Adrian's is a family-owned and -operated restaurant. Adrian, left, is seen here with his wife Annette, their daughter Marissa, 15, and son Julian, 16.

Mom, apple pie and the
French chef who cooks Italian

By Jebba M. Handley
Article originally appeared in the Dining section of the July 23, 2002 edition of The Cape Codder  newspaper.

NORTH TRURO - Hanging in the kitchen of Adrian Cyr's namesake restaurant is his mother's 4-inch, handmade wooden rolling pin, an icon to a loving upbringing and a devotion to the preparation of fine food.

"Mom was amazingly efficient in the kitchen, producing a lot of food in a short amount of time, which she had to do with such a large family," says Cyr, one of nine brothers and sisters. The rolling pin was given to Cyr's mother as a wedding present, and then to Cyr when he opened his first restaurant on the Cape.

As a youngster he was given pâté sandwiches on homemade bread to take to school, but nobody would trade lunches with him. He craved his classmates' Wonder Bread sandwiches and Ring Dings.

Adrian's spacious dining area provides a comfortable setting for patrons. Staff photos by Merrily Lunsford

Cyr, 47, chef-owner of Adrian's, an Italian restaurant hidden away in the Outer Beach Resort overlooking scenic Beach Point, looks back on his childhood as the key to his love of fine food.

"It was in my mother's kitchen where I loved participating in all she was doing," he recalls. "When I was a kid, I was an altar boy, and after Mass I would have one of my mother's wonderful round raisin tarts for breakfast - very nourishing, you know, just packed with raisins and so lovingly prepared."

He grew up in Bristol, Conn., and received a culinary education at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts from 1982 to 1983. He had other cooking jobs, including an 11-year stint at the Red Inn in Provincetown, starting as a dishwasher and working his way up to the front of the house. He also worked at Ciro's on Boylston Street in Boston (which later relocated to Provincetown).

Cyr went on to become a teacher at the school in Cambridge where he trained and works there in the off-season when his Cape Cod restaurant is closed.

Sandwiched into this busy life is travel to Italy and France at least once a year. He and his wife Annette and their two children visit relatives and friends (Annette has family in Italy, Adrian's family comes from France) and search out new and interesting foods.

"My wife, with her Italian background, brings a perfect balance to the marriage of Italian and French cuisine," he says. Hers, however, is the richer culinary heritage, Cyr believes, and the mainly Italian menu at Adrian's restaurant reflects this.

A visit to friends on the Cape led to opening his first restaurant behind the Truro Center Post Office. It had 10 tables and served only breakfast and lunch. Things have progressed considerably since those days, and his present restaurant, open since 1993, has a sizeable bar, a spacious dining room seating 120 people, and a large, covered outdoor deck with room for another 80 diners.

Continuing his original concept of serving "wonderful" breakfasts (8 a.m. until noon), he includes such offerings as Swiss eggs poached in heavy cream with Romano cheese, cayenne pepper served on English muffins, a French shaken omelet with shallots, brie and fresh herbs. and his well-regarded cranberry/orange pancakes with orange zest and compound butter served with his brother's maple syrup.

"I import this from my brother, who has a farm and maple syrup business in Maine," he says. These are just a few of the items on a full and very complete breakfast menu. Then the restaurant reopens for dinner each day at 5:30 p.m.

The menu has ample offerings in each of the following six categories: antipasti, insalate, pasta e polenta, i secondi, le pizze and desserts. Among his signature dishes are an antipasti bruschetta with figs and prosciutto, a lobster ravioli with basil and a tomato cream sauce, a seared sea scallops redolent of white wine, and butter, served with wild mushroom risotto and roasted corn salad, and a pizza consisting of scampi, carciofi (artichoke hearts) garlic, and mozzarella cheese on an organic cornmeal crust. Each week there are new dishes, many of them garnered from visits to Italy.

Caciucco, a slow braise of chicken, andouille sausage, littleneck clams and shrimp with tomato, white wine, bell peppers and green olives.

When Cyr describes zucotto, a classic Northern Italian dessert reminiscent of Il Duomo, a rum-soaked sponge cake filled with layers of chocolate mousse, whipped cream and nuts, served semi-fredo, he credits Patricia Bagley, "his right arm," for this and all the other desserts, like torta della nonna or torta barozzi. Bagley is a master baker who has been with him for 14 years making all the dough for bread, including olive bread, and all the pastries. She also assists him with many of the various tasks that are necessary to fulfill the orders of a restaurant this size.

In addition to his mother, he credits Roberta Dowling, director of the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, as a major culinary influence.

When it comes to learning fine cooking, Cyr feels it is part training and part experimenting, but the rest has to do with the taste buds and the opportunities to travel and taste foods in the land from which they come. Like all fine chefs, he insists on fresh produce, which he gets primarily from Gary's Ultimate Produce. His fish comes from Rod Seafood. He adheres to the principles of "slow food," giving his customers "real food, not masked, not disguised." His regular menus are set, but among the secondi, each season brings new specials on a regular basis. He deplores menus that are too wordy, requiring the customer to be a culinary scholar. "It doesn't have to be complicated to be wonderful and delicious."

Both Adrian and Annette make the selections for the wine list, which offers about 20 whites and reds, with a good selection available by the glass. There also are sparkling wines and beers to choose from.

Being a chef is not without its humorous moments.

"One day I had a huge pot of veal stock on the stove. It was in its second run and when I went home for my afternoon break, I asked the dishwasher to please strain the veal stock for me. When I returned I found three colanders of veal bones sitting on the counter. Where's the stock, I asked? Well, you can guess what happened - it went down the drain and all I had left were tired old bones. In this business you have to have a good sense of humor.

"This is a happy place with customers who come again and again, but the best event of my career was hosting my sister's wedding," Cyr says. "It gave me the opportunity to have the entire family and friends come together to celebrate. I really like to do weddings. It's such a nice thing to do for people."

BRODETTO (Italian seafood stew) - Serves 6 to 8

• In a large pot, bring vinegar to a lively boil; add onions.
  
• Cook 15 minutes over low heat until onions are soft and transparent. All the vinegar should have evaporated at this point.
  
• Add the oil, salt and pepper to taste.
  
• Sauté over medium heat until onions turn golden brown.
  
• Add lemon zest and garlic. Cook 1 minute.
  
• Add tomatoes and cook on high heat uncovered for 5 minutes, or until thick.
  
• Pour in the wine, bring to a boil and simmer until no raw alcohol taste is left.
  
• Begin to add the shellfish, clams and mussels; then add the shrimp and fish cubes; lastly add the squid.
  
• When all the clams and fish seem cooked (about 10 minutes) remove the fish and shellfish to warm soup dishes, dividing the portions evenly. Ladle the hot Brodetto over the fish, sprinkle with chopped fresh basil and serve.

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