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But it’s not just about pasta and red sauce at Speaks. The
restaurant also features fresh seafood, shellfish shucked to order
and chowders, as well as steak, chicken and veal.
“We’ve got a concept that’s a little bit unique,” Foil said, referring
to the more modern and creative dishes that share the menu with
traditional New York-style Italian comfort food.
“There’s no compromise, we do both extremely well,” Foil said.
For example, among the salad options is the Roasted Beet and
(wine-marinated) Pineapple Salad, with goat cheese, candied
pecans and arugula. There’s an authentic Maine Lobster Roll
on the menu, as well as the Speaks Meatball Taste, which is a
meatball with ricotta, parmesan and your choice of house-made
red sauce: sweet marinara, medium, or hot.
“You can really take the measure of an Italian restaurant by the
quality of its meatballs,” Foil said. “And I think ours are fantastic.”
Other signature menu items include the whole branzino, whole
snapper and steamed Maine lobster, as well as the Calamari
Calabrese, calamari tossed with peppers and garlic and
smothered with red sauce. The Lasagna Bolognese features
homemade pasta in layers with cheese, beef and prosciutto
and topped with parmesan, Bolognese sauce and mozzarella.
Speaks also offers a seafood lasagna, using shrimp, lobster and
ricotta, plus the restaurant’s lobster bisque in place of red sauce,
topping it all with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.
A One-of-a-kind Concept
The menu includes a “shell bar” section, featuring oysters,
shrimp, steamers, mussels, snow crab and, of course, clams,
which you can get on the half shell, steamed or baked. Other
clam entrees include the Clam Strip Basket, featuring fried coldwater
clam strips from Ipswich, MA, and Linguini Vongole, which
is fresh whole clams sautéed in the traditional style and served
over linguini and clam sauce.
At Speaks, the seafood entrees outnumber others two to one, but
the menu is large enough to include several seafood-free options.
You can get chicken or veal in four different styles: Milanese,
Saltimbocca, Marsala or Parmesan. The NY Strip Steak Romano
is a 12-ounce hand-cut choice Black Angus steak, grilled and
topped with a parmesan garlic crust and served with grilled
asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes. The Rosemary Lamb
Chops with Cabernet Demi-glace is also popular.
Speaks prides itself on its ability to use old-world Italian pastamaking
techniques for its spaghetti, rigatoni, linguini, pappardelle
and ravioli, but Levey did not want their gluten-free customers
to miss out. There’s gluten-free penne option available. Also,
many of the non-pasta menu items are already - or can easily
be made - gluten-free.
According to Foil, it’s easy for Speaks to accommodate its glutenfree
customers, or customers with any dietary restriction. Each
dish is made to order anyway, and thus can be customized by
the restaurant’s inventive chefs, he said.
Classic and Craft Cocktails
During Prohibition, clam bar patrons would have to go elsewhere to imbibe in secret. However, at
Speaks, the drinks menu is 20 pages long, partly because of the sheer number of offerings, but also
because of the lengthy descriptions of many of the drinks (and a few short Prohibition-era news stories.)
The long bar is lined with all kinds of fresh ingredients in clear glass canisters - lemons, limes, oranges,
basil, sage, mint, watermelon, cucumbers and fresh berries. The restaurant calls its cocktails “garden
to glass.” It also has extensive wine, beer and spirits lists.
The drinks menu is divided into sections with names like Fruity and Effervescent (the Mojito and
Moscow Mule), and For the Late to Rise (the Bloody Mary and Oyster Shooter.) The Originals (includes
the Old-Fashioned, Sazerac and A Dry Martini) have been around for decades, or centuries.
In the Elegant and Spirited section, there’s Speaks’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which is made with Ford’s
Gin, St. Germain Elderflower, pressed blackberries, fresh lemon, agave nectar and soda. Also, in
this section is the Farmer’s Garden Margarita, made with watermelon, mint, Peligroso Tequila, fresh
lime and agave nectar. Speaks changes its margarita offering regularly, making use of in-season
fruits, herbs and botanicals.
In the section named The More Serious Endeavor, The Perfect Crusta is an example. This drink is
from the 1850s, and is made with Grander Panamanian Rum, Amaro Nonino, Combier, fresh lemon
and orange juice, with a sugared rim.
The Or a Touch Sweeter section includes drinks like the Delicious Sour, circa 1892, which is Applejack
apple brandy, Créme de Peche peach liqueur, fresh lime, whipped egg white and barrel aged bitters.