Brazilian Chef Finds Amore in Italian Cooking

Fourteen years ago, in a pasta shop owned by his aunt in Brazil, Adriano Rodrigues fell in love with the art of cooking. Little did he know, his affection would lead to him becoming head chef at an Italian restaurant called Sagra here in Dedham.

"I was helping [my aunt] out at a young age, and after I came to the United States, I started working in restaurants because I already had that [cooking] background," says Rodrigues.

While working in that pasta shop, he learned how to make one of his favorite foods, gnocchi, a potato-filled dumpling.

While Rodrigues has always loved cooking, he contemplated a career as an engineer.

"I wanted to be an engineer, but I never had the money to go to college," says Rodrigues.

Like many chefs who once thought about other careers, his love for cooking kept bringing him back to the kitchen, and he soon realized that this was the career for him.

"Everywhere I go, people always have good things to say [about his cooking].  They have nothing bad to say, because I put my heart in to it. No matter what I do, I always put my heart in to it, because I want to be the best," says Rodrigues of his approach to cooking, as well as life.

Before enduring a career as a chef, Rodrigues worked in a bank, since that was what his mother and uncle had done.

"Before I worked here, I worked in a bank as a broker. But it was so boring that I decided to try something more exciting," says Rodrigues.

"In the kitchen, you have to be all over the place, running around, and you never stop, and I like that," says Rodrigues.

Working at Sagra has allowed Rodrigues to carry on tradition from working in his aunt's pasta shop. All of Sagra's pastas are homemade, just like in his aunt's shop. Sagra also offers a lot of new experiences both for Rodrigues and for diners.

"With Sagra, there's entertainment, great food, and a lot of parties. We try to accommodate everybody. Our pasta is homemade, we make it right here," says Rodrigues.

Sagra has plans to expand and create a shop that sells many of their foods cooked and ready to eat for takeout. Construction is currently underway.

Extra Bites

Rodrigues' Ideal Meal

• Calamari for an appetizer.

"You can judge a place by its calamari," says Rodrigues

• Cabernet wine
• Some type of brazed meat with roasted potatoes for an entrée

Brazing is when you sear the meat to lock in the flavor and then cook with wine and stock with vegetables for more flavors

• Something with chocolate for dessert: Nutella Bread Pudding (recipe below), Chocolate Mousse, or Lava Cake

Nutella Bread Pudding

• 1 loaf of de-crusted and cubed Italian bread
• 5 eggs
• 1-quart heavy cream
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 300 grams Nutella

To Prepare:

In a saucepan, heat Nutella, vanilla extract, cream, and sugar to a simmer. Stir until melted. Add eggs. Mix together. Pour over diced bread in a buttered 1/3 pan. Let set overnight (approx 8 hours). Bake in a Banho Maria (or double boiler) for 1 hour and 20 minutes at 335 degrees.

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