Bricco….Suave

Choo-Chew headed into the North End a couple weekends back and had one of the most amazing dinners at Bricco!

We took the train in from our respective stations and walked over to the North End for a few apéritifs and antipasto at good, old stand-by Bacco.  Dinner at Bacco is great, but they also have a perfect bar for grabbing a quick drink before jetting off to another delicious North End eatery.

Bricco, located on Hanover, was packed when we showed up around 8pm and we were glad we made a reservation. Bon Appetit magazine votes Bricco one of the top 10 restaurants in the US. Bricco has also received an Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator magazine. Restaurateur Frank De Pasquale makes a statement in boutique Italian cuisine here and we were not disappointed. 

I started with the brightest bellini I’ve ever had and Jaime tried the Italian Lemonade. We knew from the first sips that we were in for a wonderful culinary experience.

To begin I had the Zucchini Flowers – stuffed with truffle ricotta cheese and tempura of grilled vegetables. They were simply amazing. The rich tastes had me planning my next French truffle hunting vacation. Jaime had a salad with the freshest mozzarella I’ve ever seen (and tasted – I stole a few bites!). Andy had an eggplant terrine of sorts with mouth-watering marinara. Matt of course had Ceasar salad, but the twist was the yummy, crispy ricotta polpette.

We found a little room for our entrees. I had the Pumpkin Tortelli with amaretti & truffle honey, sage butter, glazed root vegetables topped with ricotta salata. Simply amazing. I’m going to try and replicate this some night at home, but I’m sure I will not do it justice. Jaime enjoyed the pan seared salmon. Andy had the most elaborate-looking entrée – Cestini, which were beautiful, hand-crafted pasta “baskets” with sausage and radicchio filling, truffle fondue, with walnuts and apple. Matt – meat of course – Prime Beef Tenderloin with roast butternut squash and foie gras mash and sautéed organic spinach.

Sadly, we left zero room for dessert and had to roll ourselves back to North Station.

For me, Bricco is one of the Italian restaurants that has set the bar to which I will compare every other.

Salute!