Bats, spiders and witches abounded at Spoleto’s last Saturday night, the night of Hallowe’en revels on the streets and in the clubs of Northampton—a night when masks and glitter flashed up and down Main Street, concerts lured costumed fans and a Muppet-like creature drew crowds in front of the Toasted Owl.
By six o’clock, Spoleto’s was packed and rollicking. Families with youngsters as well as adults were in evidence and the restaurant was bedecked with jack-o’lanterns carved from real pumpkins, each with a different face hewn with praiseworthy artistry. Waiters flew to and fro, clad in offbeat getups; ours wore a brilliant blue snuggie-like garment with a remote fastened to its front, a couch potato outfit that was outrageously incongruous with the speed at which he flitted through our section of the crowded restaurant.
It piques one’s critical curiosity to visit dining spots as traditionally and unassailably popular as Spoleto’s because places like that can ride for years on their reputations. Not so this restaurant on this night; the kitchen’s products were worthy of the crowd that turned out early and the line that had formed by seven o’clock to wait for tables. The only problem for those who, like us, were headed to a show at an early hour was that the plates appeared a trifle slowly.
Our party of four arrived at six, about half an hour before the rush began, and were seated immediately, which gave us ample hope that we’d easily be out in time to get to SHOW Circus Studio’s Show Us Your Tricks Hallowe’en burlesque at the Northampton Center for the Arts at 7:30. Our snuggie-clad waiter took our order promptly, but though he did his best, our plates didn’t come until seven.
Not that the food wasn’t worth the wait. Hail to Spoleto’s for being an Italian restaurant with many and versatile offerings, not just a place with a litany of pasta dishes, smothered in tomato sauce, that sit gravid on the stomach. And the current nightly offering of a three-course dinner for $20 really is a steal, particularly when you start, as one member of our party did, with the lobster ravioli with cream and vodka sauce garnished with shrimp.
My pecan-encrusted salmon was a dream of a dish, though somewhat misnamed because there wasn’t enough pecan to justify the term “encrusted.” The fish was cooked to perfection, tender but firm. The sauce was sweeter than I would have expected, given that it was billed as a balsamic syrup teamed with a chipotle orange glaze. The combination, however, was masterly. Who’d have thought that a sauce almost as sweet as pralines would be an ideal finish to fish? But the syrup—lightly drizzled onto the flesh, not poured on—was a beautiful complement to the opulent flavor of the salmon, and the garlic mashed potatoes and chunks of green and yellow squash as supports for the entree could hardly have been improved on.
The parsley-encrusted cod was also well executed and nicely enhanced by the lobster mashed potatoes, which sounded a bit gimmicky on the menu but had a credible lobster-influenced flavor and perfect texture.
Since it was clear from the beginning that we would have no time to linger, we put aside the extensive wine list in favor of the Valley’s own Steel Rail Pale Ale for the two men in our party. It was a less nuanced partner for the main dishes, but was much enjoyed.
And in the end, thanks to our waiter’s cooperation, we made our show in time, if not quite on time, helped out by a slight delay at the start of the program—all in all a sparkling evening, what with the treat at Spoleto’s before the truly witty and astonishing Tricks.”