Some restaurants bill themselves as “fine” dining. Others boast they are the “best” in town.
At the legendary Arturo’s in Eastwood, they proudly proclaimed themselves to be purveyors of “decent” Italian food.
And now, 28 years after Arturo’s Decent Italian Food closed, there’s a cookbook to showcase everything that made the place, well, … OK.
It’s called “Arturo’s ‘Decent’ Italian Cookbook,” of course. It includes recipes like the famous Bad Breath Bonanza, a dish of steamed clams and mussels “drenched in garlic butter sauce for an odor you cannot refuse.”
There are also recipes for sauces and pasta, pizzas, sandwiches (or sangwidges) and even items that don’t seem so Italian, such as Sauerbraten, Beef Stroganoff and Shrimp Creole. (See some recipes below)
The book is the project of Brian Belge, son of the late Art “Arturo” Belge, who ran the restaurant from 1958 to 1990 in Eastwood, and then from 1990 to 1993 in Mattydale. Art Belge died in 2016 at age 83.
The decent cookbook is available now at Amazon.com, and there will be a signing, along with some samples of Arturo’s favorite foods at a special event Dec. 18 at the Marketplace on James in Eastwood. (See details below).
The cookbook is actually the second in what could be called an Arturo’s series. Art Belge put together a memoir of sorts called “Warm Flat Beer” in 2015, with Brian’s help. It was collection of funny, absurd stories Art wrote about his life, most first printed as columns in the pages of Table Hopping magazine.
More of Art Belge’s humor and wit are on display in the cookbook, along with his recipes. (Brian added some of his own anecdotes.)
“These are stories mostly about growing up in the restaurant business,” Brian Belge said. “So really, it’s about the restaurant, the stories and the food.”
Brian grew up with six sisters, and all were put to work at Arturo’s.
“All fifteen of the Belge kids (okay, seven — but they seemed like more) worked in the restaurant with their dad from when they were little things until one by one they headed off to the bright lights of Albany,” one of the anecdotes begins. “… They worked for cheap. As Arturo himself said, they were well worth the dough.”
All the recipes in the book are based on ones devised by Art himself. The biggest issue is compiling the recipes into a cookbook was scaling them down for home cooking, Brian Belge said.
“It was time consuming and challenging to take pizza recipes for 200 and take them down to six,” Brian Belge said. “Or a sauce for 50 (servings) and bring it down to six.”
But Art’s spirit lives on in the recipes. In a section of the cookbook called “Art Speaks for Himself,” he answers the question, “Do you Gotta Ricotta?”
His answer:
“Let me put it this way. No. You see, I personally crafted each and every recipe right down to the teeniest pinch and dash; enhancing the menu with my unique, Arturian flare; and I based my decisions solely on the whims of an impartial panel of one: me.
“That’s why every lasagna recipe in the world says you gotta have ricotta — except mine. I never cared for the stuff, so in my lasagna you don’t gotta ricotta — you gotta notta ricotta.”
It seemed to work, said Tom Gillies, who worked in the kitchen at Arturo’s for several years, became a lifelong friend of Art’s and served a a taste-tester for the cookbook recipes.
Along with the pizza and the clam dishes, “the lasagna was always one of the most popular items at Arturo’s,” Gillies said.
As for pizza, the new cookbook makes one thing clear about how they did it at Arturo’s: “Don’t Throw Your Dough! is the title of one chapter. (They spread it in a well seasoned pizza pan).
“Art was hands on with recipes and cooking in the kitchen,” Gillies said. “And then he was also out in the dining room telling stories. Art was Arturo’s, in every way.”
Brian Belge said the book is aimed primarily at those who remember Art and Arturo’s, and share a passion for the old days in Eastwood.
“There’s no question there are people who have fond memories,” he said. “That nostalgia is what we’re counting on.”
Book signing
When: Starts at 11:30 a.m., Saturday. Dec. 18
Where: Marketplace on James, 2802 James St., Eastwood. (This is a new crafts market, with a kitchen serving lunch).
Details: Brian Belge will discuss and sign copies of “Arturo’s ‘Decent’ Italian Cookbook.” The books will be sold for $18, a discount from the Amazon price. Art Belge’s friends Tom and Denise Gillies will serve some Arturo’s favorites from the kitchen.
Recipes
Editor’s note: The recipes in “Arturo’s ‘Decent’ Italian Cookbook,” are, like Arturo himself, a little eccentric.
Spaghetti Sauce
Rehearsal (ingredients)
12 cups (4 28-0z. cans) crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups (2 6-oz. cans) tomato paste
4 cups bell pepper broth (note) or veggie stock
2 cups sausage drippings; sub butter or oil if you must
1/2 cup olive oil
1 stick (1/4 pound) melted butter
2 tablespoons basil
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon black peppers
Peformance (directions)
1. Mix first six items (wet stuff) in a heavy saucepan
2. Smush basil, oregano with mortar and pestle
3. Add basil, oregano, garlic, sugar to wet stuff
4. Whip it, check for lumps, whip more
5. Stir constantly to a gentle bubble; lower heat way down; cook, covered, 30 minutes
6. Taste for acidity; add sugar if desired
(Note) Art speaks: Pepper Broth: Trim peppers, put trimming in mesh bag in the bottom of the steamer; cover with water; steam peppers in the basket above; use broth in the sauce; put peppers on pizza.
Lasagna, Sloppy
First make Arturo’s Spaghetti Sauce (above)
Cook noodles al dente — Pick them up with tongs as they cook, letting them fall back into pot one-by-one to keep them from sticking together.
A strip of lasagna noodle is a noodle cut to the length of your lasagna pan.
No ricotta. So you gotta put in a lotta mozzarella & Parmesan-Roman to compensate.
Add MORE Spaghetti Sauce into this bambina — it’s what make it sloppy.
Assembly: Work from the bottom up
(Top)
Lots of Spaghetti Sauce on top
Lasagna noodles: For individual, 4 strips | For casserole, 4 strips
Parm-Romano: For individual, 2 tablespoons | For casserole, 1 1/2 cups
Mozzarella: For individual, 3 ounces | For casserole, 12 ounces
Lasagna Noodles: For individual, 3 strips | For casserole, 8 strips
Spaghetti Sauce: For individual, 1/2 cup | For casserole, 3 cups
Mozzarella: For individual, NONE | For casserole, 12 ounces
Crumbled Pizza Sausage: For individual, 3 ounces | For casserole, 1 pound
Lasagna Noodles: For individual, 3 strips | For casserole, 8 strips
Water: For individual, 2 ounces | For casserole, 1 cup
(Bottom)
Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.
Dining and Cooking