Pasta Puttana Restaurant By Chef Jessica Volpe

Pasta Puttana, a noodle mecca on Grand Avenue

With the exception of Snookelfritz half-pints and ice cream sandwiches, all the food at the new Pasta Puttana storefront is designed to create the ideal pasta-centric meal.

When the shop opens its doors at 1 p.m. today, its cold case and shelves will be stocked with Jessica Volpe's superb pastas, as well as anything and everything that goes well with pasta. These fine additions include meats and sausages from Twin Oaks, Hawks Hill Elk Ranch and TJ's, olive oils from Spain and Italy, See Smell Taste spices, red South African peppadew peppers, Cerignola and Castelvetrano olives, and aged balsamic vinegar.

Volpe's ramp pasta is making a limited comeback, thanks to a crop of the spunky alliums foraged in Michigan and frozen earlier this year. That pasta is joined by roasted summer squash pappardelle, verdant herb tagliatelle, bright red chile-laced strands and more.

Volpe will introduce seasonal filled pastas such as tortellini, tortelli and ravioli in the coming weeks, stuffed with Green City Market corn, roasted peppers and the like. Pasta-friendly bundles of blanched greens and braised beans (once local beans come into season) are also on her to-do list.

For all other kitchen needs–say, a six-pack of local beer–just pop across the street to her neighbor, Green Grocer.

Pasta Puttana, 1407 W. Grand Ave.; pastaputtana.com