taste of the city | Montano’s

It’s 1:30pm. Lunch service at Montano’s International Restaurant is drawing to a close, and Marty Montano is oddly immaculate. I expect to see someone haggard from the heat and demands of the kitchen, but that’s not Marty. He’s as crisp and fresh as a business major on a job hunt. His clothes are clean and pressed. His hair and beard are as tight and trim as a Marine’s.

Marty has the manner of a born salesman. Conversation with him, I’m soon to learn, is not so much dialog as it is a compendium of business platitudes. “We offer something for everyone to enjoy,” he says or, “My job has a low misery-index and high personal-reward.” This is not deeply meaningful perhaps but certainly heartfelt. His devotion to both his enterprise and his customers is obvious to even the most casual observer.

We sit down for a leisurely chat about his life as a chef and he’s manic. Not the sort of man to leave the details to others, he shifts his attention constantly between the interview at hand and the myriad issues of restaurant operation that surface even in our short time together. He’s a bundle of focused energy, rejecting shirts from a vendor, answering questions from me, sending an employee out to purchase more salmon for dinner, and waving off another who wants to assess the banquet room where we’re sitting (that can be done later). He breathlessly brandishes brochures, shows off a wall of awards and inquires of me often, with respect to something that he’s just told me, “Do you understand?” His personality is a force majeur, about as easy to ignore as a riot. Still, there’s an easy smile and his eyes gleam with the confidence of a man accustomed to meeting and overcoming challenges.

As a restaurant, Montano’s is a local institution that attracts many repeat customers. A sense of family is pervasive here. Marty greets many of his customers as though they are his family. One wall is adorned with posters that are really just out-sized blow-ups of pages from his family photo album. During my time with Marty, three separate customers introduce him to children they’ve brought with them for lunch. He couldn’t be more pleased. He tells me that Montano’s was one of the first restaurants in Roanoke to go smoke-free and that one of the chief factors in his no-smoking decision was to make for more of a family atmosphere. He wants a new generation of customers who have a deep affection for Montano’s and he appears to be getting it.

I begin, on the wrong foot, by asking him how old he is. He waves the question off (rightly) as unimportant. I regroup.

CM: How long has Montano’s International Restaurant been in business?
MM:My father started the business as a small grocery and deli back in 1969. It was called Chef’s International Gourmet. He wanted to offer something different to Roanoke and he did but it was sometimes a struggle to get customers to understand that the “International Gourmet” part of our name didn’t mean “odd and expensive” food. We moved to The Towers shopping center in 1973 and it was there that we first offered seating for dining. We started with 20 seats in the back and soon saw that we had a winner. Prepared food began to challenge the grocery portion of our business. We expanded our seating and the business continued to grow. Eventually we had seating for 86 and we’re more of a restaurant than a grocery.

CM: How is it that you were able to attract so many diners?
MM: The same thing that we do today, constant change and innovation. We would host International Dinner Nights and try out many ideas on the customers. They were very patient with us and forgave many of our efforts that were off the mark. Suppliers, too, were helpful. In those days they could be more flexible in their payment and delivery terms. That flexibility was a big help to a struggling business.

CM: So how is it that you ended up here? (in Townside Festival Mall on Franklin Rd.)
MM: In 1988, our lease at the Towers was ending and couldn’t be renewed. We wanted to expand further and needed a more permanent home. Townside offered us that opportunity. We opened with a 150-seat restaurant and a smaller gourmet grocery. By 1993, we dropped the groceries all together and then expanded the seating again the following year. We can now accommodate over 270 diners.

CM: Tell me about your training as a chef.
MM: My training is informal. I’ve read a great deal and experimented a lot with different techniques and flavor combinations. Mostly, I’ve been lucky to work with some really good chefs that we’ve hired to work here. The head chef we have now, Kevin Jarvis, is very talented. Three times he’s received a “best chef” award here in Roanoke. I’ve learned a lot from him.
(He pauses and smiles.) I think of myself as the Abraham Lincoln of the restaurant business. I’m a self-educated man.

CM: What would you tell someone interested in becoming a chef?
MM: Read, read, read. And experiment. Just don’t over-commit to ingredients or hardware if you’re trying something new. Make sure you can do something and it works before investing too heavily in time and materials.

CM: Montano’s is more than just a restaurant, isn’t it?
MM: Oh yeah. Beside being a great sit-down restaurant, we deliver food; we do event catering; we’re also a terrific meat and seafood shop that offers Italian specialties as well as kosher items, a delicious dessert shop, a music venue on weekends, a coffee bar, and a wine and beer shop with a broad selection. We’re like a mutual fund. We keep our eggs in a lot of baskets. In addition, we’ve now decided to offer people franchise opportunities with Montano’s.

CM: What’s the greatest thing about operating your own restaurant?
MM: Well, there are several things. Job security. I know that when I come to work in the morning, the job will be there for me. Also, I get to see people at their best. When they come here, they’re ready for relaxation and enjoyment. I get to deliver that to them and that gives me a great sense of accomplishment.

CM: Your customers seem quite devoted.
MM: We’re fortunate to have many customers who enjoy us on a regular basis. I remember once that we had a couple who came in quite early for lunch, about 10:30 in the morning. I remarked to them that they must have woken up with Montano’s on their mind. The man told me, “If you were open for breakfast we’d have been here even earlier.” I liked that.

CM: Any final observations on cooking?
MM: Just what I used to try and convey to people in the cooking show that I hosted on WSLS, that is: working in the kitchen can be easy and fun. It’s especially great for couples who can do it together as a hobby. They can enjoy doing it together much like they might enjoy a sporting event. It can be a fun exercise.

A popular Montano’s menu item is New Orleans Barbecue shrimp. Head Chef Kevin Jarvis gave us the recipe.

New Orleans Barbecued Shrimp

2 Tbl Montano’s Barbecue spice mix*
2 Tbl Butter
2 Tbl Chopped scallions (green onions)
4 Tbl Worstcestershire
1.5 Tsp Finely chopped garlic
10 Large shrimp (26/30 count)
2 thick slices of crusty bread

In a skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat, heat everything but the shrimp until the liquid starts to bubble. Add the shrimp to the bubbling mixture and cook until shrimp begin to turn opaque. Turn the shrimp over, then cover with beer and boil for 60–90 seconds.
Place the bread in a shallow bowl, then place shrimp atop the bread with some tongs, and drizzle the pan sauce generously over the shrimp.

*Montano’s Barbecue Spice Mix is a dry mix made there in the restaurant. It includes black seasoning, Creole seasoning, paprika, rosemary and cayenne. Similar prepared barbecue spice mixes can be found on the shelves of many groceries or you could put together your own using these ingredients as a guide or, perhaps, Marty could be persuaded to package and sell his own.

Libation recommendation:
A rich beer would be outstanding with this dish. I would recommend an IPA (India Pale Ale) such as Dogfish Head 90 Minute or a Trappist Ale from Belgium, like Orval.
Several wines would also pair well with this. I strongly suggest a Grenache. This is a medium-bodied, low-tannin red wine that has a bright fruit character and a spicy finish, like a little white pepper tingle as it goes down. For a white wine, Gewürztraminer would be a good choice, but an even better choice would be a crisp, citrus-y Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.

Posted: May 1st, 2008 under Taste of the City.
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