New Jersey Monthly reports that Randy and Ally Forrester are moving their restaurant, Osteria Radici (website, facebook, instagram), from Allentown to Portland, Maine. The 24-seat Osteria Radici has been a James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef in the Midatlantic both years they’ve been in business and on the New Jersey Monthly list of the 30 best restaurants in the state.
The Forresters shared that they’ve found “lot to love about Portland” but what they “look forward to most is getting to engage with guests who are excited to eat” and always eager to learn more. They were taken by the “energy we saw there, every time we ate whether it was Cong Tu Bot, Central provisions, Fore Street, Lio or places like Maine and Loire and Maiz”. Growing their business in that environment is the reason they decided to move their lives and their business to Portland.
Chef Forrester is focused on “hyper-regional Italian food from the north to the south” to “highlight these regions in a more modern light” that lets Radici “showcase what Italian food is right now, not generations ago.” With Osteria Radici in Portland the couple wants to deliver thoughtful food and drink in an approachable comfortable environment.
The Forresters are currently looking for the right location and hope to open to their new Portland restaurant this coming spring.