Get saucy with Roman Village Restaurant in Detroit for National Sauce Month

Historic restaurant explains names, differences in sauces

March is National Sauce Month, and we're celebrating with a family that has 55 years of history in Detroit serving up delicious Italian sauces at their restaurants. Patrick Rugiero and his mother, Rita Rugiero, from Roman Village restaurant in southwest Detroit, joined Tati Amare to explain the names and differences of their pasta sauces. 

"Mama" Rita made her special sauce made of bacon, mushroom, Alfredo and marinara sauces. She said it's one of the restaurant's best-sellers. The Rugieros also brought in Arrabiata red sauce. When asked what does arrabiata means, Patrick said "spicy" or "mad". The red pepper flakes make the sauce have a bit of a kick.The Blush sauce is a mixture of a tomato-based sauce with creamy Alfredo sauce. They also brought traditional sauces such as Marinara, Alfredo, and Bolognese. 

The Rugieros also discussed the lengthy history of Roman Village Restaurant, with Rita and her late husband opening the first location in April of 1964. Over the years, the business has grown from one restaurant in southwest Detroit to multiple locations, called Antonio's named after Rita's husband, all over metro Detroit. Rita still hand-makes sauces, and pastas are made fresh, in-house, at all of locations daily.