Pasta Paradise

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Paciarino, a year-old Italian restaurant on Portland’s Fore Street, is located in a classic brick building that used to house a swanky salon. The juxtaposition couldn’t be more jarring: Where a beauty salon once trafficked in artifice — covering gray, hiding “problem” features with a few strokes of a makeup brush, and the like — Paciarino is all about authenticity. The tables are wooden and bare; your placemat is a block of slate or wood. Your pasta was handmade on the premises this morning, and the sauce that covers it is composed of a few well-chosen ingredients expertly combined.

The attitude at Paciarino reflects the approach of its owners, Enrico Barbiero and Fabiana de Savino. Natives of Milan, Italy, the couple sought out a quieter, safer location to raise their daughter, Berenice, who is now seven. They visited Maine for several weeks and, feeling that they’d found a home, settled in Portland. In early 2009, they opened their restaurant, inspired by de Savino’s grandmother. “Paciarino [means] cozy food, homemade food,” says de Savino. “It’s what the grandmothers prepare for the kids on Sunday.”

Unless your grandmother was raised in the Old World, however, it’s unlikely that she produced anything akin to what comes out of Paciarino’s small, cheery kitchen. The pasta — tagliatelle, ravioli, maccheroni, gnocchi — is as fresh as it gets. The ingredients are simple: flour, egg, water. It’s cooked to al dente perfection, with just the right level of solidity at the core. And unlike much of the pasta that originates on this side of the Atlantic, it actually has flavor — a mild nuttiness that provides a lovely backdrop for Barbiero’s sauces. (De Savino oversees the pasta making and front of the house, while Barbiero handles the kitchen during service.)

As for the experience of eating at Paciarino, it’s simplicity itself. At lunch, you read the day’s entrees — a handful of dishes, such as tagliatelle Bolognese and spinach and ricotta ravioli with a brown butter and sage sauce that generally range from ten to fifteen dollars — off a chalkboard in the entrance, then order right there. If you’ve got questions about the various pastas, de Savino and her staff have a small basket of dried samples on the counter. Choose from a small array of beverages — wine by the glass, a few sodas, sparkling or tap water — and your work is done.

Once you’ve ordered, you’ll be directed to a table, and a server will take over. If you’ve got a small child in tow, an elegant wooden highchair will appear tableside without anyone ever saying a word. A moment later, a few pieces of colored chalk are delivered, the better to decorate a slate while you wait for your lunch. It’s really no different than the cup of crayons and paper placemat that are plunked down in front of kids at restaurants all over town, but the novelty earns the adults at the table a few more minutes of uninterrupted conversation.

Dinner is slightly more formal, with cloth napkins rather than paper, and full table service. Wine, from a small list of reasonably priced Italian producers, is served in juice glasses, and the service is friendly and low-key — while you should bring your manners, you won’t get scowled at for using the wrong fork. In fact, there is no wrong fork. Instead, there are chunks of bread from Sorella’s Bakery, served with small tastes of the pomodoro and Bolognese sauces for dipping. The bright red sauces glisten with imported canned tomatoes and a generous pour of olive oil that makes a perfectly silky complement to the toothsome pasta. The Bolognese is lightly studded with morsels of Wolfe’s Neck meat — a far cry from the gobs of beef that make other versions of this dish so leaden.

For dessert, you can indulge in an espresso or cappuccino and a small array of sweets. On a recent visit, the tiramisu — fussy and complex, as it should be — seemed almost out of place. But a simple, delicious dish of vanilla gelato, sliced strawberries, and aged balsamic vinegar suited Paciarino’s style perfectly.

If after visiting Paciarino you’re hooked by Barbiero and de Savino’s cooking — and it would be hard not to be — you can pick up some of their products to take home. (Soon, you’ll even be able to order them online.) They sell their own fresh and frozen pastas and sauces, as well as specialty items imported from Italy. “Pasta and sauce, the stuff with which we grew up, is our big love,” de Savino says. “It feels good to share it.”

Paciarino is located at 468 Fore Street in Portland and is open Monday through Saturday. The store, which sells mostly imported Italian products, opens at 9:30 a.m. Lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, dinner is served from 6 to 9 p.m. Handicap Accessible. 207-774-3500. www.paciarino.com [3]