3/18/2024 0 Comments Caffe vittoria bostonNicole Russo, hospitality consultant and lifelong Bostonian I asked my mom if I could celebrate my 10th birthday there, which meant a bunch of suburban kids went into the North End to stand around a bakery for a slice of 25-cent pizza. “The square pizza at Parziale’s on Prince Street has been my favorite food since I was a child. If you’re looking to play trivia like a local, this is your Thursday-night spot. Yep, in the back of the main bakery is a staircase that leads down into a Modern Underground, a stone-walled cave that serves beer, wine, burgers, and bar snacks. And then there’s the speakeasy-style bar downstairs. First, there’s a little-known annex next door that caters to locals and loyalists the selection isn’t as extensive, but the wait times are marginal and the cannolis just as epic. But we continue to throw our weight behind the 89-year-old Modern Pastry, for the extra-crispy cannoli shells, and the wide selection of other pastries and cookies, from chocolate ganache to almond biscotti. Maria’s Pastry Shop wins points for its filled-to-order cannolis. Bova’s Bakery earns loyalty for its 24-hour service. Chessie Shaw, school counselor, born and raised in Boston and returned for good in 2003īehold the great cannoli wars! Every Bostonian has an opinion as to where to acquire the best version of this iconic Sicilian pastry. And much shorter lines most of the time.” “I prefer Modern’s cannolis to every other Boston option because the service is more authentic and personal and the fillings are amazing. Hit up the famous Mike’s Pastry for a cannoli or instead seek one out from a tiny women-run bakery? Slip into any old joint for pasta or endure the long wait times for a chance at trying squid ink pasta at The Daily Catch? Sicilian pizza, or Neopolitan? (The North End’s retail scene has definitely seen its share of closures, though classics like Shake the Tree and In-jean-ius continue to thrive.) In other words, your biggest dilemma is choice. Many restaurants counts their birthdays in decades, and the newer ones, almost all Italian restaurants themselves, have fit in seamlessly. This is still the neighborhood where you can sip espresso at an 89-year-old cafe and stroll the streets at 3am with a freshly made biscotti in hand. Yet 41% of the North End’s residents are still Italian-American, and its central charms endure. The stout Italian mother calling her son to dinner from the third-floor window? Today, more trope than truth. Tourism ticked up, and these days the area is the most expensive place in the city to rent, with a one-bedroom apartment going for $3,674 in January 2019, according to RentCafe. Maybe too transportative: when Boston’s infamous above-ground Southeast Expressway came down in 2003, removing a literal shadow, the area was discovered anew. With its indelible food scene, endless festivals, and coterie of Italian elders sitting in streetside lawn chairs, the neighborhood feels transportative. Nowadays the North End draws droves of both tourists visiting for the day and young professionals looking for their first Boston apartment.
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