Considering that New York City is home to countless award-winning restaurants and gourmet markets, it’s big news when a nationally acclaimed chef finds room on his menu for specialty items from an out-of-state, suburban mom-and-pop pasta shop. Since late summer, Laurent Tourondel, Bon Appetit’s 2007 Restaurateur of the Year, has been selling Springfield Pasta’s dry products at his upscale BLT Market restaurant in the Ritz-Carlton, Central Park.
BLT Market opened in 2007 with a focus on fresh, unusual, wild, locally grown items. Springfield Pasta’s Napoletano family has been spinning grain into gold since the early 1930s. Truly artisan and with no artificial ingredients or preservatives, all pastas are made using the roll-and-cut method or sheeting (like for lasagna or ravioli), as opposed to the less labor-intensive extruding method larger manufacturers use for greater efficiency and cost control.
Notable are the garlic and basil or black pepper and olive oil fettuccine, as well as the crab, lobster, porcini or sun-dried tomato ravioli. The dried pastas are incredibly light, yet they still stand up to rich house-made sauces.
Springfield Pasta’s unassuming shop is packed with dry and fresh pastas, sauces, grating cheeses, microwavable prepared meals, and Old World treats like light and crunchy milk biscotti, and thin and crispy pizzelles. Party trays are available with just 24 hours notice. Or do-it-yourselfers can pick up a pound of lasagna sheets (8 count), a quart of tangy marinara and a side of meatballs for about $18.
186 Saxer Ave., Springfield; (610) 543-5687, springfieldpasta.com
