No Reservations in ‘the Riv’

The owners of Sagres restaurant in Fall River, chef Manuel Ferreira and his brother, Victor DaSilva, share a Portuguese meal with chef Mitch Mauricio. Photo by Wolf Matthewson

Chef Mitch Mauricio is a Fall River native who takes every opportunity to promote what he calls the “forgotten city of Massachusetts.” He’s currently the executive chef at Agawam Hunt Club in East Providence, where he’s spent the last six years, and before that, he worked for Newport Restaurant Group, including the Boat House and Castle Hill Inn, for over a decade. Mauricio, now a Tiverton resident, is also the owner of the seasonal ice cream shop at the carousel at Battleship Cove in Fall River. 

The chef grew up on Portuguese food, going to all the food markets and bakeries in Fall River as the child of Azorean immigrants. His father came to Fall River from São Miguel island in 1975 at age fifteen and began his American assimilation on Mulberry Street, first taking on odd jobs, then making his way into music by performing in bands that traveled around the country playing at Portuguese feasts. “I grew up going to feasts and helping him when I was young,” Mauricio says. “I would fall asleep on chairs while he played with his band all night.” Mauricio’s mother is from a different island of the Azores, Flores. Mauricio’s parents met when
his father played music for a wedding that was held at the Albernaz in Swansea, where his mother was a server. 

Chef Mauricio took us on an Anthony Bourdain-style tour of Fall River, visiting some of his favorite childhood haunts and meeting the business owners in his hometown. Here are his favorite places.

Papo Secos at Cunha’s Bakery

This little neighborhood bakery looks unremarkable with its red brick exterior at the base of a vinyl-sided triple decker, but on the inside, the bakers produce enough crispy and airy papo secos (Portuguese rolls) — about eighty dozen a day — to feed the community and supply many popular local Portuguese restaurants, including Sagres and Caravela, as well as Portugalia Marketplace. The bakery creates the rolls overnight and is open Tuesday through Sunday, starting at 5 a.m. Chef Mauricio prefers to pick up his papo secos early in the morning when they are still hot and chewy from the oven. There are many Portuguese recipes that call for day-old bread, like his own Portuguese stuffies [See page 89 for recipe] with chourico and breadcrumbs. But I know these rolls won’t last long enough for that. 212 Mulberry St., Fall River, Mass., 508-674-7795

Chourico at Azores Market

Azores Market is a mom-and-pop-style Portuguese market with a meat counter filled with chourico, morcela, pork products and more, and shelves of Portuguese cooking items. “The chourico is all hand-packed unlike other commercially made chourico. They have a giant hardwood smoker in the back,” Mauricio says. The owner of Azores Market, Elisiário Reis, purchased the market from the previous owners in 2019. He took over the market after being a customer for twenty-six years. “I got the recipes from the previous owner. I was in love with the Portuguese chourico because it reminds me of home,” Reis says. “We keep using the same tradition, the same recipes, the same everything that the previous owner taught us.” On Fridays and Saturdays, they also sell special fresh bread — pão con torresmo (bread with fried bacon) — as well as peixe frito (fish and chips) made with cod, and crispy cod cakes and favas. Call ahead, or you might not bring home the bacon. 303 William St., Fall River, Mass., 508-679-6521

Mauricio holds a large Italian grinder at Marzilli’s. Photo by Wolf Matthewson

Italian Grinders at Marzilli’s Bakery

Each morning they bake their own Italian bread, and it makes a big difference when biting into these loaded torpedoes stacked with salami, ham, mortadella, provolone and more, lettuce and tomato, and sprinkled with spicy banana peppers. “They open at 7 a.m., so you can get a sandwich to last you all day. I don’t know how they do it at the prices they do, but you can get a sandwich this big for $15,” Mauricio says. The Marzilli’s menu also includes a chourico and chips sub, which is another Fall River classic — sauteed chourico and french fries in an Italian sub roll — “everything in Portuguese-American food is all about carbs; even steaks come with two starches, french fries and rice,” says Mauricio. Several Rhode Island delis also source Italian bread from Marzilli’s, including Marco’s Subs in Portsmouth, Marco’s Cafe in Newport and Pickles-A Deli in Middletown. 944 Bedford St., Fall River, Mass., 508-675-5551, marzillisbakery.com

Portuguese Dinner at Sagres

The oldest Portuguese restaurant in Fall River, Sagres was established in 1976 by chef Antonio DaSilva and his brother-in-law, Amadeu Cerqueria. Before opening Sagres, DaSilva — now deceased — was a celebrated chef at the Estoril Casino on the mainland in Lisbon, Portugal, explains his son, Victor DaSilva, who runs the restaurant with his brother, Manuel Ferreira, who is the head chef. Popular Sagres specialities include the Portuguese sirloin steak (bife a Portuguesa) with two fried eggs on top, served with rice, fries, hot peppers and gravy, but the most popular dish is camarao Alhinho, shrimp sauteed with olive oil, garlic, white wine and a touch of picante sauce (make sure to save some papo secos — which come from Cunha’s Bakery — to dip into the sauce). Shrimp Mozambique was also reportedly introduced in Fall River, and theirs is the best in town [see recipe on page 89]. Chef Mauricio’s other must-have items include the queijo de cabra (fresh goat cheese), which is made by a local artisan and served with Portuguese crushed red pepper sauce, as well as the polvo grelhado, a grilled octopus entree served with roasted potatoes with fried green bell peppers, onions, garlic and olive oil. “My father introduced the octopus,” says Victor DaSilva. “We used to do it once in a while, but it became so popular, we had to put it on the menu and it sells like crazy.” The octopus is slow-cooked for hours to achieve the buttery texture. “Braise it for two hours or more, and it gets tender again,” says Mauricio. 177 Columbia St., Fall River, Mass., 508-675-7018, sagresfr.com