Tuesday 4 March 2014

Pizza in Little Italy (Boston)

Rumours run one of two ways about food in the US: 1) It is terrible, no wonder there are health issues. 2) It is incredible with such a melting pot of people and cuisines.  On a recent trip to the empire country, I got to experience both.  Unfortunately Antico Forno showed the former.

Arriving in Boston on a freezing afternoon, I smiled as we trudged through little Italy, baggage in hand.  We were staying in the centre of this cute America meets Europe hub.  The winding street and door frames were quintessentially European and pasta seemed to be sold in every second shop.  We meandered for a time till we found our accommodation, and then meandered more till we found a place popular enough to indicate quality food.

Antico Forno was busy that afternoon.  We were seated by the window, and felt lucky as majority of tables were already taken.  The interior was cosy and rustic, warming us from the snowy day.

I tried the cabernet franc from Monte Luce, Veneto, 2011.  It was the first time I had tasted the grape solo.   Its fragrance was similar to cabernet sauvignon, big and dusty.  The taste, on the other hand, was contrasting with a softer fruitiness.

Slabs of bread with garlic infused olive oil tied us over till pizzas arrived.

The vegetarian pizza was weird.    There was no tomato base, it was like bread with cheese smothered over the top.  The base and red onion were oddly sweet.  It was more like cheese bread than pizza.


My brother’s pizza was worse.  The tomato on his was so watery that there was a puddle at the bottom of his plate and the whole base was soggy.  Yuck.

Antico Forno prides itself on serving delicious and traditional pizza.  Its reviews are raves as well.  Sadly, my brother and I were disappointed, and as tourists our impressions of this one pizza restaurant reflected the whole city.  Fortunately, better meals were to come on this trip.

We really enjoyed our trip to Boston.  We walked along the history trail, went to Harvard, visited Cape Ann for a day watched a beautiful performance of the Nutcracker by the Boston Ballet.  Whilst we enjoyed walking past all the busy restaurants around the North End, we did not succumb again to the promise of traditional Italian food in Boston.  Locals reading this, let me know, does traditional Italian pizza exist in little Italy?  Who do you think makes the best?

Antico Forno
93 Salem Street
Boston MA 02113
(617) 723-6733
www.anticofornoboston.com

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