February 15, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Dropping anchor, cruising to success on Ridge Ave.
by LEN LEAR

Gilbert Sanchez, a native of Honduras who worked on a cruise ship for 11 years, fillets a Dover sole daily special at tableside.

In my 25 years of writing restaurant articles for the Local and other area publications, I don’t think I’ve ever found the term “diamond in the rough” to be more applicable than to PTG Restaurant & Catering. The 55-seat BYOB opened Jan. 30 in a most unassuming building at 6813 Ridge Ave., less than one block from a ShopRite store in the middle of Roxborough. You might think that area is about as exciting as a stuck elevator, but there is no restaurant anywhere near it that is in the same planetary orbit.

“The beauty of this country is that you can follow your dream, and my dream was to open my own fine-dining restaurant,” said Gil Sanchez, co-owner (with Maurizio DeGeronemi) of the oddly name eatery and one who clearly believes in shaking the tree of complacency.

“I have friends in the restaurant business who basically all said, ‘Why on earth would you want to go into the restaurant business when you are already so successful in the catering business? The restaurant business is so much harder and riskier.’” (PTG caters lots of weddings and has catered jobs for up to 2,000 people — for a law firm in Blue Bell.)

Server Nicole O’Donnell, a resident of Erdenheim, is also a teacher of autistic children at Dobson Elementary School in Manayunk and a director of musical plays.

“The answer is that it’s always been my dream. I myself love going to a fine restaurant and having several courses and several fine wines. This way I can provide the same kind of experience for people in this area without their having to go to center city. And they can bring their own wine, which almost everyone likes to do.”

Sanchez, 51, who has mirthful, jovial eyes, carries himself with a self-confident dignity. He takes to hard work like a duck to quack. He left his native Honduras in 1976 to pursue adventure, which he accomplished by getting a job on the upscale Costa Cruiseship Lines and traveling around the world for 11 years. They used to dock at Penn’s Landing on the Delaware River. One of the major benefits of his cruise line career took place in 1984, when Gil was an assistant maitre d’.

One of his customers was a young lady named LuAnn, a resident of Manayunk who had just broken up with her boyfriend and was traveling with a girlfriend to try and escape from the breakup blues. You might say she had lots of ex-appeal. When Gil met LuAnn, it was love at first sight. “I’d send wine and champagne to their table, on the house,” said Gil. “After that she went on 13 more of our cruises, four or five a year.”

Roasted peppers with Italian cheese and olives; and brushetta with fresh tomatoes are two of the many appetizers at PTG Restaurant that taste as good as they look. (Photos by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

In 1987 Gil left the cruise line to settle on dry land with LuAnn. They moved to this area, and Gil took a job as a server at La Collina in Belmont Hills. In 1990, however, he started the PTG Catering firm out of his home. The letters stood for “Pasta to Go,” and Sanchez chose to use just the letters because “it sounded more upscale than ‘Pasta to Go.’ And one guy told me the letters PTG should stand for ‘pray to God.’” In 1996 Gil purchased the building at 6813 Ridge Ave., which was previously the home of PNS Ravioli Co. and is now home to PTG Restaurant. It’s obviously not the best name for a fine-dining establishment, but “so many people in this area know the name PTG Catering that I decided to use it.”

The catering operation does an average of two weddings a weekend as well as many other jobs, such as corporate Christmas parties and 250-person lunches and dinners for the Philadelphia Zoo. They have three banquet halls in Conshohocken, Paoli and Bensalem. The restaurant has been in the planning stages for two years, and a fortune was spent to renovate the Ridge Avenue property.

DeGeronemi heads the PTG Catering cooking staff, but to head the kitchen staff at the new restaurant, Gil hired Michael Blaszczyk, 46, who graduated third in his class at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America (“the number one and two people are now a record producer and police officer,” he said) and who previously worked at The Garden in center city, Villa Strafford in Wayne, La Locanda in Newtown Square and the Taj Mahal Casino-Hotel in Atlantic City, among others.

“I could have easily stayed at the Taj,” said Michael, “but I could never really get used to the corporate way of doing things. You couldn’t turn on a light switch without union approval. It’s just ridiculous. And I respect Gil so much. He is really a class act.”

Speaking of class acts, when it comes to fine dining, Michael is definitely one of the reign men. As they say in the South, you can tell this is not his first rodeo. His arugula salad, with goat cheese, candied walnuts and raspberry vinaigrette ($8), and his pasta dishes, which can be ordered as appetizers (half-orders) or entrees, are nothing short of sublime, such as the angel hair tossed with wild mushrooms, shallot, sage and dry vermouth ($7.50 or $15); and the pasta with sauteed shrimp, fresh tomatoes, garlic and white wine ($9 or $18).

Chef Blaszczyk, who is aided in the kitchen by sous chef Alfredo Gonzalez, employs classic French principles in creating his reduced sauces. His pepper-crusted filet mignon in a subtle brandy demi-glaze ($28) could win the palate-zer prize, and strictly from a financial standpoint, the best entrée bargain is probably the pan-seared duck breast in a glorious port wine reduction ($17). The presentation of the dishes is also quite artistic.

Every day there are several daily specials. During our Tuesday night visit last week, they offered a Dover sole, filleted an tableside; sea bass, lamb chops and lamb Wellington, marinated for two days, in puff pastry with a roasted garlic cream sauce. Our dining companion, Jimmy J. Pack Jr. of the Local staff, exclaimed that the lamb Wellington was “the best lamb dish I’ve ever tasted.”

For dessert PTG offers such staples as cheesecake, crème brulée and tiramisu, but there is also a bananas Foster that was even better than those we have had in New Orleans, where it was born. Our server, Nicole O’Donnell, who was absolutely delightful, just happens to be a resident of Erdenheim. A real workhorse, she is also a teacher of autistic children at Dobson Elementary School in Manayunk. In addition, she directs musical plays at school and is currently directing a production of Annie.

Late this month PTG will start serving Sunday brunch. It will be a buffet with at least 30 items and will cost $18 for adults. For more information about PTG, call 215-487-2293. (There is no web site yet.)

To contact Len Lear, email lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.