Recipe: Gino’s Restaurant and Bar’s ‘Kisses’ cookies

Editor’s note: Recipe first published in the 1990 Index-Tribune Christmas Magazine. See more recipes here.

Gino’s Restaurant and Bar: Kisses

By chef Zino Mezoui (who went on to launch Zino’s Ristorante)

Known for its weekly seafood pasta specials and regular “Wine of the Month” dinners, Gino’s was one of Sonoma’s favorite date spots in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was located on First Street East where Plaza Bistro sits today.

Ingredients:

3 egg whites, beaten until stiff

6 teaspoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons of minced pecans

Instructions:

To stiffly beaten eggs, gradually add sugar, whipping after each addition. Beat until mixture stands up stiffly on the back of a spoon. Mix in pecans. Drop tablespoons of the mixture on baking paper, 2 inches apart. Dry out very slowly at 200 degrees until firm (up to an hour).