As the youngest of 10 children in a Calabrese-American household, with six older brothers away in military service, Bradford native Frank R. Algiere, now 67, was the one who ended up with many of the secrets of his mother's cooking. He particularly remembers the 30 loaves of bread she'd make at a time. Perhaps this is why he remains unfazed by making 125 loaves of focaccia each day at his bustling Misquamicut eatery, FRA's Italian Gourmet.

And this, most likely, is why focaccia sandwiches are FRA's most popular item, bringing periodic requests from Block Island and elsewhere for a few to be sent over by ferry or other modes of transit. These moon-shaped breads are cut into quarters and slit open, so they resemble a pita pocket. They're filled with Italian cold cuts or a chicken cutlet ($6.75 each), or with FRA's specialty, green beans or spinach sauteed in plenty of olive oil ($5.75 each). Each of these four sandwiches comes stuffed with roasted red peppers and fresh mozzarella cheese.

It's no surprise that Misquamicut visitors, suffering from focaccia withdrawal, find their way back to FRA's in the fall. FRA's other sandwiches, from tuna, turkey and ham to mortadella, capicola or Genoa, can be ordered on focaccia for 50 cents extra. The "Calabria grinder" ($6.25) contains the latter three cold cuts along with Westerly's native sausage, soppresata, balsamic onions, provolone, lettuce and tomato, and FRA's special dressing, a Balsamic vinaigrette.

Our appetites reached past the sandwich menu when we arrived at this deli/cafe/pizza parlor on a recent golden sunny evening, after a leisurely drive down the twists and turns of Shore Road, with its peeks of shimmering salt ponds and white-capped surf. We eyed the deli case; we studied the pizza menu; we scanned the pasta dinner options.

And we swooned over the fresh tomato, basil, and mozzarella salad ($5.75). The salad was as refreshing a taste of summer as you can find, even with vine-ripened tomatoes. The mozzarella slices were thick and creamy, the basil sharp and tangy. Time was when Algiere (his initials are F.R.A.) and his family -- wife Mary, daughter Joyce, and son Frank Jr. -- made their own mozzarella and ricotta for the deli. But after they annexed the pizza shop next to FRA's in '95, five years after Algiere opened the deli, the business kept them too busy to make the cheese, which they use in copious amounts.

Algiere puts ricotta and mozzarella, plus chevre and romano, on his four-cheese pizza ($9.95/$12.95), and ricotta and mozzarella, along with broccoli, spinach, artichokes, and pesto on his Italian veggie pizza ($12.95/$15.95). I was very keen to order the latter, and convinced my carnivore companion to head for the meatballs and stuffed peppers for his beef quotient. The small version of the pizza, with eight good-sized wedges, was generous with the veggies and cheese and featured the crispiest thin crust we've encountered for quite a while. Serving it on a cardboard disc atop its metal pan, I think, kept the heat of the top ingredients from making the crust soggy.

We nibbled voraciously on the pizza, but still enjoyed the penne with eggplant parmesan ($7.50), penne with meatballs ($7.50), and stuffed peppers on the side (two for $4.25). The pasta was cooked more than Bill likes it, but he was willing to forgo his al dente rule because FRA's sauce, a rich, flavorful, slightly sweet marinara, was so enticing. A basket of the famous focaccia came with our dinners, and we found it nicely herbed and chewy.

Inevitably, we headed back to the deli counter to survey the pastries. FRA's morning specialty is cinnamon buns, but those were long gone. Bill chose a cannoli ($1.75) with a cup of cappucino, and I gravitated toward the hard-to-pronounce sfogiatelle ($1.75). It looks like a striated clam shell, with strips of pastry surrounding a sweetened baked ricotta filling, deliciously flavored with lemon and nutmeg.

Though it might seem that we tried our best to sample everything at FRA's, I left wondering about "FRA's Italian soup"; the sauteed broccoli rabe; the veggie lasagna in the deli case; the piled-high prosciutto, roasted pepper and mozzarella bruschetta, Mary Algiere's home-baked pies on the weekends, and the other pastries behind the counter. I managed to snag a Rocky Mountain cookie (oatmeal with chocolate chips, raisins, and macadamia nuts) as we were leaving, and it was as yummy as it sounds.

As is almost everything at FRA's. Add to that a clean and crisp decor, a friendly and thoughtful staff, and they've got it all. Well, almost. Keeping prices down at FRA's means chasing penne and slicing meatballs with plastic cutlery in a plastic-coated pasta bowl. But for pizza, sandwiches, and take-out deli items, who cares? The food's the thing!

Issue Date: June 27 - July 4, 2002