It's all about the pasta at this new Italian deli in Scottsdale. Here's your guide
I wanna let you in on a spaghetti hack that I discovered after eating at Scottsdale's newest Italian deli. It doesn't say it on the menu board behind the market counter, but S. Maranto's will give you extra food if you tell them you are "real hungry."
They'll only do it for the spaghetti, and not the housemade fusilli, rigatoni, or other pastas that they make fresh every day and sell packaged to-go along with their sauces and spice mixes. But the menu posted on their website promises that "If you are real hungry, we will fill your plate extra full. Just tell us." And an employee confirmed it's true.
Unfortunately, I only noticed this bombshell after it was too late and I'd already filled up on a toasted meatball sandwich, eggplant parmesan with alfredo macaroni, not to mention a kale salad and spiral pasta with red sauce, and a nip of limoncello to boot.
Still, no regrets. S. Maranto's may lean toward the gourmet, but it's a homey red sauce joint at heart and I was nowhere near hungry by the time I left.
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S. Maranto's is a deli and a restaurant
The S. Maranto's space is a little bit restaurant and a little bit market, with bags of fresh pasta and housemade sauces up at the front, and a few tables with imported Italian goods like Orangina and olive oils in the dining room.
The rest of the space is clean and spare, with some homey touches like a mosaic wall of vintage picture frames that skirts the large bar. There's also a massive tiled pizza oven, which is so far just used to cook the restaurant's meat dishes. But head chef Megan Anderson said they plan to roll out a pizza and flatbreads soon.
Anderson has cooked in Valley kitchens like the Lincoln Steakhouse and the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort, and is now working with S. Maranto's owner Mike Miller, a University of Arizona grad who helped manage the food and beverage programs for several local hotels, including the Westin and JW Marriott in Scottsdale.
He opened S. Maranto's in January in a space formerly occupied by a beer bar called Blast & Brew on North Scottsdale Road and Mayo Boulevard.
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What's on the menu at S. Maranto's
You can see the two chefs' gourmet resort backgrounds in the menu, which includes healthful dishes like arugula salad along with Italian American staples like spaghetti and meatballs and sausage and peppers.
Recommended by our server, the kale salad was a sophisticated take on the curly greens, which were tossed with a light citrus honey dressing along with fat green olives that had a salty sweetness to them.
The salad was a nice contrast to the plate of alfredo mac and cheese that we paired with a red sauce eggplant parmesan.
The macaroni itself was leagues better than your regular dried variety, although I'd probably skip the eggplant parmigiana in favor of more pasta next time.
The same holds true for the sandwiches, in my case the meatball, which did the trick but felt more like a quick neighborhood lunch than something I'd seek out.
But I may just feel that way because the pasta was so stellar.
This restaurant is all about the pasta
The bottom line: All your attention should be on the spicy vodka fusilli, which arrived smothered in a lush, creamy tomato sauce topped with a bulb of burratina, a smaller version of the famous fresh cow's milk burrata cheese.
I hit the bulb with my fork and let the sweet cream spill out onto the roasted tomatoes, mopping it all up with that hefty pasta swirl.
Served on a vintage china plate, the dish was both casual and elegant, much like the restaurant itself. I could see myself enjoying it on a weeknight, or doing it up proud on a Saturday with a glass of their fabulous housemade limoncello.
S. Maranto's may bill itself as a deli, but the pasta dishes prove it's so much more.
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S. Maranto's
Where: 7000 E. Mayo Blvd., Suite 1002, Phoenix.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Closed Sunday.
Price: Salads and appetizers $12 to $13; sandwiches $11 to $14; pastas and platters $14 to $16.
Details: 602-283-4730, smarantos.com.
Reach reporter Andi Berlin at amberlin@azcentral.com. Follow her on Facebook @andiberlin, Instagram @andiberlin, or Twitter @andiberlin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: S. Maranto's Italian deli: Order pasta at this Scottsdale restaurant
