East Austin Hotel (1108 E. 6th St.)
Siena Ristorante Toscana (6203 N. Capital of Texas Highway)
