Trattoria Sfoglia - Nantucket

I first met Colleen Marnell-Suhanosky when she delivered her famous bread to a kitchen my friend Susan Simon was renting on Nantucket. It was my first trip to the island and I was here to help Susan cater a late spring wedding on the beach at Tom Nevers. Guests were being treated to large loaves of Colleen’s bread with platters of antipasto. She also baked the rich delicate cookies that were served post dessert.

Colleen and her husband Ron Suhanosky own a restaurant on Nantucket called Sfoglia that serves seasonal Italian food, exquisitely prepared and served in a charmingly elegant setting. In 2006 they opened an outpost in New York and it was then that I really got to know just how delicious their food is. From the fresh made gnocchi to their inventive salads and rustic seasonal fruit tarts that are baked to order and served with homemade gelato, their food is adventurous in a refreshing way that requires no effort to enjoy, but always gets the diner’s full attention. Of course everything I eat is based on vegetables and I love the way they playfully combine fresh seasonal fruits in salads and even in pasta. One spring after they opened Sfoglia New York people were scrambling to get a table to taste their famous pasta with local strawberries.

It’s been 8 years since I first visited Nantucket and I return whenever I can. This summer Susan invited me to dine with her at Sfoglia early one week day evening. The meal was perfection, it started with a glass of prosecco, plump house marinated olives and their bread, crusty and warm served with a rich, grassy olive oil for dipping.

We were then treated to zucchini blossoms stuffed with goat cheese (from their own goats), fried crisp and dusted with lemon zest, Parmesan and parsley. The blossoms were light with a lovely tang from the combination of lemon and goat cheese.

Next came two salads: zucchini ribbons with shaved fresh apricots, mint and toasted pine nuts; and a baby Romaine salad with a light tangy yogurt dressing, bread crumbs and fresh blueberries. Both were refreshing and delicious and captured the flavor of peak summer.

Following, for my main I had a luscious ricotta cavateli that was generously coated in a fresh bright pesto. This dish was excellent, especially paired with a glass of Barbara D’ alba from their outstanding wine list. I savored every bite and sip.

For dessert we enjoyed a light almond cake filled with whipped mascarpone and cream, topped with peaches so juicy that the cake was soaked with their sweet nectar and served over a drizzle of aged balsamic. Fennel seeds and black pepper sprinkled on top finished the flavors off with playful delight.

I was fortunate enough to have a tour of the busy kitchen, seeing antipasto arranged on vintage plates and the trays of handmade cookies cooling fueled my desire for another visit before departing the Island.

As we left the restaurant Colleen was greeting the crowd that gathered on the balcony, the sun was setting and the air was filled with a salty mist, a great ending to a perfect day in Nantucket.

Ron and Colleen have a cookbook out called Pasta Sfoglia it is cowritten by Susan Simon and won the 2010 James Beard award for single subject category.

Sfoglia Nantucket

130 lower Pleasant Street, Nantucket Island, MA

508 325 4500

Sfoglia New York

135 east 92nd Street (corner of Lexington avenue) New York, NY

212 831 1402

Photography by Amy Chaplin