La Groceria -- Still Authentic After 30 Years
Neighborhood Trattoria Celebrates 30 Years in Central Square
With Fund-raiser for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

DATELINE: CAMBRIDGE, MA, ISSUED SEPTEMBER 10, 2001…
Nixon was President. Bellbottom jeans and polyester shirts were the uniform of the day. And Italian cuisine meant spaghetti and meatballs or veal parmigiana. Such were our tastes when Franco Mastromauro first opened La Groceria in April 1971. Now, thirty years later, La Groceria will celebrate the event with a special, 30th anniversary, 1970s theme dinner to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation on Wednesday, October 17, 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the single-seating, gala Italian feast cost $100 per person, and are available at La Groceria, or by calling (617) 497-4214.

Started as a humble sandwich shop in the corner of a building in Central Square, Franco Mastromauro's restaurant quickly evolved into La Groceria Ristorante Italiano, and now occupies the entire space at 853 Main Street, Cambridge. Although Franco has retired, La Groceria remains a family business, and is run today by Mastromauro's sons, Frank Jr. and Charlie.

"My father opened as a little sub shop in 1971, serving breakfast and lunch," recalls Frank Jr. "But breakfast proved to be a nightmare. He just couldn't handle the egg orders -- all those different ways of cooking eggs! Breakfast really isn't an Italian thing, and he didn't know a poached egg from an egg over easy. So within a year or two we'd made the switch to serving lunch and dinner."

It was a fateful change. Franco Mastromauro, who was born in Bari, on the southeast coast of Italy, began serving the dishes native to his region, which is located on the Adriatic Sea. La Groceria specialized in fresh, simple dishes featuring seafood and freshly-made pasta. Diners discovered that not all Italian food came coated with red sauce and melted mozzarella. Anthony Spinazzola touted La Groceria's authenticity in a rave review in the Boston Globe, and the word was out. Suburban diners drove into the city to try real Italian food.

Much has changed in thirty years. Foods trends during the past decade drove the craze for "Northern Italian" food, and today Italian restaurants blanket the suburbs. While our palates may be more sophisticated than back in the '70s, La Groceria's authentic Italian dishes can still provide a fresh approach to an overly-familiar cuisine. La Groceria's famous "Tavola Calda" (antipasto table) features a prodigious selection of unusual hot and cold antipasti, beautifully displayed at the entrance to the two-story restaurant. The menu lists an assortment of fresh pasta, seafood, chicken and veal dishes, all cooked to order with the freshest ingredients. Awaiting rediscovery at the same location in Central Square, Cambridge, La Groceria still offers the traditional home-style dishes and cozy ambience of an Italian trattoria. Still authentic. Still worth a drive into the city.

Hours: Monday - Friday 11:30 am to 10:00 pm, Saturday & Sunday 3 pm - 10 pm. For tickets to the 30th anniversary dinner on October 17th, or more information about La Groceria, please contact Frank Mastromauro, Jr. or Pat DiCenzo at (617) 497-4214. For more information about the restaurant, please visit www.lagroceriarestaurant.com.




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