Rasta Pasta

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:02 PM -0400 8/16/03, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
>
>  (PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
>     1. The Long Lines Are Worth It
>  By PATRICIA BROOKS. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York,
>N.Y.: Oct 20, 1985. p. CN29 (1 page)
>    HOT TOMATO'S may be the best thing to happen in New Haven since
>the Yale Center for British Art opened its doors a few years ago.
>(...)
>    Rasta pasta, for instance, turns out to be fettuccine primavera
>adorned iwth broccoli, carrots, scallions and red peppers, engulfed
>in a pesto and creamy Alfredo sauce, with toasted pine nuts and, for
>decoration, a sprig of fresh thyme.  A pesto or Alfredo sauce alone
>would have sufficed.  Nevertheless, the dish dazzled deliciously.
>
>     2. The Year's Best Eating
>  By PATRICIA BROOKS. New York Times (1857-Current file). New York,
>N.Y.: Dec 29, 1985. p. CN13 (1 page)
>    _Hot Tomato's_, 11195 Chapel Street. New Haven (789=8468), is
>noisy, trendy and fun, with a notable pasta pomidoro, rasta pasta
>and veal chop stuffed with pine nuts and spinach, among other
>memorables.
>
>...
>("Rasta Pasta" is from New Haven??--ed.)

Hot Tomato's is a chain, not unique to New Haven.  There's one in
downtown Hartford, another in a suburb of Hartford,  and according to
the web there was one in the Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL that 'lasted a
little over a year and closed in 1988'.  I imagine there are other
HTs in other places.  I don't know whether the first Hot Tomato's
opened in New Haven, Hartford, or elsewhere.

"11195 Chapel" looks like an L.A. address--it must have been 1195
Chapel, the same block as the above-mentioned British Art Center.
The B.A.C. is still there, unlike Hot Tomato's, which closed some
time ago, however trendy and fun (and noisy) it may have seemed when
it opened but later reopened at a new (not too distant) address on
College Street.  I can't vouch for its Rasta Pasta (either its
quality or its provenance), never having eaten there.  While Barry's
'85 hit is indeed the earliest listing on Nexis, I'd wager Rasta
Pasta wasn't hatched in the Elm City.  On the other hand, if we can't
claim hamburgers, pizza, or maybe even frisbees, it might be nice to
be able to put in our stake on rasta pasta along with our (hot) dogs.
It does seem awfully rich, though, and not particularly rasta.

larry