Back in 2019, Racan Alhoch started turning out the Jersey-style Italian-American pizza and pasta of his youth from a food truck he dubbed Saint Pasta. Over the years, he’s garnered a small army of passionate followers and a reputation as a social media rabble-rouser, ready and willing to go off on Yelpers who leave critical comments. He’s extra, no doubt, but there’s something refreshing about his gumption to fight the tyranny of the uninformed.

After various moves, partnership breakups and pivots (he sold bottled sauces for a time), Alhoch is finally living his long-held dream: making homey but elevated eats in a cozy brick-and-mortar space on Roosevelt Row. For now, the menu is brief, offering cocktails, mocktails, beer, a handful of natural wines and after-dinner sippers, as well as three starters, four pastas and three renditions of chicken Parm. Short never seemed so sweet.