Chef Ronsky’s Trattoria Is Officially Open in Chestnut Hill

It's dinnertime at the latest iteration of award-winning chef Ron Suhanosky's venture.

By Jacqueline Cain· 5/31/2019, 4:06 p.m.

A signature dish at Chef Ronsky’s Trattoria is spaghetti with a strawberry-tomato balsamic sauce. / Photo by Annie Lagasse

Ron Suhanosky has been cooking in Chestnut Hill for nearly three years now—but beginning this weekend, the award-winning chef is finally sharing who he truly is. Chef Ronsky’s Trattoria softly opens this weekend at the Street, serving up a soulful menu of pasta dishes and house-made gelato in the small, homey space formerly occupied by his café, Ronsky’s.

“Chef Ronsky’s Trattoria will allow my guests to experience my passion for Italian cooking and give them a taste of who I am and where I came from,” says Suhanosky, who has a James Beard Award for his cookbook, Pasta Sfoglia. He previously owned and operated two Sfoglia restaurants in New York City and Nantucket. The chef is also an alum of the River Café in Brooklyn, former Boston restaurants Galleria Italiana and Biba, and Coppa.

Ronsky’s began as a three-month pop-up at the street, then graduated to a full-time café and sandwich shop. It has hosted Sunday suppers and evening aperitivo hours, but the transition to Chef Ronsky’s Trattoria is the first time it has had dedicated nightly dinner service.

Starting with the café first “gave me the opportunity to connect with the neighborhood, and really show the people who live here that it is about the food, and not about this whole show of opening a big restaurant,” Suhanosky says.

Spanning the entirety of Italy in its influences, Suhanosky’s small menu offers light antipasti, like seasonal spring pea and coppa arancini; asparagus panna cotta with lump crab salad; and minestrone soup. There are several homemade pasta dishes, such as a signature spaghetti with strawberry-tomato-balsamic sauce, and shrimp manicotti with artichokes and lemon. Along with his Nonna’s meatball recipe, the matriarch’s zeppole are also on the menu; these Italian-style doughnuts were a favorite from the Ronsky’s pop-up days. Check out the opening menu below—but know that it will change regularly to feature new recipes and seasonal ingredients. Everything pairs with a fully Italian wine and beer list.

Over the past two-and-a-half years at the Street, Suhanosky has gradually built out his small space to make it the full-service restaurant that debuts this weekend. The final remodel features fresh, bright coral-colored walls, and an accent of wallpaper; and banquette-style bench seating throughout the whole space—though it’s only about 15 seats total. Suhanosky was also just approved for an outdoor patio, so expect 15 more seats outside very soon.

The marble bar top Suhanosky had installed for the café is now a chef’s counter, overlooking the open kitchen. Antique plates and an ornate mirror decorate one wall, while vintage wine barrel-chandeliers illuminate the room.

“I wanted to add more rusticity to the space, and make it feel like something you’d come across in Brooklyn,” Suhanosky says. “It’s a very funky little space.”

The comfortable but modern trattoria—and the contemporary Italian cuisine inside—is a return to Suhanosky’s roots. “I’m just really pumped up to do the things that I love to do.”

Chef Ronsky’s Trattoria is softly open from 2-9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2. Beginning Monday, June 3, it’s open daily from noon until 10 p.m.

3A Boylston St., Chestnut Hill, 617-903-2159, chefronskys.com.