Restaurants

What to order at Pammy’s

Owner Pam Willis shares what to order at her Cambridge trattoria.

Pammy's in Cambridge. Courtesy

October 22, 2024

4 minutes to read

With an ever-changing menu highlighted by handmade pastas and New American twists on Italian flavors, evergreen favorites at Pammy’s may be challenging to lock down. Yet, that’s all part of its allure and what keeps you coming back.

Opened in 2017 by wife-husband duo Pam and Chris Willis, the Cambridge restaurant was designed after an Italian neighborhood trattoria, both an ambiance and offering. In the kitchen, Chris transforms simple ingredients into a seemingly effortless combination of layered aromas, textures and tastes that quickly earned it a cult following both within the bounds of its Central and Harvard Square midpoint and further afield.

In describing the restaurant’s homemade Pugliese-style bread, one of the items that’s always present on the menu, Willis says “it has a combination of modern refinement and old school charm.” This sentiment can perhaps be applied to the entirety of the restaurant with its fluid floor plan that simultaneously offers nooks for intimate moments, a folkloric bar and central fireplace as meeting points for friends, lovers and solo diners to enjoy the charm of a neighborhood eatery offering so much more than your stereotypical local canteen.

Below, owner Pam Willis gives a taste of her five favorite dishes currently on the menu.

Morning Dew cocktail

With a bar team led by Rob Ficks, even a wine enthusiast like Willis will want to indulge in a cocktail at Pammy’s. The Morning Dew features Pammy’s house Gin “Tres Fratelli” made in collaboration with Willis’ brother-in-laws, Will and Dave, at Bully Boy Distillers. “The inspiration for this cocktail is the flavor palate of a dry riesling: sour white grapes, white flowers, citrus peel, and green herbs,” says Willis. Ficks achieved this by combining the gin with their housemade meyer limoncello, as well as riesling, fennel, elderflower and lime. Served up in a chilled glass, the cocktail flaunts the “prettiest pink hue,” according to Willis who adds: it’s “so perfectly balanced, I dare you to drink just one. It’s a great example of how thoughtful and layered our bar program is.”

Homemade Pugliese-style bread

“Our bread is like a warm hug from your celebrity crush,” prefaces Willis. The soft, chewy, slightly crusty bread is baked daily with a delicate balance of flours, one of which the culinary team mills fresh just hours before baking. “It is spongy and sweet and so darn satisfying in the way only a sourdough can be,” adds Willis. The bread is sprinkled with Maldon sea salt and served with olive oil. “I have been eating this bread for over a decade now and you will still sometimes catch me sneaking slices of it mid dinner service!”

Cobia crudo

Crudo is a summer favorite at Pammy’s but this year, they weren’t ready to banish it from the menu with the first sign of fall. “With this dish we invite diners to continue their crudo celebrations deep into the cooler months with raw cobia,” shares Willis. The mild-sweet fish is glazed with a white fig preserve and sliced thinly so that each serving is garnished with a dab of yuzu, kosho, made in house with yuzu zest and local serrano peppers. “It’s a pungent reminder that citrus season is upon us,” says Willis. “The plate is finished with a pour over of warm dashi broth.”

Chilled squid

“Chris was inspired by crab rangoons when he dreamt up this dish,” says Willis, who loves how this dish showcases the different textures of local squid. Chef Chris uses charred squid bodies as the vessel to stuff with cream cheese, Jonah crab meat, and toasted coriander, then cuts them into chilled slices. The slices are plated alongside fried tentacles as well as shishito peppers, blistered in the fryer and sprinkled with Maldon sea salt. “This array of contrasting elements – crispy, soft, cold, and hot – is dressed with a caramel that he makes from Kurozo (aged Japanese black vinegar) and sugar. It’s a sweet and sour touch that brings everything together in such a craveable way!”

Lasagna Bianco

“Many years ago I challenged Chris to make a white lasagna that rivaled the red sauce Italian American ones I grew up loving and cooking as a kid,” shares Willis. “Spoiler Alert: He did! His lasagna bianca is one of my favorite dishes that we’ve ever had on the menu at Pammy’s.” Unlike most white sauces, this recipe is not a bechamel-based version but rather its a fonduta style cheese sauce using housemade fonduta and shredded mozzarella from Malden. This creamy, rich blend is spread between each layer of daily housemade sfoglia noodles and MVM mushrooms, grown by the Willis’ friend Tucker in Armenia, New York. It is cut to order and then one side is seared to create “a toasty caramelized cheese flavor,” says Willis. It is served over a cipollini and tomato chutney surrounded by ever changing gorgeous greens grown by the famous Eva in South Dartmouth. “One bite of this and like me, you too will be hooked on a white lasagna.”