FOR YOUR PLEASURE: The pleasure of pasta is definitely on the menu at Pastiamo Pasta Bar & Café. “My idea is to provide an authentic Italian dining experience by serving fresh and dry pasta, antipasti, and dolci in the traditional Italian style, with recipes from the north, center, and south of Italy,” says chef and owner Francesca Casapietra. “Lovers of Italian pasta will find the right place here at Pastiamo, where the unique taste of each dish comes from the use of only high quality ingredients and the passion for authentic fresh cuisine.”

By Jean Stratton

Homemade Italian specialties are the attraction at Pastiamo Pasta Bar & Café in the Princeton Shopping Center. Opened in November 2023, with its grand opening this past February, it already has a group of enthusiastic diners.

“We have repeat customers, and they are coming from all over the area,” says chef and owner Francesca Casapietra, “Once they come in, they come back!”

Born in Genoa, Italy, Casapietra, came to the U.S. 10 years ago, and settled in Princeton with her family. “We liked Princeton’s international flavor,” she says. “I had always enjoyed cooking with fresh, healthy ingredients, and pasta was a specialty. In Italy, everyone enjoys pasta. It can be the first course, with tomato or other sauces, and then followed by meat, cheese, vegetables, and fruit.”

Private Chef

In 2018, Casapietra decided to expand her cooking experience, and she enrolled in the Mercer County Community College Culinary Arts Program.

“I learned a lot, and I was introduced to different kinds of cuisine in addition to Italian,” she reports. “After I received my certificate, I started my first activity as a private chef, and during COVID, I provided catering from home.”

Then in 2021, she and a partner embarked on a new adventure, and operated Le Kiosk, a kiosk on Nassau Street until 2023.

It was very popular, and specialized in focaccia Genovese, focaccia sandwiches, and crepes. “We had a variety of customers, including many Princeton University students, among a lot of others in the neighborhood,” she recalls.

With the popularity of the kiosk and its Italian focus established, and after becoming the sole owner, Casapietra, decided to branch out into a bricks and mortar restaurant, and opened Pastiamo Pasta Bar & Café.

“I chose the name because I liked it, and it can mean ‘I love pasta!’” she explains. “I wanted pasta to be the focus because it is such an important part of Italian cuisine, and everyone loves it. Also, I use all my own recipes, with all fresh ingredients, locally sourced when I can. We also include a lot of items from Italy.”

Quality Ingredients

“The benefit of our food is that it is freshly made with high quality ingredients, and we serve moderate, healthy portions,” she continues. “People always feel they have enough to eat, and they enjoy all the flavors of the season.”

Both fresh and dry pasta are available, and as she points out, “Fresh pasta is made with flour and eggs, and we get it from an Italian specialist in New York City. Dry pasta is different, made with flour and water. The majority of customers want fresh pasta, but dry is also popular.”

Fresh pasta choices include tagliatelle, ravioli, and gnocchi. Dry pasta options are spaghetti, bucatini, elicoidali, mezze penne, gnocchi, trofie, paccheri, and pasta mista.

Multiple sauces include Pastiamo ragu (braised pork, beef, veal, tomatoes, garlic, wine, slow-cooked onions, and carrots); pesto (a tasty herbaceous sauce of basil, pine nuts, and parmesan and pecorino cheese, with EVOO); walnut sauce (a traditional dish from Liguria in northwest Italy, made with walnuts, milk, and bread); and puttanesca (crushed tomatoes, olive taggiasche, Sicilian capers, and garlic) among many others with a variety of ingredients, seasonings, and flavors.

House-Made Focaccia

In addition to pasta, antipasti choices are popular, and include Burrata Mozzarella (prosciutto di Parma, roasted eggplant, burrata with tomatoes, jam, and focaccia); Bresaola (bresaola, arugula, parmesan cheese, and lemon juice, served with focaccia), and Charcuterie, with meats, cheeses, jam, olives, nuts, honey, and bruschetta.

House-made focaccia features focaccia Genovese; focaccia with stracchino cheese, also with onion, potatoes or mushrooms, arugula, and parmesan. Pizzacacia includes tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Focaccia panini sandwiches are also popular, with Genoa (house-made pesto, Parma prosciutto, and mozzarella di bufala), and Camogli (Italian cooked ham, stracchino cheese, mushroom, arugula, and balsamic glaze) special favorites. Also in demand are Noli (olive tapenade, tomatoes, and mozzarella di bufala), and Doria (olive tapenade, roasted eggplant, tomatoes, pickled onions, radicchio, and balsamic glaze), among others.

Vegetable pies, with layers of buttery puff pastry and choice of artichoke and ricotta, parmesan and egg, or spinach and mushroom filling, are also on the menu, as is a soup of the week.

Fig Salad

A variety of salad choices range from Pastiamo Spring Mix to Fig Salad (with arugula, feta cheese, candied pecan figs, and maple vinaigrette) to Nicoise and Caprese (tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh basil, balsamic vinaigrette, and focaccia).

Beverages include Italian organic sparkling soda, espresso, cappuccino, latte, American-style coffee, hot chocolate, and tea. In addition, customers are welcome to bring wine, and bottles from Meadowcroft Wines may also be purchased.

Pastiamo’s homemade desserts are always popular, including Italian pastries and cookies. Tiramisu, pannacotta, and millefoglie cake with pastry cream are also favorite choices.

“In addition to the regular menu, every week we have special Regional Night, when we feature the cuisine of a particular part of Italy,” reports Casapietra. “It’s different every time. Recently, it was Lombardia.”

There is also a Special of the Week, she adds, including appetizer, soup, pasta and sauce, and dessert.

Prices cover a wide range, with pasta choices $8 and $12, sauces from $2 (typically $8 to $10), focaccia panini sandwiches from $13, and salads from $9.

Customers are enjoying the full range of Pastiamo’s menu and also the informal warm and friendly atmosphere. As Casapietra has noted, there are already many regulars.

New Opportunity

A Hopewell resident, who was also a patron of the kiosk, comes often to Pastiamo, and appreciates this new opportunity.

“I like everything!” she says emphatically. “The fresh ingredients, the flavors, and the wonderful pasta. It is a special place.”

Casapietra thinks so too, and she is always on site to greet customers and answer questions about the cuisine.

“I am very proud of our traditional Italian café. I want to give customers an authentic experience with the meals my family and I grew up eating. I love to be here, and I especially love the cooking. It is my favorite part; it is very creative. I am also fortunate to have my staff, who have the same high standards that I do.”

“I very much enjoy the interaction with the customers, and we also have had a warm welcome from our neighbors, the other merchants,” she adds. “The Princeton Shopping Center has been a good location. It is very convenient, with easy parking that everyone appreciates.”

Pastiamo can seat 40 diners inside, and there is additional outdoor seating during seasonal temperatures.

The café is open for lunch, dinner, and takeout every day except Tuesday, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Gift cards are also available.

For further information, call (640) 867-4783 and visit the website at pastiamoprinceton.com.