D'Angelo's Italian Ristorante
Chef Heather Abshire, who joined D’Angelo’s Italian Ristorante in May, knows a thing or two about cooking up family favorites. The graduate of Maplewood Career Center’s culinary arts program grew up in a home filled with family, friends and neighbors who eagerly devoured the delicacies her grandfather dished out regularly.
Heather draws on her nostalgia for family recipes, French-style culinary education and experience working with notable local chefs Michael Symon, Shawn Monday and Moe Schneider to create dishes that pay homage to D’Angelo’s Italian Ristorante’s past while embracing the present. That means if you are among the devotees of the house salad, marinara sauce, meat sauce or Palermo (breaded chicken breast with mozzarella, peas and mushrooms in lemon-wine sauce), you can take a sip of Montepulciano and get ready to enjoy a feast. Those favorites are here to stay.
Among this season’s other offerings are Crispy Skin Chicken, which Heather butchers herself to ensure every portion contains both white and dark meat. The moist meat under perfectly crisped, maple butter-glazed skin is served with almond and wine-soaked cranberry quinoa.