Monte’s Fine Foods is open for business. The preview on Thursday brought out an anticipatory crowd for the soft opening. Friday made the opening official, a welcome event for the owners who spent the past year turning the old Angelone’s Pizza building in East Deering on Washington Avenue into a sparking citadel of true Roman-style pizza and specialty Italian- and Mediterranean-fare.
The pizza ovens and kitchen at Monte’s
Chef Steve Quatrucci, co-owner (with Neil Rouda) and pizza maven, is the force behind Monte’s with a curriculum vitae in Portland’s food world that spans decades. For instance, he founded The Back Bay Grill in 1988; several years later he opened the inimitable West End Deli; he also revitalized the kitchen at Miss Portland Diner as its lead chef who established the menu as it is today (those southern biscuits were all his after I introduced Steve to the fineness of using soft-wheat southern flour for biscuits). He has also worked at food retailers and even for the City of Portland where he tried to revitalize the Riverside Golf Club and Grill owned by the city. He created a remarkable menu for a clientele who preferred, however, hot dogs, fries and beer.
Plenty of parking at Monte’s (Photo courtesy of Monte’s Fine Foods)
And most importantly the Quatrucci family has long held sway in Portland food circles among the Italian-American community. Or as Quattrucci relates, “Memories from my childhood are filled with smells and scenes from busy kitchens and tables full of the most delicious food you can imagine.” To wit: Nana Q’s red sauce made by his grandmother is the sauce that will adorn all the pizzas and many prepared dishes. It’s the same sauce that was served at the family’s Balboa Cafe circa 1930s on India Street.
A sample slice of anchovy pizza served on preview night
The store is a marvel of spic and span steel counters and appliances with those massive pizza ovens lining the kitchen wall. The display shelves add another modern element to the look of the shop holding dry goods that include fine olive oil and vinegar, wine, condiments (very good brand of imported capers), pastas from Italy. Local foods abound too with seasonal vegetables and fruits like local strawberries, creams, butter, etc. Think of it as a modern version of Micucci Grocery with a more artisanal approach and a larger lineup of specialty and prepared foods. (Quatrucci also hired a star pastry chef who is working on a pastry menu that will debut in the coming weeks.)
Left,clockwise: Chef Quatrucci in front of the pizza ovens; the large kitchen is gleaming stainless steel; some of the canned goods on the shelves
At this point total offerings are still in the works and other than a few sample slices of pizza under my belt I haven’t had a whole pie in front of me. Though many people on preview night were walking out with pizza boxes filled with the signature oval shape Roman pies.
Lots of canned good and imported Italian pasta and local produce
Monte’s brings to Portland’s food scene a finely tuned emporium for Italian and Mediterranean food, one that you’ll most likely visit over and over again, if only for their fabulous Roman-style pizzas and prepared foods to eat there, on the dining patio or take out. And I’m looking forward to anything that has Nana Q’s red sauce, a family recipe that seems to get better and better.
Monte’s Fine Foods, 788 Washington Ave., Portland, ME 207-613-9873
Rating: On the way to 5 stars
Ambiance: Trattoria, Pizzaeria, Gourmet Food Shop
Tables: at counter or at outside dining; take-out
Parking: on site
$$$ Moderate
