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Too Much Good Food

My swing through New England wrapped up the day before yesterday. On my last night there, I had the opportunity to eat at Bricco, which is just one of the many teriffic restaurants in Boston's North End. Every time I walk the North End, I'm reassured by the wealth of great restaurants there, all walking distance from each other - Taranta, Euno, Giacomo's, and a couple of dozen others! And for dessert, there are the bakeries, including the great, cheap, 24-hour, Bova's.


Bricco is an inviting place, with front windows that open wide onto Hanover Street. The interior design is stylish without being trendy, and there are nice interior details like custom angular metal chandeliers that throw off just the right amount of light. Their homemade foccacia with garbanzo spread was very good, so I went ahead and ordered the scallops with linguine. the linguine was whole-wheat, and bunched appetizingly under the pan-seared scallops. Mixed wild mushrooms complemented the light sauce and made for a nice combination. Denise had the roasted chicken ravioli, surprising served with a potato cream sauce, but effectively proving that the single starch rule is not hard and fast. We didn't try two popular points of note at the restaurant - the Italian-style tapas, or the critically-acclaimed house Martinis. The couple at the next table appeared to be enjoying theirs, and that's good enough for me, as I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Bombay Sapphire and moonshine.