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Seven Days
March 31, 1999
by Marialisa Calta
When in Montpelier…
It was January 1994 when everyone I knew in central Vermont started going out to dinner. That was the month Sarducci’s opened in downtown Montpelier, and it was instantly annointed by locals as the hot restaurant in town.
Apparently, everyone in the area had been dying for Italian food, and it was business partners Dorothy Korshak and Carol Paquette who figured it out. Korshak, a tall, slim woman with swingy blonde hair, had been a partner at Julio’s, the Mexican restaurant just a block down Main Street. Paquette had been a waitress there.
“We saw people waiting an hour to eat at Julio’s,” Korshak said in a recent interview. “We knew that this town was dying for a new place.” When the old warehouse that had been Great American Salvage became available, the two made the plunge, plucking the name from the old “Saturday Night Live” character, Guido Sarducci.
By the time my husband and I made our first pilgrimage – probably the month after it opened – the restaurant was already hopping, and the sound of conversation had reached the shouting level that has been a hallmark of the Sarducci’s dinner experience ever since.
It’s worth the shouting. Over the years, Sarducci’s has proved to be one of the liveliest and most reliable places around. The food is consistently good, the service quick and competent, and the prices reasonable. If you live nearby, you are sure to see people you know there. And I don’t mean just the legislators – especially Democrats – who make the restaurant a second home during the legislative season, but all manner of folks.
How’d Korshak and Paquette do it? The first step was “tons of research,” Korshak says. She and Paquette spent weeks in New York and Boston, visiting and dining at Italian restaurants, collecting menus, quizzing restaurateurs and chefs on their best-selling dishes. They also took notes on décor, and certainly succeeded there as well. Sarducci’s is a warm, open space with walls the color of butternut squash, columns painted to resemble marble, woodwork that has been “mahoganized.” At the other end of a long, beckoning art deco bar sits a round wood-fired oven visible to diners.
The next step was to hire chefs trained by the New England Culinary Institute – also just a short hop down Main Street. “Without NECI, we certainly wouldn’t have been able to maintain such a high caliber of talent in the kitchen,” says Korshak. Currently, NECI graduate Chris Veatch is the executive chef.
The third step was to hire a waitstaff that seems to include only amazingly competent, lithe, buffed young persons, who glide from table to table without ever forgetting an order or missing a beat.
The fourth step is perhaps the hardest to describe, but it involved creating a welcoming atmosphere for a diverse crowd, including children.
“We really wanted this to be a place where everyone would feel comfortable,” says Korshak.
The menu – Italian with a northern accent – is diverse enough to maintain the interest of the folks who eat there several times a week, but not too large as to intimidate or confuse. You can’t beat the hot slices of bread from Il Fornaio, served with garlic and olive oil, that kick off every meal.
First courses include steamed mussels or clams in garlic tomato broth ($5.95), fried calamari ($5.50), and a plate of grilled vegetables, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, caponata, cheese and bruschetta ($6.95). Salads include a mozzarella and tomato salad ($4.95) a grilled portobello salad with gorgonzola and walnuts ($4.95) and – my personal favorite – a spinach salad with toasted pine nuts, goat cheese and pancetta ($5.95).
Pizzas, thin-crusted and smoky from the wood-fired oven, start at $6.95 and, though meant for a single serving, are generous in size. My favorites include the “Florentine” (spinach, roasted garlic, basil and mozzarella), the “Al Fresco” (white pizza with sliced tomatoes, basil, artichoke hearts and roasted garlic), and the “Broccoletti” (portobellos, broccoli, caramelized onion and roasted garlic).
The pasta menu includes 18 regular selections. Prices start at $6.95 for a plate of spaghetti marinara, and range up to $12.95 for the linguine with scallops, clams, mussels, and shrimp. The fettuccine al pollo – smoked chicken breast, broccoli, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes in a light cream sauce – is one of the best-selling dishes, according to Korshak. I found their puttanesca sauce – tomatoes, basil, capers, black olives and anchovies – on the wimpy side, but the “penne Pugliese,” wish mushrooms, spinach, black olives, roasted eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes and garlic, offers a harmonious blend of flavors and an addictive, comfort-food feel.
Entrees ($8.95 to $14.95, served with a house salad) include several chicken preparations (Parmigiana, cacciatore and marsala), a roasted vegetable platter, wood-roasted salmon with lemon, artichokes, red peppers and capers served with risotto, and grilled steak with garlic mashed potatoes.
The lunch menu includes the appetizers, salad, pizza and pasta offerings, as well as a selection of “panini” – grilled sandwiches of Italian sausage, or salmon or roasted chicken.
Desserts ($2.50 to $3.50) include tiramisu, caramel fudge cake, biscotti and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. My daughter swears by the cheesecake.
The children’s menu – for kids under 12 – comprises three dishes, all priced at $3.95 ($1 less at lunch): a cheese or pepperoni pizza, a plate of spaghetti or ravioli with marinara or meat sauce, and fettuccine Alfredo.
It was the kids’ menu that first endeared me to Sarducci’s. Here was a place that my children a) were welcome, b) liked the food, and c) could eat inexpensively while my husband and I enjoyed a plate of something tasty and a glass of wine. One of my daughters had her birthday party at Sarducci’s when she turned seven – our only rule was that everyone had to try the squid. The owners didn’t even mind when we brought in our own dessert.
Should you decide to go, I have a few tips gleaned over the years. If you or your dinner partners don’t like noisy restaurants, go early, between 5 and 6 p.m., or go for lunch. Or, if the deck is open, eat outside, over-looking the Winooski River.
The restaurant does not take reservation except for parties of eight or larger, but you can call – at least an hour before you plan to arrive is best – and put your name down for a table. Otherwise, you risk a long wait. After all, everyone who’s anyone in central Vermont will be there – including, quite likely, your legislators.
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