Florentine Cafe

After the ceremony; thank you for all the support M&D xoxo

Florentine Cafe
333 Hanover St
Boston, MA 02113

April 10, 2016

Happy Sophomore Pinning Day to me! Finally I am declared as a Biology major with a concentration in Health Sciences with a Business Management minor!

My mom and dad were able to come to the ceremony and we trekked to the North End for a celebratory lunch/dinner.

I chose the Florentine Cafe to try next, and it was a great decision! It is a cute place that has great food for a very affordable price!

Bruschetta

We started off with the bruschetta which was super good. The bread was crusty and amazing and the diced tomatoes and mozzarella cheese tasted fresh and oh so delicious.

Linguine and Meatballs

Chicken Francese

My mom got the Chicken Francese, which was egg battered chicken sautéed with chicken stock, fresh lemon and butter served on top of penne. I tried a bite and it was super yummy! and she loved it too hehe. My dad decided on a traditional dish, the linguine with meatballs. Quoting him, "I always try the different stuff but I'm feeling like a typical Italian dish today"...background: we normally scope out the menus, decide what we want before entering the restaurant and then thoroughly discuss all options before choosing...yeah we're a tad crazy! So anyway, he loved the dish--sauce was great, meatballs and homemade pasta--all fantastic. I ordered the Penne alla Norma which was penne topped with homemade tomato sauce, dried and salted ricotta cheese, and sautéed eggplant. It was super good with the homemade pasta and the sauce had great flavor.

Penne alla Norma

I loved the painting of the Ponte Vecchio bridge on the wall as it reminded me of Florence, one of my favorite places in the world!

I would suggest this as a lunch spot for someone coming to visit. I think this was a great place but there are definitely other places with similar prices and quality!

Okay, ratings!
Atmosphere: 3
Service: 3
Food: 4
Overall: 3.3

Trattoria il Panino

Melanzane alla Parmigiana

Trattoria il Panino
278 Hanover Street
Boston MA 02113

February 16, 2016

I found this quote the other day and thought it applied perfectly to this quest we have embarked on, we are definitely embodying this statement and enjoying every part of it. Dad- thanks for taking this journey with me...

"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like" -Mark Twain

 After months of anticipation, we finally decided to try out the North End's first trattoria, Trattoria il Panino, and we were not dissapointed!

Mom's Quattro Carni Ragu

My dad and I started off with the Melanzane alla Parmigiana, which was baked eggplant, mozzarella and sauce and is fantastic! The sauce was so yummy and it was the perfect way to start off the meal. 

Pollo all Napoletana

We then had our main courses, which my dad ordered the Mom's Quattro Carni Ragu, which was homemade meatballs, sausage, brasciola, and pork short ribs in their ragù sauce. He was absolutely in love, saying the short ribs quite possibly have been one of the best things he's ever eaten, "So simple yet so satisfying and delicious, I would have a plate of just this and pasta all the time". Basically he'd give that 6 stars out of 5!

I ordered the Pollo alla Napoletana which was chicken breast, artichokes, kalamata olives and tomatoes with roasted potatoes and vegetables. My meal was also stellar, but very salty because of the artichokes and olives. Also the bread to munch on was super good and fresh! All together a fab meal!!

Ratings:

Service: 5

Atmosphere: 3 (kinda boring decor, not super decorative, not bad--just very plain)

Food: 4.5

Price: $$

La Summa
30 Fleet Street
Boston, MA

2/6/16

Thanks Logan

Blog, meet Mikey (hi babe if you're reading hehe). So it was finally time to introduce the fam to my boyfriend. I picked the restaurant after much debate, and we had a grand old time. La Summa was a great restaurant. It was tight and cozy but had great service and food. It did get very noisy, but it was crowded which isn't exactly a bad thing! Reservations aren't a bad idea here!

Brushcetta

Fried Mozzarella

My dad went a little crazy and ordered three appetizers to start off the dinner. (Don't do this unless you want to move up a pants size) We got the bruschetta, which was amazing, Funghi Ripieni, and fried mozzarella which was also spectacular. The mushrooms were pretty good, stuffed with breadcrumbs and cheese. I'd highly suggest the other two as they were cheesy deliciousness!

House Special

For the main course we each got something different. My dad got the house special which was a combination of veal, chicken, sausage, artichokes, pepperoncini, olives, mushrooms and italian spices infused with white wine. served over linguini. He loved it and ate every last bite. 

My mom got the pollo marsala. She loved it but was so stuffed from the appetizers she barely ate it. My dad was happy to take it home for her... she also said it was very sweet compared to a lot of chicken marsala she has had, but was still impressed!

Frutti di Mare

Guess what Logan got? Yeah, Frutti di Mare...shrimp, scallops, lobster, mussels and clams sereved over linguini in red or white sauce. It took her a good ten minutes just to get all of the mussels and clams out of the shells, but she enjoyed it and finished it off! It also had some calamari in it. She's still saying Bacco is the best, sorry La Summa.

Gamberi Siciliano

Mikey got his pollo parmigiana, his go-to pick in the North End. He loved the sauce and chicken, pasta was meh. He's tried a lot of chicken parm, so its hard to beat the competition!

I got the Gamberi Siciliano, which was jumbo shrimp sauteed with zucchini and broccoli in a scampi sauce over papparadelle. I liked it but was also very full, and so I couldn't enjoy it as much as I probably would have. It's always tough because appetizers are so yummy but you want to eat your main meal! Yeah, I know, first world probs...

Okay, ratings:
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3.5
Service: 4
Price: $$, appetizers are quite cheap, most meals at dinner are between $15-25.

Trattoria Di Monica

Trattoria Di Monica
67 Prince Street
Boston MA 02113



I have made my return to Boston! After an amazing semester away in Florence, with the best food and wine I will ever consume, I am happy to be going to the North End and continuing this quest. My dad and I are still determined to finish--even if we are going once a week (a problem he doesn't seem to have hehe)
Anyway,

Starting my spring semester of sophomore year off today with the family in the North End for a celebratory "get outta my house" dinner. Just kidding, my mom and dad miss me dearly already, but I'm sure Logan is dreading my return. Anyway, after moving into St. Joes Res Hall with the help of my mom while Dad and Logan watched football in the JYC, we boarded the D line of the T to North Station. Walking from Haymarket we made it to Prince Street and saw Trattoria Di Monica. I had scowered many menus before deciding on this one, and anxiously anticipated it!

The Gnocchi

It is an extrememly cozy place with only a few tables and two waitresses. The atmosphere was great. The four of us looked at the menu and finally decided on our dinners, but then our waitress read over the specials and sold me on the meal I ended up getting. (I made the right choice btw). The others were not brave enough, but its not like they had a bad meal either. Everything was great!

My mom got the chicken picatta with roasted potatoes. She remarked that it was fabulous and the potatoes were spectacular.

My dad got the Gnocchi di Spinaci al Ragu di Maiale which was spinach and ricotta gnocchi in a braised pork ragout. He loved it. I tried the gnocchi and it was very good.


Logan, our seafood lover got calamari over linguine. It was a special as well. She also said she liked it but "I wanted to go to Bacco, I don't care about trying new places". I wouldn't consider her review of anything tbh.

Now for the best part....my dish! I got the special, it was pan seared scallops with walnuts in a pesto cream sauce over papardelle pasta. Mmmm mmm good. It was a great meal to come back from Italy to--and sort of reminded me of Cinque Terre (which btw specializes in pesto and seafood)

The dish was supah good and I was very happy with my restaurant selection!
Ratings out of 5:
Atmosphere: 4
Service: 4.5
Food: 4 (also bread was v good)
Price: $$ (on the pricier side, but well worth it)