My first trip to the North End was in the third grade on a school field trip. I am sure we went for some educational reason, but all I remember was our chaperone (who was also my Girl Scout troop leader) taking us to Pizzeria Regina for lunch. Every time I've returned to Hanover Street it's been for great food and joyous celebrations.
Tonight I returned for a dinner date with one of my favorite girlfriends. My had selected this date on our calendars weeks ago, and as it drew closer, we realized it was during Restaurant Week. After perusing the menus, we decided to share a meal at Bricco.
As I walked down Hanover Street tonight Bricco called out to me from several yards away with it's multiple flags flying over the doors.
We walked in and the place was packed! Thankfully we had a reservation and were immediately taken upstairs to a quiet room for our meal. I was a bit disappointed that we were upstairs and in the back, because we didn't get to experience the hustle and bustle that is characteristic of the North End. We were also seated at a table with no window views.
Our waiter (who was incredibly handsome) came over to help us select a bottle of wine. We settled on a merlot/cabernet blend that was fantastic. I'm normally a white wine girl, but this was delicious!
While we sipped our wine, we noshed on two kinds of scrumptious bread served with roasted garlic, olive oil and white bean dip.
We ordered off of the Restaurant Week menu and decided to share our appetizers. First we ordered the eggplant bake, which was a delicate, light stack of eggplant served with a flavorful tomato sauce.
We also ordered the zucchini flowers in tempura, which were stuffed with truffled ricotta cheese and served with a side of grilled vegetables. That tempura zucchini flower is one of the best things I have ever tasted in my life. I could have eaten one hundred more! Seriously.
For our entrees, I went with the mushroom risotto which was creamy, but not overly rich, and bursting with mushroom flavor.
My dinner date ordered the angolotti, which is ravioli stuffed with braised veal, beef and ricotta and was served with spinach and and a truffle cream sauce. She took her first bite of just the spinach garnish, looked up at me and said, "Even if this bite of spinach was the only thing I ate off this plate, it would still be the best thing I've ever had." Now that's an endorsement!
For dessert we both selected the molten dark chocolate torte. I was particularly excited about this because I love a rich, dense chocolate torte (in fact this same friend and I had an amazing chocolate torte at Post 390 in Back Bay). This torte however was dry on the top and bottom, and the gooey center wasn't enough to redeem it. I wouldn't order that dessert again.
By the end of the meal we were buzzing from our superb bottle of wine and raving about the incredible appetizers and entrees we'd had, and how happy we were that we selected Bricco. I would absolutely go back, though this time I'd request a window seat and I'd save room for dessert at a second venue, like Modern Pastry or Mike's.
