Al Forno Review - Italian in Providence

Our friends T and S convinced us to make another trip to Providence to visit them, enjoy the last Water Fire of the season and grab dinner. They promised a wonderful meal of Italian food and we weren't disappointed!

Al Forno is not on Federal Hill like most Italian restaurants in Providence. It's in a building of it's own in the jewelry district and has really cute outdoor seating for warmer times. Reservations are always necessary especially on "Parents Weekend" which unfortunately was the case when we went. We weren't able to get seated till 9.30pm for our 9pm reservation. (Parents weekend is when families of the college kids at schools like Brown, RISD visit.)



T and S had been there the past weekend as well and recommended we eat "family style" since the portions are big and you get to sample more foods. Here's what we ordered for the 5 of us and my ratings:

- Clams Al Forno (spicy) - OK
- Wood Roasted Duck Duet - Yum Yum Yum!
- Grilled Pizza Margarita - Yum!
- Steak Del Monico -> Yum!
- Spaghetti with ribeye meatballs -> Pass. Pasta not al dente.
- Concord Grape Granita - Yum!
- Raspberry Upside down Tart Yum Yum! (Sorry I forget exactly ...)

Clams (L) Steak (R)


Our favorite dish was the duck which we all agreed was one of the best we've had. It was cooked 2 ways, one as a confit and the other quickly seared. The duck meat was actually pretty raw but I didn't mind since it was so good! The skin was crispy but the meat was tender. This duck dish is worth the trip ...

The duck! You can see that it's rare.


I really enjoyed the pizza as well. The base was crisp which was a nice contrast to the softer layer of cheese and sauce. A more sophisticated version of cheese pizza.

Chomp Meter:
4.5 Chomps! Unfortunately, I can't have a half shaded Ms. Pacman :) The food here is excellent and a great place for refined Italian dining. I highly recommend sharing so you can sample a variety of dishes. I am still raving about the duck! The restaurant changes the menu frequently with the local produce available so there's always something new to try. I don't think my experience at the restaurant would be as great if I didn't get to sample the different dishes. What if I had ordered the spaghetti dish? GASP! hehe

Al Forno (Italian)
(401) 273-9760
577 S Main St
Providence, RI 02903

Trattoria Toscana Review - Tuscan in Fenway

Trattoria Toscana is one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Boston. Well Tuscan to be specific. The only downside is that they don't take reservations and the wait can get pretty long. Just go early or on a weekday (like we did last week)!

The interior is cute and cozy as you can see in the photo below (L). We started off with a caprese appetizer (R).



The food here is generally homey and casual but delicious. The pasta isn't drenched in oil and the portions are just the right size. European? For mains, I got the cod fish spaghetti while P got the tripe dish. The spaghetti was so al dente. I loved it. I know it's not hard to make al dente pasta, but few restaurants get it just right. I also liked stealing pieces of tripe. It seems to have been stewed for hours and was melt in your mouth yummy!



They don't have much of a selection for desserts on weekdays so we passed. The only option available on Thursday was tiramisu though I've heard it's good!

Chomp Meter:
Highly recommended in my books. This is a great authentic place for Italian food (not Italian American). The atmosphere is romantic and the prices are cheap too at about $15-$20 a dish. Eat well and date well in this down economy! hehe

Trattoria Toscana
130 Jersey St
Boston, MA 02215
(617) 247-9508

Cannolis - Mike's Pastry vs. Modern Pastry

I had a major cannoli craving while in the North End. Having read that Modern Pastry Shop does a mean cannoli, I decided to put it to the test. Bought 2 from Mike's and 2 from Modern to sample.

The cannolis from Mike's were much sweeter. The ricotta cheese filling was also smoother. The cannolis from Modern weren't as sweet and the texture of the filling was lumpier with bits of ricotta curd. The Modern cannolis are filled as you order while Mike's are ready made.

Disclaimer: I have to admit that I'm not really a cannoli connoisseur before I present my verdict. Yes Mike's is all touristy and commercialized but I did like their cannoli's better. Part of the reason could be that the cannolis were fresher. The few cannolis they had out at Modern when I stopped by seemed rather sad. I also took the cannolis home so I could be partly to blame. Since the filling at Modern is more moist, it didn't hold up as well. I should eat it on the spot on my next visit!



These are the cannolis from Modern. They're from my phone and a little blurry. :( I can't seem to find the photos from Mike's.


Chomp Meter: I'm going to take the easy way out and say both pastry shops are worth a visit! Mike's and Modern Pastry also sell an assortment of other treats ranging from gelato to biscotti and marzipan.

Mike's Pastry


Modern Pastry

Speed Eating at Giacomo's (North End)

Giacomo's is a well known spot frequented by tourists and locals alike. The line can get really long and the average wait time is 50 minutes!

We were in the vicinity a couple days back and found ourselves standing in line for a table. We were there at around 6'ish so the line wasn't too bad. It took us approximately 30 minutes to get a table.

Giacomo's is different from your average restaurant because the menu is on the wall. No paper menus. The menu is also fairly basic. You can choose from an assortment of seafood and linguine with your choice of sauce (pesto, fradiavalo which is a spicy red sauce, giacomo (cream sauce), red sauce, scampi).



The staff at Giacomo's have the entire process down to a science. They might as well be working at Toyota (kaizen?! haha). As soon as your party is called, the table is all ready and set. Almost instantly, your server will welcome you and introduce the menu. The food is then served almost immediately. There are also quite a few bus boys for the size of the restaurant. They efficiently top up your water and remove your plate when you are done. No time wasted here!

We ordered the fried calamari, linguine with clams with scampi sauce (olive oil + garlic), and lobster ravioli. The fried calamari was very well done, right out of the fryer with some fried jalapeños as well.



I liked my lobster ravioli. It was good though on the heavy side with the cream sauce and cheese filling. I could taste some chunks of lobster though not too much. Very reasonable for the price however ($14.95).



I also stole some from P. I really liked this dish. The linguine was perfectly al dente! The scampi sauce was also just the way I like it, olive oil, lots of garlic, and clam juice. Yum!

Chomp Meter:
Giacomo is the place to go for consistently good, very reasonably priced, hearty Italian food. Probably the reason why it is so popular. They serve hundreds of people a day very efficiently. For me however there wasn't really that wow factor. I'm not sure it would be worth standing in line for long periods. Also, I'm not a fast eater so the pace was a little stressful for me!

Giacomo's Restaurant (North End, Little Italy)
355 Hanover St
Boston, MA 02113-1910
Phone: (617) 523-9026

Giacomo's (South End)
431 Columbus Ave
(between Braddock Park & Holyoke St)
Boston, MA 02116
Phone: (617) 536-5723

Stellar Stella

With a gentle breeze and low of 60F, Friday was the perfect night to dine al fresco. We took the opportunity to head to Stella in the South End for dinner. We arrived at 7pm and got a table outside promptly.

Stella's patio reminded me of NYC. I thought Stella would be more about the drinks and ambience than the food, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's both!

We started with the arancini and the prosciutto melon salad. I also got a pear ginger martini. The arancini was delicious, nicely breaded and fried. Yum! I also liked the prosciutto melon salad which was quite unique. It had both watermelon and melon and was drizzled in a balsamic / orange juice sauce? In any case I loved it. Light and refreshing.





For mains we shared the special of the day (seafood risotto), a Quattro Funghi pizza and a rib eye steak with garlic butter. The winner was definitely the pizza. I don't know what it was but everything about it was done right and absolutely delicious. The risotto was ok, I wouldn't say it wasn't flavorful but none of the flavors really stood out? The steak was good.



For dessert we strolled to Aroa Fine Chocolates...to be continued ...

Stella
1525 Washington St
Boston, MA 02118
(617) 247-7747




Chomp Meter:

A good restaurant in my books! I want to try a pasta dish the next time we're there. Also I almost didn't want to blog about Stella because I want to be able to get a table outside as easily the next time :)

One minor nit pick, an annoying thing about the menu is that the slashes used to separate the ingredients make it difficult to read ...

Annarosa's Bakery in Newburyport, MA

We chanced upon this place on our way up to Maine and wow the bread here is amazing. I am so glad we stopped here. I got 2 mini brioches (one wasn't enough!), a rosemary French loaf (promptly finished before the end of the day) and a mozzarella panini (delicious).

Not a good excuse, but the bread and coffee was so good I didn't get photos of what we ate :( The brioche was perfectly light, sweet and buttery. The french loaf tasted like it'd been dipped in olive oil and rosemary but it wasn't!

Here are the photos I managed to get:





Annarosa's
50 Water St
Newburyport MA
(978) 499-8839

Chomp Meter:
Annarosa's is just an hour away from Boston in Newburyport, MA. The bread is so good, Apparently the croissants are delicious too. I am already plotting my trip back next month. Wouldn't it be nice to get some bread and cheese and have a picnic by the beach on Plum Island?