Sometimes a drive to a neighborhood I have not visited in a while tempts me to check out an old haunt. My Lovely Dining Companion and I recently dined at Fratello’s Italian Grille in Manchester after I spotted the restaurant’s sign earlier in the day.
I had been fondly recalling previous trips to Fratello’s with family members, including my late mother-in-law, and also remembered the restaurant often featured live music inside near the bar or, in good weather, out on the patio.
Sure enough, on the steamy summer night we visited, guitarist and singer Dave Zangri was unpacking his gear just as the hostess was showing us to our booth right next to where he would be playing inside. We quickly determined our seating arrangement was not going to work: My wife had a fine sightline to Zangri, but I would be dining with my back to him.
We opted for a high-top table across the room instead, which would turn out to be a great spot to engage in music trivia with Zangri. (Yeah, that probably annoyed the other patrons.)
After ordering cocktails we selected an appetizer that reminded me of an old David Letterman gag called “What Was it Before it was Deep Fried?” Letterman and bandleader Paul Shaffer would take turns guessing the identify of a mystery item that had been battered and fried. (The one I remember most was when the item in question turned out to be a pair of binoculars.)
The real world version of this is the trend to stuff just about anything in an egg roll wrappers and deep fry them — spicy Southwestern egg rolls; shepherd’s pie egg rolls; short rib egg rolls.
At Fratello’s it was Chicken Parmesan Egg Rolls ($14), featuring chicken, marinara and mozzarella cheese. They were scrumptious — how could they not be? — but we ate only half the order and put the rest aside to take home so we could save our appetite for the main event.
Sometime soon, I’m going to give in to my penchant for spicy food and order the Seafood Fra Diavolo ($32), a “devilishly” hot dish of seafood over pasta that I pondered and ultimately passed during two recent restaurant visits. (The Puritan Backroom featured a similar dish as a special recently.) Fratello’s take on this features lobster, scallops and shrimp.
The champion on this particular evening was the Shrimp Risotto ($28), a savory dish that, when prepared well, is among my favorites. Fratello’s served tender, succulent shrimp and creamy arborio rice flavored with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, garlic, Parmesan cheese, light cream and a balsamic glaze. What I didn’t scarf down was shared with my wife. No take-home for this dish.
Fratello’s Chicken Piccata.
About half of my wife’s Chicken Piccata ($21) made the trip home with us only because she has a smaller appetite and had sampled the shrimp risotto. The classic dish featured chicken sautéed with capers, mushroom and fresh lemon; finished with a white wine and butter sauce; and served over linguine.
Fratello’s has a history stretching back more than 30 years. The owners of the Homestead restaurants opened the flagship location in Laconia in an old Indian Head Bank building in 1992, according to the restaurant’s website. They opened the Manchester location in 1997 after purchasing the old Myrna shoe building on Commercial Street. (Over the years, Fratello’s also operated restaurants in Lincoln and Nashua.)
We lingered after finishing our meal so we could enjoy Dave Zangri interpreting songs by the Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and other classic rock and reggae acts. Zangri plays at various restaurants in the area, according to his social media accounts. We expect we’ll be dining with him again.
