Sunday, November 9, 2008

A Soggy Saturday in Little Italy

Last night was unusually warm for an early November Saturday in Boston. Even though it was a little rainy, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that every restaurant in the North End was filled to the brim. My friend and I were scouting out the places we know that have a bar as we were looking to keep it lively and dine a little more casual.

We decided to first check out the new bar at Antico Forno (http://www.anticofornoboston.com/), but it was packed. Not surprising as the food is excellent and the atmosphere is lively with a touch of cozy thanks to the signature brick oven.

The next stop was Lucca (http://www.luccaboston.com/). With my fingers crossed, I walked in to check out my favorite North End bar, but to no avail. I would have to live without the rigatoni with wild boar this particular night. While disappointed, it gave me hope that in this tough economy people are still out enjoying amazing food and fun cocktails.

Where to next? This is when living in the neighborhood for 10 years pays off as you essentially have a North End Zagat in your head.

The choice was Prezza (www.prezza.com). Like salmon swimming up stream, we headed up Hanover to Fleet Street. Arriving at the maroon awning covered door, I looked through the window and spotted two open seats at the dark wood bar. Finally!

The bartender immediately approached us with a smile – recognizing my friend and me – and a wine and cocktail menu. My friend chose the Allegrini Valpolichella and I ordered a glass of Prosecco. We each started with a yummy salad, the Bibb Lettuce and the Baby Arugula. One of the perks of dining at the bar is you can order appetizer portions of the pasta dishes. The pumpkin ravioli with lobster did not disappoint. Nor did the flourless chocolate torte with vanilla bean ice cream – a full order, but shared of course.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

welcome to the world of blogging. good first post. i'd suggest changing the post font color to a white or a light pink or something. it's hard to read in black.