But when Italian immigrant Alberico D’Andrea opened the doors to his eponymous restaurant at the corner of Logan and Commerce streets on April 16, 1984, European food was not much seen. “For the first six months we were giving away pasta for free to teach people how to eat pasta properly, like pappardelle with cream sauce or ribbon noodle with cream sauce,” D’Andrea, now nearly 70, recalled. “We were setting out side dishes for free. Slowly, slowly the ladies started eating the pasta, and then it became one of the most popular dishes in the restaurant.”
Tom Lee/Stuff The ladies were important in those early days, said his wife, Rachel D’Andrea, 68.