Non Solo
by Frank D. Quattrone
In Italy, there are 55 million grandmothers, and they’re all great chefs!” So says Gennaro Scotto d’Antuono, chef-owner of Non Solo Pasta, a mainstay in Morrisville since 1996. Tell me about it, Gennaro! My own mother was the best cook in the world — except for her mother, my dear departed nonna, who was still cooking up a storm into her 100th year, when she finally departed us to prepare great meals in Paradise.
Eminently quotable in addition to being a first-rate culinary artist, Gennaro brings inspiration to his kitchen from both his maternal and paternal grandmothers, with whom he grew up in the countryside near Naples, Italy. From them, the self-taught chef learned the value of what some call “peasant food.” “You know,” he said, “food readily available. No need to go shopping.”
And his menu reflects the simplicity and pure flavors associated with Naples. “It’s southern Italian,” he said, “Seafood and poultry. Fresh vegetables. Both my grandmothers raised chickens and rabbits, and we were always close to the sea. Fish was a staple of our diet. Instead of salt, we would use anchovies, like in Roman times. And talk about the Feast of the Seven Fishes, so popular around the holidays. Besides bacala [Italian-style salt cod], sometimes we would use more than seven fishes!”
Maintaining that pristine approach in his own restaurant, Gennaro rarely includes red meat on his menu. He uses only organic, hormone-free chicken and meats from animals that are treated well. He prefers to cook with unsalted butter and extra virgin olive oil. A man of integrity who is often disappointed by menus that don’t deliver what they say they do, he promises to offer his guests exactly what they find on the menu, and it’s truly something special.
In fact, Non Solo Pasta — which means “not only or not just pasta” — does eighty percent of its sales from the Specials Menu. That is something I’ve never heard before. According to Gennaro, the regular menu has more basic, but still wonderful, Italian dishes, such as Pasta Bolognese, Chicken Saltimbocca, Veal Milanese, and Wild Shrimp Scampi. He recalls a customer once asking, indignantly, why he doesn’t have Chicken Parmigiana, a very popular Italian dish, on the menu. He said he shrugged and replied, “Well, it takes up too much real estate on the menu. Here you’ll find items that aren’t offered anywhere else.”
An honest answer, and a savory one, at that. From the extensive Specials Menu, Eve and I started our meal with Grilled Young Octopus, drizzled with a lemon-based Mediterranean Citronette over fresh arugula, and a marvelous Burrata, a generous plate of soft cow’s milk cheese from Puglia, Italy, with succulent heirloom tomatoes and Prosciutto di Parma sprinkled with light imported cream, extra virgin olive oil and fresh basil; and Wild Boar Polpette, or wild boar meatballs, served with fresh herbs and wild mushrooms in a red wine reduction. With the restaurant’s outstanding house-made rolls, fashioned from pizza dough and good enough to eat as a meal by themselves, we enjoyed the dressings as much as we did the appetizers.
At Gennaro’s suggestion, we tried tastings of two primi piatti (or first dishes, usually pasta, which follow appetizers in Italian meals), and they surpassed the excellent appetizers in both flavor and eye appeal. Our lovely server, the cheerful Lindsay Guzik, who says she has loved working at the bustling restaurant for the past three-and-a-half years, brought us, again from the Specials Menu, Twisted Norma and La Vicaria.
A variation on a traditional Sicilian favorite, Twisted Norma (there must be quite a story behind that one!) was a delectable melding of sautéed eggplant and fresh basil drizzled with a light marinara and a touch of cream of burrata over ziti. La Vicaria, a typical Neapolitan holiday treat usually served during the Christmas season, is a savory blend of anchovies, capers, olives, raisins, garlic, and kale over spaghettini, topped with toasted crumbs and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.
Finally, Lindsay graced our table with two of Gennaro’s seafood specialties. Eve’s personal favorite was the seven-ounce grilled filet of Branzino Acquappazza, distinctly flavored with spinach, cherry tomatoes, Kalamata olives, and capers in a white wine broth. And I had the Wild Shrimp Scampi, colossal but tender shrimp bathed in a butter-garlic sauce, no less flavorful than the evening’s specials.
Gennaro’s seafood was so light and tenderly prepared that, even after three appetizers and two primi piatti, Eve and I finished both dishes, feeling fully satisfied but not stuffed. An outstanding meal! But we decided to leave the homemade desserts until our next visit.
With every dish prepared lovingly to order, we could fully understand Gennaro’s successful approach to dining. “Every meal should be a one-and-a-half- to two-hour dining experience,” he said, as he left our table to engage other guests in the pleasantries of the evening. “And I still love what I do,” he said. Amen to that!
Non Solo Pasta is located at 900 West Trenton Avenue, Morrisville, PA; 215-736-0750; www.nonsolopasta.restaurant. Hours: Monda –Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 1 to 9 p.m. Full-service bar. Takeout and in-house catering available.