rob gross

Hi,

At the recommendation of sources in the North End, I started
investigating the Italian restaurants in Orient Heights, in East
Boston. There are at least three places visible from the T stop, and
so far I've gotten to two of them with extremely enjoyable results.

I have had 2 meals at Carmen's Kitchen, a relaxed family-run small
restaurant with no liquor license. They allow patrons to bring their
own wine (as evidenced from other tables; I didn't try this myself).

The first visit on a Friday night at around 7:30, three of us had to
wait nearly half an hour to get seated. We started by splitting an
order of spinach with garlic as an appetizer (not because the
appetizers listed on the menu were unappealing, but because we didn't
want to order too much food). I had the penne with vodka, tomato, and
pancetta as an entree, and I also had a taste of some excellent
haddock, with a side order of pasta that was much better (both in
quantity and quality) than what I usually get in a side order of
pasta. (The haddock was a daily special that cost around $30; the
pasta was under $20.) The place was so packed that we didn't even
think of asking about dessert, and we had plenty of left-overs to
bring home.

Returning for another meal on a Tuesday at 5, there was no trouble
getting in and we were in no way rushed through dinner. This time, we
started with a side of broccoli rabe and garlic, which I slighty
preferred to the spinach. I had penne and meatballs, which were very
good; my friend had veal parmigian, which he pronounced excellent.
Dessert was a wonderful slice of ricotta pie and a decent cannoli.
This one came to around $60 for the two of us, including tip. I
should mention that there are pizzas, calzones, and sandwiches on the
menu at the normal prices, so a dinner at Carmen's need not be as
expensive as ours was.

Having been to the neighborhood twice to visit Carmen's, and seeing
virtually no one inside of Zafferano's (diagonally across Bennington
Street from Carmen's) either night, I decided that it was worth an
investigation. Zafferano's is quite a bit more expensive, and quite a
bit fancier (white linen tablecloths). There were a minor service
glitch on our visit, in the form of an over-eager busboy who tried to
take our food while we were still eating. On the other hand, the
service was extraordinarily friendly, with the chef/owner returning
repeatedly to inquire if we were enjoying ourselves and telling us
about the food.

I had a Tuesday special of 3 courses for $30: asparagus with melted
cheese and a mediocre mid-winter tomato, followed by penne with a
sauce of wild boar and tomato, and then four meatballs in the
meat/carrot sauce that usually accompanies osso bucco. It was a very
good deal. The others in the party started with eggplant, and then
had a mushroom-asparagus risotto which the chef made to our
specifications and finished with salmon with cream sauce served with
asparagus and spinach. The risotto in particular was magnificent, but
all was at a very high level.

For dessert, we shared a slice of a pie filled with chocolate and
white cream, and a piece of raspberry tart. This came to $135 for 3
of us, making it more expensive than Carmen's by a bit, but I in no
way felt cheated.

I'll be back to both places.--Rob

--
Rob Gross (617) 552-3758
Department of Mathematics http://fmwww.bc.edu/gross/
Boston College gross@bc.edu
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467-3806

robert la ferla

Sounds good. Do you have an address or even web site for those restaurants?

BTW - I also tried a great Italian restaurant recently. It's Tomasso
Enoteca in Southborough. Pricey but highly recommended!

rob gross

Carmen's Kitchen is at 1010 Bennington Street, and Zafferano is at 999
Saratoga Street. Both are essentially at the corner of Bennington and
Saratoga, in other words, across the street from the Orient Heights Blue Line stop.

Sounds like it's time for a field trip.--Rob

--
Rob Gross (617) 552-3758
Department of Mathematics http://fmwww.bc.edu/gross/
Boston College gross@bc.edu
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467-3806

robert la ferla

BTW - Here's the web site:

http://www.tomassotrattoria.com

jimhillbs

Ah Bob, good food, but do the math. The real owner of this restaurant
is none other than Carmen teh underboss of teh Boston Mafia!