Piattini Wine Cafe – Boston

At the beginning of the summer, Miss Niss was invited to experience the menu at Piattini Wine Cafe, located on Newbury Street on Boston.  I knew my answer immediately.  Did I want to indulge in wine and cheesy plates of pasta? Absolutely.  Should I wait until after my wedding when the “diet” was over so I could fully enjoy dining at an Italian restaurant?  Absolutely.

A few weeks ago the Mr. and I finally were able to accept our offer of dinner at Piattini.  I love the concept of offering small plates of homestyle Italian food.  Until Piattini, I’d only had Spanish tapas.  I love having bites of several dishes, and I love pasta, so naturally I love the idea of ordering a few small plates and sharing different dishes.  Piattini also offers full size portions if you don’t want to share your small plates – but I think the small plates are what make Piattini unique.

We enjoyed glasses of wine and a bread basket while we perused the menu.

I chose a white wine that, according to the menu, paired well with pasta dishes I planned to order.  The menu lists wine suggestions for each dish.  I used to drink red wine all of the time, but this summer I got into whites.  This white wine was crisp and refreshing.  The Mr. ordered a red wine, as usual.

See my shadow on the wine card?  The lighting in Piattini is dim and romantic which is perfect for a dinner date, and not so perfect for picture taking!  I appreciate the wine cards Piattini offers.  It’s the perfect way to remember which wine you ordered.

We ordered appetizers first, planning to go slowly and pace ourselves.  We started with the Arugula Salad, topped with tomatoes, artichoke hearts, Parmigiano reggiano, and lemon-oil dressing and Misto di Oliva, mixed olives with imported cheese.

The salad was lightly dressed and full of fresh ingredients.  It was quite large for the piattini size, so it is definitely big enough to share with at least one person.

Even though we ate our share of olives in Greece, the Mr. can never get enough!  We liked these olives, especially the kalamata olives.  A piece of toast topped with the fig jam, cheese, and an olive was a delicious combination of flavors.  Since the dish came with just a few pieces of toast, I enjoyed some cheese and olives with the table bread also.  The table bread was a soft and chewy white bread served with olive oil.

Next, we tried the Arancini.  Three perfectly fried balls of mozarella and risotto served over a bed of marinara sauce called my name.  These were a bit too full of cheese for my personal taste, but I think most people love that ooey gooey cheese in the center or arancini.  I loved the risotto and sweet marinara sauce.

The gnocchi could handle the generous amount of cheese. We both loved the flavor pairings of this dish.

The manager insisted we try this eggplant dish.  This was the Mr.’s favorite dish of the night.  He loved the smokey mozzarella.  I loved the crispy eggplant.

We completely indulged in our pasta dishes and to everyone’s surprise, I was too full to order dessert!  I can’t remember a time that’s ever happened in a restaurant.  Dessert is my favorite part of dinner any meal, but after filling my belly with bread, cheese, and pasta, there wasn’t any room left.  I know what I would’ve ordered though – the  Tartufo Al Chocolata for me, and I would’ve had my Mr. order the Creme Brulee so I could try both!  

We really like the Italian comfort food served in small plates at Piattini and would dine there again.  But next time, I’m saving room for dessert!

 

This meal was provided complimentary.  As always, all opinions are my own.