Potenza Ristorante was established in 1985 in the lovely town of East Greenwich Rhode Island under the name of Walters. As a young chef i made a commitment to authentically represent the Italian Regional Cooking and hospitality. I began searching for fresh sustainable and local ingredients when the terms were not as fashionable as today, and believed then as I do today that "Quality has no comprom
ise" essentially the old adage still rules that " Good food is not cheap and cheap food is not good". Back then, fresh of energy and pride I wanted to share the flavors and the respect for ingredients that was instilled in me since I was a child in Abruzzo Italy
From my nonno Michele Seconi teaching me to clean fava beans in June to my beloved mother' Elda who's image of standing next to her tiny kitchen making screppelle for the Easter Timballo will be forever embedded in my mind. The opportunity to be able to combine those memories with the philosophy of Italian Gastronomy has been the most pleasurable aspect of the my restaurant's life. Potenza Ristorante has shared those messages and continues to provide delectable and authentic experiences of my mother land to our friends who join us regularly in search of lost memory tastes or a discovery of new ones. Our dining rooms have a comfortable indoor capacity of 60, with additional seating of 50 in private second floor, and al fresco terrace of 100. Our large and curved granite bar is both elegant and comfortable, and the smiles of your hosts make the visit here a special one. Our location has historic value as it was the home of the first pasta company in New England..called appropriately " The New England Macaroni Company". The company made headlines in 1931 Depression era for lowering the price of pasta to 5 cents a pound from 8 cents of competition. Since 1995 our focus has been the nutrition aspect of the restaurants and the complete wellness of our patrons. We deeply research the philosophy of Celiac, Diabete, allergens-free and dairy free cooking. Our menus are balanced and healthy with an incredible array of vegetables, legumes, grains and un-refined alternative flour, (Ingredients list below)
We offer a variety of menu to choose from as well as our 48 hours specials. titled "Chef's Series Dinners". In these gourmet experiences you will discover authentic Regional Italian cooking, Sephardic Italian - Jewish Cooking, Historical theme dinners and of course the cooking of my native Abruzzo. We are affiliated with many National and International Chefs and Hospitality Associations such as the James Beard Foundation, The American Academy of Hospitality Sciences, Iacp, Eurotoques, Associazione Professionale Cuochi Italiani, Ciao Italia, Research Chefs of America, American Culinary Federation and many more entities, who contribute through exchanges of experiences and knowledge in our everyday pursuit of cooking a little better than we did yesterday. We often succeed. Walter Potenza
