{"id":1155,"date":"2011-06-06T04:00:31","date_gmt":"2011-06-06T09:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/foodiecuisine.com\/wordpress\/?p=1155"},"modified":"2011-06-06T10:45:05","modified_gmt":"2011-06-06T15:45:05","slug":"the-grotto-cozy-italian-food-in-boston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/foodiecuisine.com\/wordpress\/italian-cuisine\/the-grotto-cozy-italian-food-in-boston\/","title":{"rendered":"The Grotto, Cozy Italian Food in Boston"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com<\/h4>\n

My wife and I are walking around downtown Boston, looking for a place to eat dinner at on Sunday, and\u00a0\u00a0it is drizzling.\u00a0 It is also\u00a0somewhat cold out, especially for May, and it is getting dark.<\/p>\n

Up ahead I notice a local bar, but before we get to it\u00a0I also\u00a0see a small restaurant on\u00a0the left.\u00a0 It is called Grotto<\/a>, and\u00a0sits below street level.\u00a0 A Zagat<\/a> sign on the window catches my eye and a food rating of 26 catches it even more.\u00a0 If you are not familiar with Zagat ratings, their highest is a 30 and that is reserved for very few restaurants, none of which are in Boston.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Gnocchi with Short Ribs<\/p><\/div>\n

Crouching down to read the sign, I also see that they open around 5pm.\u00a0 We decide to visit the local bar and have a pint while we wait for dinner time to come around.\u00a0\u00a0The bar is welcome and cozy, and full of locals who are enjoying an end of their workday with beer and food.\u00a0 I order a beer, my wife does the same, and we hang out for about 45 minutes.<\/p>\n

It is times like this that make me want to live in a city like Boston.\u00a0 I could easily see walking down to the corner pub after work, chatting with friends, eating some food, and having a good time for an hour or so before dinner.\u00a0 I also would weigh 50 more pounds and be in worse health, but I can see it at least.<\/p>\n

We head back up the street, past a questionable person, and walk down into the restaurant.\u00a0 This time they are open, and although the place smells like a basement, it is cozy with red walls and black tables and chairs.\u00a0 They have a mirror under the street window to give a larger feel, and there are racks of wine on the far wall.\u00a0 I count about 14 tables but\u00a0the small space helps create a romantic feel.\u00a0 Once the hostess notices us we are seated under the street window.<\/p>\n

The menu looks great, with items ranging from beef tenderloin fondue, to short rib gnocchi, to bread pudding.\u00a0 The short rib gnocchi looks good to me, as does the calamari and the fondue.\u00a0 My wife eyes the butter poached lobster and the mussels in white wine sauce.\u00a0 The waitress comes back after taking our drink order and lets us know they have a prix fixe option for $35 per person which includes an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert.\u00a0 We decide against it, given we are not hungry enough for dessert.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Mussels in White Wine Sauce<\/p><\/div>\n

I order the Beef Tenderloin Fondue ($10)<\/strong> and the Short Rib Gnocchi ($21)<\/strong>.\u00a0 My wife orders the Mussels in White Wine ($10)<\/strong> and the Butter Poached Lobster ($21)<\/strong> with pasta.\u00a0 After a short while, bread comes out which is warm and is soon followed by our\u00a0appetizers.<\/p>\n

The mussels are fresh and have just the right amount of salt and spice to them.\u00a0 The sauce which accompanies the mussels is thin and aromatic and tastes great when the bread is dipped into it.\u00a0 Overall the mussels are a hit and are something I would order again.<\/p>\n

My fondue tasted good as well, with the tenderloin being cooked just right, and the cheese having the a good amount of tartness.\u00a0 The mushrooms were the star of the show though and were highlighted well by aged balsamic.\u00a0 Once again, a dish I would order again if given the chance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Lobster with Pasta<\/p><\/div>\n

Some time passed after we enjoyed our appetizers but the bottle of wine helped.\u00a0 When our dinner arrived I was not disappointed.\u00a0 My gnocchi looked amazing and tasted even better.\u00a0 The gnocchi was clearly homemade and had a velvety texture to it with perfectly tender morsels of short rib dispersed throughout the dish.<\/p>\n

The Parmesan cheese shredded over the top was a nice touch and the Gorgonzola cheese in the sauce was flavorful but not overpowering.\u00a0 If I lived in Boston, this is a dish I could eat weekly.<\/p>\n

My wife\u2019s butter poached lobster was good\u00a0but not quite as flavorful as my dish.\u00a0 The pasta was homemade and the lobster was poached perfectly.\u00a0 The sauce, although a bit on the thin side, had a good tomato flavor and just the right amount of salt.<\/p>\n

We finished dinner very satisfied and were too full to enjoy dessert.\u00a0 The food was fantastic, the waitress was friendly, and the romantic setting was very welcoming.\u00a0 If you visit Boston you have to give Grotto a try.\u00a0 I personally cannot wait to go back.<\/p>\n

Grotto<\/strong>
\n37 Bowdoin Street, Boston, MA 02114
\nLUNCH<\/strong>
\nMonday \u2013 Friday\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 11:30am till 3:00pm
\nDINNER<\/strong>
\nSeven Days\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 5:00pm till 10:00pm
\n617.227.3434<\/p>\n

\"Grotto<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com My wife and I are walking around downtown Boston, looking for a place to eat dinner at on Sunday, and\u00a0\u00a0it is drizzling.\u00a0 It is also\u00a0somewhat cold out, especially for May, and it is getting dark. Up ahead I notice a local bar, but before we get to it\u00a0I also\u00a0see a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,205],"tags":[429,451,186,427,13,436,430,16,72,428],"class_list":["post-1155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-italian-cuisine","category-reviews","tag-boston","tag-fondue","tag-gnocchi","tag-grotto","tag-italian","tag-lobster","tag-mussels","tag-pasta","tag-restaurant","tag-zagat"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/foodiecuisine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/foodiecuisine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/foodiecuisine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodiecuisine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodiecuisine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1155"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/foodiecuisine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1204,"href":"http:\/\/foodiecuisine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1155\/revisions\/1204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/foodiecuisine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodiecuisine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/foodiecuisine.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}