Americans of Italian descent are everywhere, with Little Italy districts in many cities, but the highest percentage of Italian-Americans as part of total population is found in Fairfield, New Jersey. While that may be surprising for a small, suburban community, the location near New York and Philadelphia puts it close to two cities where immigrants arrived in generations past. Italian food, New Jersey style, is therefore a legitimate cuisine and it’s the one claimed by Saint Pasta, which recently made the jump from food truck to a fixed location in downtown Phoenix.
Saint Pasta has been slinging pasta in a few locations, most recently at the Pemberton, for several years while also selling jars of the chef-owner’s vodka sauce. If those steps represented beatification, full canonization has occurred with the transition to a full-service restaurant. The location is on the ground floor of the Portland on the Park condominiums, one block west of Roosevelt/Central station on the B Line. A bike rack is found right outside the restaurant in view of an outward-facing counter, and more are located at the other end of the building.
Despite the chef-owner’s voluble presence on social media, the restaurant itself is inconspicuous without even a prominent sign to proclaim its name. To be sure one is in the right place, look for a neon sign with the slogan “al dente or die” visible through the windows facing Portland Street. That sign is just one part of the restaurant’s irreverent vibe. Other facets include blue-purple lighting; a television above the bar showing episodes of “The Sopranos,” a show set in New Jersey; and loud hip-hop on the speakers. The patio is a quieter, more sedate scene.
The menu is succinct, and the restaurant declines modifications. Plenty is vegetarian, but virtually nothing is vegan or gluten-free. Those who can trust the kitchen are generally rewarded with nearly perfect pasta, but customers with special dietary needs or just plain picky eaters would probably be happier elsewhere. The choices are segmented into three categories: salads and starters; pasta, the namesake attraction here; and breaded chicken cutlets pounded thin and fried. They’re colloquially listed on the menu as “parms,” as a shorthand for parmigiana.
The items listed first are workable as appetizers, but may sometimes come at the same time as the entrees, so be prepared to treat them more as sides. The restaurant encourages everything to be ordered at once, an industry trend that turns tables but also demands a certain level of flexibility in sequencing. The Saint Caesar is the restaurant’s version of a classic salad, relying more heavily on iceberg than romaine, and delivering a powerful crunch when combined with a generous dusting of bread crumbs. The resulting color scheme is as much white as green.
Garlic pinsa is a flavorful flatbread, similar in shape to Indian naan, generously dusted with salt, garlic, herbs, and parmesan. Similarly seasoned Vampire Slayer fries fill much the same role with potatoes rather than wheat as the starch and lemon dill aioli served on the side for dipping. Of course, pasta is what virtually everyone comes here for, and there are four options available. The first and most popular is the rigatoni vodka in which ridged tubes of pasta are served in a tomato sauce simultaneously mellowed via slow cooking and sharpened by a little bit of booze.
Spaghetti is available in two formats:one with a tangy pomodoro sauce and the other with a garlic and olive oil combination enhanced with parsley, chilli, flakes and bread crumbs. The fourth and final pasta entree is gnocchi pesto with a pleasingly supple texture and intense flavor from basil and parmesan. All of the pastas have a toothsome touch in fulfillment of the restaurant’s “al dente or die” motto. Portions are somewhere between Ozempic and the Olive Garden. In other words, they provide a filling meal but not a guaranteed source of leftovers.
The pastas can be accessorized with a scoop of ricotta cheese, a chicken cutlet, or both. The poultry is pounded thin, breaded, and then sliced before being placed over the pasta, an ideal approach if one person wants chicken and noodles in the same bowl. For sharing, however, another approach is any of the “parms.” Several pieces are cooked in such a way that they almost fuse, yet they lose none of their tenderness or moisture. They’re available with either the vodka or pomodoro sauces, as well as in a Milanese style with arugula and cherry tomatoes.
After all the pasta and chicken, there is only dessert, but it’s one that fits well with the Italian-American theme. Obtained from local farmers market favorite Chaconne Patisserie, the stracciatella cheesecake has a New York style base layer with strata of creamy mascarpone and a light ganache bounded by a cookie crust on the bottom and chocolate shavings on top. The bar serves its own cocktail creations such as the Homie Hopper with tequila, fruit, and coconut water; a “Saintspresso” martini, and a distinctive blue version of the familiar negroni.
In keeping with the East Coast Italian identity, there’s even an option to combine Miller High Life with aperol and lemon juice to create a cocktail known as “spaghett.” The wine list is small but well considered with a niche for skin-contact orange vintages. Like the Sopranos shown on the screen and the rap reverberating from the speakers, Saint Pasta is not known for its compromises, but it delivers consistent quality on its own terms. Far from Fairfield, or any other place in the Garden State, there is room for a little bit of New Jersey in downtown Phoenix.
PHX Rail Food 