A new book reveals the backstories in Northampton's restaurant scene

When Carol Colitti Levine of Northampton set out to put a local cookbook together, she thought it would be a straightforward project. All she'd have to do, she figured, was ask the owners and chefs at her favorite Northampton restaurants to jot down some of their recipes.

What she didn't realize was that in asking for recipes she'd end up with life stories ' a collection that she considers far more intriguing than recipes alone.

Levine's project revealed a web of stories ' the interconnected lives of the owners of some of Northampton's most successful restaurants, and the various ingredients that led to Northampton becoming what she calls 'a culinary vortex.'

The result is her book 'Table's Edge,' published last fall. Its subtitle ' 'Stories and favorite recipes of the people who created a dining paradise in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts' ' reflects how Levine's focus changed as she worked on the project. Although the book contains some recipes, she says, 'it's not a cookbook,' but a 'book about people.'

Leading off with a dining room that conjures up Northampton's earliest days, Wiggins Tavern, Levine traces the city's culinary history from the elegant Beardsley's, founded in the 1970s and now long gone, to ongoing success stories like Fitzwilly's and the Eastside Grill, to ethnic outposts like Great Wall and India House. She ends up coming full circle when she writes about the current general manager of the Hotel Northampton, where Wiggins Tavern is located ' Mansour Ghalibaf, a native of Iran.

LEVINE'S FIRST conversation for the book, with chef Claudio Guerra, hinted at the wealth of restaurant stories in Northampton. Guerra, who owns Spoleto, Spoleto Express, Del Raye and Pizzeria Paradiso, told her about the network of connections he'd developed in the Northampton restaurant community over the years ' and passed along the names of others in town who he thought would be helpful to her book project.

Levine found Guerra's personal history compelling. The child of a German mother and an Italian father, Guerra grew up in Europe. He told Levine that after graduating from culinary school in Bavaria, he was 'almost drafted' into the German Army. Finally, he landed in Northampton.

She was so fascinated by what he told her that she 'went home, sat down, and wrote his story.'

Other chefs and restaurants owners turned out to have similarly interesting tales.

Of the 35 restaurant owners and chefs she talked to, only one is a Pioneer Valley native. Each person Levine interviewed for her book told her there was 'something special' about Northampton ' or the larger Pioneer Valley ' that served as a draw.

'No one thing brought the chefs here,' Levine says. Some told her they just liked the look of the place. Others were excited about the local colleges because they saw a potential audience for sophisticated fare. Many of them, she says, were interested in organic gardening and farming, and the richness of the Valley's soil appealed to their passion for fresh ingredients.

Levine, who grew up in Springfield and graduated from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, worked in banking in various cities around the United States before retiring in 2000 and returning to western Massachusetts. She says that she never thought she'd be a writer. But the stories were so engaging, she says, that she found the actual writing easy.

Her biggest challenge, in fact, was setting up the interviews. The restaurant people were busy, and most of them didn't think they had much to say. But it turned out that once they started talking to Levine about their lives, they couldn't stop. That presented another challenge for Levine: the need for, in many cases, one or two more interviews.

Many chapters of 'Table's Edge' focus on a single restaurant owner or chef. Levine says she wants readers to imagine 'sitting down and talking to each of [the people featured in the book] over dinner.' In many cases, that's the way the interviews played out: Because she says the restaurant owners and chefs were so busy, many didn't have time to stop what they were doing to sit down with her. The only way she could get them to talk was to share a meal with them.

'Table's Edge' is available at local bookstores, and online at www.tablesedge.com for $25 (shipping included). A portion of the proceeds benefit the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.

While Levine says that 'Table's Edge' is her homage to the Northampton restaurant scene ' and not a cookbook ' it includes 70 pages of recipes. Here's a sampling.

Roasted Sea Scallops With Pancetta Leek Cream

Makes 24 individual appetizers or 4 to 6 entree servings

This dish, from Gail and Dan Yacuzzo of Eastside Grill, can be served in scallop shells as an appetizer, or as an entree over pasta.

1/2 pound pancetta, sliced 1/8-inch thick

2 cups sliced leeks

1/8 cup dry white wine

1 tablespoon crushed garlic

1 cup light cream

1 cup vegetable stock

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning`

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

2-1/2 pounds sea scallops

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a 12-inch skillet, heat the sliced pancetta until it is crispy and most of the fat has melted away (some fat should remain). Remove the pancetta to a cutting board.

In the same skillet, heat the leeks in the fat from the pancetta until they are soft. Add the white wine and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.

Add the crushed garlic, then turn the heat to low. When the heat is reduced, slowly add the cream, stirring so that it doesn't boil. When it is completely blended, slowly add the vegetable stock and blend. Then add the sea salt and Old Bay seasoning. Bring to a slow boil over medium heat, then turn to low heat and simmer for 7 to 8 minutes.

Combine the flour and oil together over low heat and whisk into the mixture in the skillet until it is very thick.

Divide the scallops evenly among 24 scallop shells or put them all into a 4-quart casserole. Pour the sauce evenly over the scallops. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes if in shells, until the scallops are just opaque. If they are in a casserole, bake for 20 to 30 minutes at 375 degrees (not 400) until the sauce starts to bubble.

Lox and Eggs for Two

Serves 2

This is from Linda Schwartz's 'The Curtis & Schwartz Cafe Cookbook,' published in 1999.

4 eggs

A dash of heavy cream

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 tablespoons onion, diced

2 tablespoons lox, diced

2 ounces cream cheese, cut into small pieces

Whisk the eggs and cream together in a bowl.

Melt the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. When the butter has just melted, add the onions and saute until softened and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs to the pan, and using a wooden spoon, begin scrambling them; then add the diced lox. Continue scrambling and add the cream cheese just as the eggs are nearly done to your liking. Stir once or twice to incorporate the cream cheese ' it should begin to melt but remain distinct. Serve immediately.

Katie Kroll is a graduate student at Smith College.

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