Joe Ricchio is a food and travel writer, podcaster, TV and radio personality and private chef. Photo by Anestes Fotiades and courtesy of Joe Ricchio You won’t have to compete with Joe Ricchio for a seat on the city’s patios this summer. The Portland writer and chef prefers to eat indoors with the air conditioning on full blast, thank you very much.
“I’ve never understood people who want to eat outside when it’s super hot,” he said. In 2022, he launched a private catering business Food Coma: Your Kitchen and has been bringing customized menus to clients at home. Ricchio ( @foodcomamaine on Instagram) took a few minutes away from the kitchen to answer five questions about eating out this summer.
Do you have a restaurant you absolutely have to visit every summer? If I had to choose a restaurant that would be essential to the summer, that would be Aragosta in Deer Isle. If you’re going to have a quintessential summer experience in Maine, I think that has to be part of it. You’ve got to book a bit in advance now, summer’s busy up there, but book a cabin for a weekend and eat there twice.
You drive over that hill and get your first glimpse of it. The water opens up, the expanse of it. It’s just beautiful.
I’ve had a lot of different things there, but the one constant is the lobster pasta with citrus butter sauce. (Chef and owner Devin Finigan) changes the shape of the pasta every now and then, but she always has that dish on the menu. That never leaves the men.
