Getting
to the root of Italian dining
By Jennifer
Vento
PORTSMOUTH
- It takes five hours to make a batch of restaurant Radici’s tomato
sauce.
The ingredients
include stewed tomatoes, carrots, onions and celery but no dried
herbs. Its secret?
"I can’t tell
you," said Radici Executive Chef Stephen Diehl. "I came up with
my own sauce that no one would have. It’s an old world style tomato
sauce."
Diehl, more
commonly known as "Reno," mixes a little tradition in with his
own love for food as he prepares such sauces and specialties for
Congress Street’s newest Italian restaurant.
Radici, which
means "roots" in Italian, opened Sept. 25. The idea behind it
is to bring people together around good food, reasonable prices
and a relaxing atmosphere.
"We wanted
to create a very warm, comfortable environment for people," said
manager Kevin Powell.
The restaurant’s
walls, which formerly held The Crazy Cat Lounge and, before that,
The Elvis Room, now boast sage green paint and soft, dim white
lighting. Its menu offers a variety of Italian salads, pastas
and vegetarian dishes.
Diehl, a Portsmouth
native, starts cooking around 11 a.m. each day. His pasta specialties
include chicken and sausage cacciatore with fettucine, for $15.95;
shrimp, scallop or monkfish scampi with linguine, for $15.95 and
vegetarian dishes, such as tuscan grilled vegetables and pasta
fajiole.
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The restaurant
makes a special effort to cater toward vegetarians, offering five
vegetarian dishes a night as well as guaranteeing meat-free sauces
and egg-free pasta.
Diehl, a graduate
of the Culinary Institute of America, said he’s constantly concocting
new ideas for the evening’s specials. On a recent Friday evening,
he offered up a charbroiled swordfish, served over a puttanesca
sauce.
"It’s kind
of spiritual for me," Diehl said, "You get into a rhythm. You
have fun with food."
Radici is
the third restaurant on the block operated by Jay McSharry. McSharry,
who opened Jumpin Jay’s Fish Café in May of 2000, and followed
with the Raw Bar in April of this year, acquired the space vacated
by The Crazy Cat Lounge and spent $100,000 in renovations to create
the concept of "Italy today" in Portsmouth.
Radici’s focus,
he said, is to offer a more reasonably priced menu than Jumpin’
Jay’s to a more universal palette - without the wait. Unlike Jumpin’
Jay’s, Radici does not take reservations, but will operate on
a first come, first served basis. Its goal is to keep entree prices
under $15, though a few items on the menu - mostly seafood - pop
slightly over that.
"I think we’ve
slowly been able to build a name of good food and service," McSharry
said. "It’s still the same high quality. There’s no reason not
to strive for the best service and food you can."
McSharry said
he chose to open Radici at the Congress Street location for two
reasons. He couldn’t find anything else in town that offered what
he felt was a reasonably priced Italian menu - with a focus on
vegetarian dishes that don’t all include pasta - and he wanted
to continue drawing the city’s night life farther uptown.
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"I felt it
would bring synergy to this area of town," McSharry said.
His goal is
to establish Radici with 38 seats, plus a bar. In the coming months,
he hopes to add an additional 40 seats and a late-night music
series in the room formerly occupied by Elvis Room bands.
Perhaps the
most characteristic feature of Radici is the collection of expansive
photographs framed on the walls, which depict small Italian shops
and eateries, as well as Italian landmarks, monuments and country
views.
The photographs,
taken by Seacoast Newspapers Chief Photographer Deb Cram, represent
a candid, modern Italy. Cram took more than 2000 photographs on
a recent trip to Italy. More than 50 are currently on display.
"Deb is the
artwork," McSharry said. "She is my decorating budget."
In addition
to the menu and the artwork, Radici’s bar offers 38 different
wines, including Tiefenbrunner Pinot Grigio and Bertani Due Uve.
Powell said that serving the traditional wines is an attempt to
further educate people on Italian wines and ways.
"We want people
to understand what the roots are all about," he said.
Radici opens
at 5 p.m. daily. For information, call 373-6464.
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[Review from
www.seacoastonline.com]
