A peek inside the Italo-American Club, Providence, with a review of Maria's Cucina
Maria's Cucina
477 Broadway
Providence, Rhode Island
I grew up in a house where pasta wasn't served often. Mom's a great cook, but she usually leaned more toward potatoes, rice, or corn for our carb sources. So I don't really know how pasta in tomato sauce became a comfort food for me, but here we are.
What's even better is when my comfort food is served in a historic house.
Maria's Cucina took over the restaurant space of the Italo-American Club last year, and they're serving fresh homestyle Italian food. It took me far too long to check it out.
In 2019 they announced that during restorations on the house (477 Broadway) they discovered 100-year-old hand painted murals on the walls under three layers of wallpaper. Those murals are uncovered and restored, now, and give us a sense of the original owner's interest in Italy (he was an immigrant from Scotland).
Ah, but the food. Each year on my birthday, my family knows what meal to make: chicken Francese, a batter-dipped cutlet in a white wine, cream and lemon sauce. It was on the menu, and didn't disappoint. Fork-tender and tangy, it was just right. I ordered the pasta with it, and that was delicious as well.
As good as the food is, wandering the house-turned-restaurant is an equally impressive experience. From murals to stained glass, and painted tile fireplace surrounds, the former David E. Troupe House is a real showpiece.
Described by the Rhode Island Historic Preservation & Heritage Commission as "[a] large, rambling, 2½-story, gabled-hip-roof Queen Anne house with a large veranda girding the first floor, numerous iron-crested turrets and dormers, towering paneled chimneys, and richly finished walls with various cladding materials set off by nailing boards and applied bosses. The application of artificial siding in 1976 obscured portions of the fine detailing. This spacious house on ample grounds was the second house constructed on Broadway by Troup, a partner in the large Callendar, McAuslan & Troup department store at 239 Westminster Street ...Troup's first Broadway house still stands across the street, number 478."
Maria's Cucina has more detail about the history of the house on the last page of their menu. The house was built in 1881, and John Troup, his wife Jane, and their daughter Agnes lived there. John was partner in a dry goods store downtown, called the "Boston Store" at 290 Westminster Street.
477 Broadway
Providence, Rhode Island
I grew up in a house where pasta wasn't served often. Mom's a great cook, but she usually leaned more toward potatoes, rice, or corn for our carb sources. So I don't really know how pasta in tomato sauce became a comfort food for me, but here we are.
What's even better is when my comfort food is served in a historic house.
In 2019 they announced that during restorations on the house (477 Broadway) they discovered 100-year-old hand painted murals on the walls under three layers of wallpaper. Those murals are uncovered and restored, now, and give us a sense of the original owner's interest in Italy (he was an immigrant from Scotland).
Ah, but the food. Each year on my birthday, my family knows what meal to make: chicken Francese, a batter-dipped cutlet in a white wine, cream and lemon sauce. It was on the menu, and didn't disappoint. Fork-tender and tangy, it was just right. I ordered the pasta with it, and that was delicious as well.
As good as the food is, wandering the house-turned-restaurant is an equally impressive experience. From murals to stained glass, and painted tile fireplace surrounds, the former David E. Troupe House is a real showpiece.
Described by the Rhode Island Historic Preservation & Heritage Commission as "[a] large, rambling, 2½-story, gabled-hip-roof Queen Anne house with a large veranda girding the first floor, numerous iron-crested turrets and dormers, towering paneled chimneys, and richly finished walls with various cladding materials set off by nailing boards and applied bosses. The application of artificial siding in 1976 obscured portions of the fine detailing. This spacious house on ample grounds was the second house constructed on Broadway by Troup, a partner in the large Callendar, McAuslan & Troup department store at 239 Westminster Street ...Troup's first Broadway house still stands across the street, number 478."
Maria's Cucina has more detail about the history of the house on the last page of their menu. The house was built in 1881, and John Troup, his wife Jane, and their daughter Agnes lived there. John was partner in a dry goods store downtown, called the "Boston Store" at 290 Westminster Street.
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