Boston Restaurant Blog -- August, 2010

You know the old phrase, "the best laid plans Of mice and men"? Well, that certainly applied to me this past weekend, as we had definite plans to hit the Food Truck Festival in the SoWa district of Boston's South End on Sunday, only to be thwarted by incredibly long lines and huge crowds. Well, it just so happens that the upscale Italian restaurant Rocca is located right next to the spot where the festival was held, so we went next door to check out how busy the restaurant was, and to our surprise, we were able to get right in. So no Food Truck Festival for us, but Plan B definitely turned out to be completely satisfying.

Rocca is a chic and trendy restaurant located in one of the many interesting buildings that line the increasingly funky and artsy Harrison Avenue on the edge of the South End. The main part of the eatery is an airy, atrium-like room on the ground floor that includes a curved bar area, plenty of tables for dining, and a private room to the left of the bar. A more cozy and intimate dining room is on the second floor, and a spacious outdoor patio wraps around the ground floor area. Because of its soaring ceiling and hard floor, the atrium area isn't the greatest place for quiet conversation, as we discovered while there, but it is an attractive and rather unique-looking room.

We were seated across from the end of the bar (just in front of the private room) and started with a round of light-tasting summer beers (including Blue Moon), then split a nicely charred bianchi pizzetta, which included a mild mix of taleggio and parmesan cheeses that went well with the sharp-tasting garlic chives. We then moved on to a couple more dishes, with the hash plate being nothing short of spectacular. It consisted of slightly crunchy corned beef mixed with hand-rolled gnocchiette, scallions, and two fried eggs, making for an exquisitely rich dish. The chicchirichi (fried chicken and French toast with pure maple syrup) was every bit as good, with the chicken having a crispy, non-greasy batter and the thickly-cut French toast being hearty and savory. Service was friendly and efficient from start to finish, and the overall price wasn't too bad, with each item being in the low to mid teens.

So yes, we missed out on the food trucks over the weekend, but we certainly made up for it by having a truly excellent meal at Rocca instead. Now that I've experienced the restaurant (this was indeed my first time there), I do want to try the place for dinner soon, so expect another post in the near future.

For those who want the address for Rocca, here it is: Rocca, 500 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02118. The phone number is (617) 451-5151.

Related Blog Entries: Boston restaurants, Italian restaurants, South End restaurants

Posted by MH, Boston's Hidden Restaurants, on August 12, 2010.
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2 COMMENTS:
DrDoug said:
Our experience there was horrible. The dinner took 3 hours, the food was skimpy and poorly plated with no effort at visual presentation. The server was apologetic and the manager comped us a small melon plate for 5 people. Our host was mortified. We won't be going back.
Posted on 8/13/10
Jill said:
We love Rocca and the amazing food by Chef Tiffani Faison. She is so talented and creative. If you don't enjoy Chef Tiffani's food, you don't understand really good food.
Posted on 8/15/10

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