By Roman Verna

Photo Credit: Roman Verna

John D’Amore doesn’t run your traditional Italian pasta restaurant. At Nothin’ but Noods, there’s no reservations, no dining room, and no employees. That’s because D’Amore operates his restaurant as a ghost kitchen, where he is the sole employee, only accepting takeout orders through his social media pages. The menu changes weekly, the ingredients are as local as possible, and the flavors will blow you away. We took a look inside the kitchen and interviewed Chef D’Amore. Here’s what he had to say.

What is Nothin’ but Noods?

“So, Nothin’ but Noods is a ghost kitchen I run out of the old Iron Horse Saloon in Mattydale. I rent the kitchen here, and I use just the kitchen. I don’t have access to the rest of the building, but I do take out food, so you call ahead, order, tell me when you want it, and I’ll have it ready for you then. I also do catering as well.”

What makes your food different from others in the area?

“I think what makes my food different is that I’m the only one touching it. I know from start to finish where it came from, who I got it from, how it was made, what farm it came from, I know exactly what’s going on with it. I put my love into it. I think what also makes my pasta different is using Flour City Pasta, nobody else has that- I’m the only restaurant in town using it. The pasta, basically, [and] what I’m doing with my sauces, and that is what makes me different.”

When did you open the restaurant, and what motivated you to do so?

“In the restaurant business, you start as a dishwasher, you move your way up to the line cook, do that for a few years, then move your way up to be the chef and start running it. Then you start seeing everything, the numbers, all that, and you’re like, I can achieve this on my own. And that’s what I wanted to do, I wanted to challenge myself, I wanted to do it alone, and just go for it. Take the leap that not a lot of people I know have. Most people get stuck on that line, and that’s where they still are. Get off the line! You can do it too.”

What got you to where you are today?

“So, I started as a dishwasher, and I think what really made me want to cook is that I zoned in one day on watching the cooks just move during a busy rush hour. It was like a ballet, watching them move in sync. I was like, I want to do that. By the time I was 16, I was working on the line, and at 18, I was working the saute station, I learned pizzas, and then I went to culinary school at Johnson and Wales in Providence.”

After working in Providence for a little while after culinary school, D’Amore returned to Central New York.

“I got into the Genesee Grande Hotel, and I wanted to learn large, mass catering. Then, I got picked up one day by the owner of The York while I was working the line at Strada. He called me and was like, ‘Hey, I saw you put your resume in, I want to talk to you’, and so then we opened The York together in 2015. Oh my god, that was insane, I was 26 years old and opening a restaurant. I was like what the hell is going on.”

It isn’t always easy in the restaurant world though. After leaving The York, D’Amore went to open another restaurant, and things didn’t work out the way he had planned.

“I continued on my journey, and went and opened another place in Liverpool… I realized I was lied to the entire time by the owner, and he had no money! I was like, I gotta get out of here. So I left there, and went to Strada Mia for a while… I loved it, hated it, you know, back and forth. It all depends on who you’ve got working for you.”

After moving between restaurants for the next few years, on his 35th Birthday, D’Amore decided to take the leap and open Nothin’ but Noods, and he says it’s been successful ever since.

You can find Nothin’ but Noods on Instagram @nothinbutnoodspasta and on Facebook at Nothin But Noods Pasta Company. They are only open Thursday – Sunday.