Reno has a case of the Willies. And it’s about time.
Side of Willies Pasta Shop on E. Arroyo Street, Reno, Nevada.
Is there anything they can't do? Reno's leading restaurant owners take on pasta
Willies Pasta Shop recently opened at the corner of South Virginia and Arroyo streets in Midtown. But at one point, it seemed as if the baked ziti would never arrive. For almost six years, since fall 2018, a “Coming Soon” sign teased the launch from an awning above the door; a sign on the south side of the building promised “Timeless Italian-American Cuisine.”
Willies (stylishly shorn of an apostrophe) comes courtesy of chef Troy and Coleen Cannan, who also own Kauboi Izakaya, their take on a traditional Japanese tavern, and LuLou’s, the finest restaurant in the city, famed for its pork belly buns, splendid service and handwritten checks.
Pasta play
With that provenance, Willies was always going to be more than Italian-American cooking, at least as expressed in the red-sauce dishes of the Northeast. Consider that baked ziti. It’s cooked in a wood-fire oven, and instead of a tomato sauce, it’s bound by duck sugo (or gravy).
Pork sugo, on the other hand, slips in and across paccheri — squat pasta tubes that originated in Naples, Italy. Paccheri means “slaps” in the Neapolitan tongue, and the name possibly arises because of the slapping sound the large tubes make when stirred or chewed.
Ravioli del plin, a specialty of the Piedmont region, feature pasta pouches stuffed with brisket. Plin means “pinch” in the Piedmontese dialect and refers to the way pasta sheets are pinched together to form the small parcels.
A twist on classics
The Plates section of the menu showcases Cannan’s take on Italian-American classics beyond pasta. Shrimp are served “ol’ skool’ scampi style. Chicken Parm, one of the reddest of red-sauce dishes, is remade with chicken thighs and stracchino, a soft creamy cow’s milk cheese from northern Italy.
Pork Milanese draws on lardo (cured and seasoned pork fat) and on charred lemon. Veal saltimbocca? It’s not forgotten here, with prosciutto, fontina and sage. Sides like crisp polenta with mushroom ragù, broccoli rabe spiked with hot peppers, and grilled cauliflower with Calabrian chilis and sultana grapes (roasty, heat, sweet) might come along for the ride.
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Three wines to try
At LuLou’s, its thoughtfully edited wine list has always been a particular strength (for example, Coleen Cannan drew on her connections to offer Sea Smoke pinot years before any other restaurant in Reno.). Given that, it’s not surprising the wine list at Willies shines, too.
The list is mainly Italian and ranges across sparkling, lighter whites and rosés, full-bodied whites, and lighter and full-bodied reds. Three pours that drew our attention: sustainably farmed Sommariva prosecco; Venica ribolla gialla, a citrusy white from the Friuli region; and Poggio del Moro Super Tuscan, nicely priced at $52 a bottle.
If you didn’t want to go full pasta or plate at Willies, you could stop by for a glass of wine and a mix-and-match spread of Italian cheeses (with accoutrements) and salumi.
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So cheers, Willies. It’s taken a while, but we’re excited you’re here.
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