If you grew up around Utica, chances are you remember Grimaldi’s on Bleecker Street. The restaurant was part of the local food scene for generations and became one of those places people still talk about years after it closed.

Grimaldi’s got its start in Utica in 1943, when Fred and Rita Grimaldi opened the family restaurant. Over the years the Grimaldi name expanded to other restaurants around Central New York, but the Bleecker Street location remained a Utica landmark. The restaurant was sold to the Castronovo family in 1989, and the Utica location eventually closed in 2012.

The old Grimaldi’s menu was filled with the kind of Italian-American dishes Utica became known for, including Greens Grimaldi, tomato pie, homemade pasta and, of course, Chicken Riggies.

Grimaldi’s Chicken Riggies

Ingredients

• 1 lb. chicken breast, cut up
• 1 small onion
• 2 cherry peppers
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup sherry wine
• 1/2 cup water (mix wine and water together in a cup)
• 3/4 cup marinara sauce
• Pinch of salt
• Black pepper and parsley, to taste
• 4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. butter, rolled in flour
• 1/2 lb. cooked rigatoni
• Romano cheese, for serving

Directions

Sauté the chicken, onion, peppers and garlic in 4 tablespoons of olive oil until the chicken starts turning white. Add the wine and water mixture.

Add the marinara sauce, salt, pepper and parsley and cook until the chicken is done. Roll 2 tablespoons of butter in flour and add it to the sauce for thickening.

Toss the cooked rigatoni into the sauce. Add Romano cheese and serve.

It’s been years since Grimaldi’s closed its doors on Bleecker Street, but recipes like this are a nice reminder of just how much of our local history can be found around the dinner table.