I’ve fallen off the healthy wagon again (damn work is stressing me out and leaving me no time for workouts or meal planning) so instead of feeling sorry for myself I’d rather talk (and think) about something much more fun like the beautiful birthday dinner Adam and I had at Pazzo last Friday night. Pazzo is a brand new Italian restaurant in Boston, located right in the heart of Newbury Street (that’s Boston’s smaller version of New York’s 5th avenue, or LA’s Rodeo drive). Friday was absolutely gorgeous weather, and enjoying some drinks and food outside in arguably one of the trendiest spots in Boston was the perfect way to celebrate my birthday! I mentioned how much I loved it here but this time you get to see it for yourself!

We arrived a little before our reservations and wanted (of course!) a table outside. The wait was going to be a little while so we decided to start with a drink at the bar. I picked the Newbury Lime cocktail: Cruzan vanilla rum, fresh lime, pineapple juice and graham cracker rim.

Ok, it’s official… I’m obsessed with rum! This was SO good… and Adam pointed out that every time I order a cocktail with rum I say it’s the best cocktail ever. Haha. I guess it’s no surprise that I like rum since it’s made of sugar This was well balanced – not too sweet and not alcoholic tasting at all. And the graham cracker rim was awesome! Oh yeah, definitely a great way to start my birthday weekend

I was also starving by that point, so we decided to get an order of the Arancine Telephono – saffron risotto stuffed with mozzarella. What does telephono mean? These arancine were calling my name, but I doubt that’s why they’re called telephono

All apps are $5 at the bar. What a deal! Our table outside was actually ready before we even got the appetizer, but since we ordered it at the bar they still charged us the bar price (would have been $8 otherwise). Nice Oh and the arancine were so yummy. I remember the first time I was in Italy and discovered arancine, I thought they were the best thing ever. We went to pizza places and I’d just order the arancine when everyone else had pizza. I’ve had pizza before but I couldn’t get enough of the arancine. Glad they’ve become a more common item on restaurant menus now! These were creamy and cheesy on the inside, crunchy on the outside. Perfect! The tomato sauce was very nice too. No onion flavor. I liked them! (Adam and I shared this so I had 1.5 arancini)

Next up, we got a bottle of a crisp Pinot Gritio and while munching on the crusty bread with a white bean dip, we started browsing through the menu. It was kind of funny that we already finished a whole appetizer before even looking at the dinner menu. I think it helped us order well (no insane choices were made due to crazy hunger) The wine was so refreshing (perfect for a warm summer night) and the bread was super fresh, and even better with a warm garlicky dip. Btw, this post is going to be very positive because I basically have nothing bad to say about our whole experience.

For our next appetizer we almost got one of the pizzettas (they all sounded great!) but decided to go for something a little more unique. The pizzettas could be another great item to order at the bar (would have been $5 too!)… next time. So yeah, we went with a more exotic sounding antipasti – Sauteed Angry Maine Shrimp & Tuscan White Bean Passatina with fiery chili oil, lemon & garlic.

The sauce tasted a lot like the white bean dip we got with the bread with a little extra garlic. This was quite soupy, so I asked the waiter for some more bread (worked so hard on just eating one piece before this arrived but it had to be done). Oh yeah, this was definitely the way to eat this dish! The bread soaked up all the sauce. De-licious

We were having such a great time already! I think we go out to eat fairly often but some nights are just more perfect than others. Sometimes it’s the mood we’re in, sometimes it’s the weather, sometimes it’s exceptional food, and sometimes it’s all of the above… that’s the best! My entree was the most amazing dish of all. I have never tasted anything like it and it blew me away! I ordered the Herbed Ricotta Gnudi – homemade ricotta dumplings, wild mushrooms & duck sugo. I love ricotta and I love wild mushrooms, so this was not a particularly adventurous choice on my part, but what I received when my order arrived was nothing like what I thought I was ordering… it was WAY better!

Don’t these guys look like scallops? Well, they are ricotta dumplings! I thought they would be like ravioli stuffed with ricotta, but these guys were actually made of ricotta! OMG – best dish EVER!!!!! I honestly don’t even know how to describe it. Has anyone ever had gnudi? SO buttery (thank you ricotta… oh wait, and butter!) and the sauce with wild mushrooms and peas was great too. The sauce was actually quite light which I thought was a great choice for such a rich “star of the show.” I didn’t need the duck although it was well cooked and was melt in your mouth tender. I think I’d get it vegetarian next time though (if I can… otherwise Adam will be happy to take care of my duck for me ) Btw, Adam agreed that this was spectacular. I need to look for gnudi now at other places!

And lastly, of course I had to have dessert. This dinner was stellar and I wanted to find out how their dessert was. I often say dessert can make or break a meal for me, but I knew that even with a sub-par dessert I’d be back at Pazzo (the gnudi is calling my name already… they should call them telephono gnudi. Ok I’m a dork ) The good news is that dessert was great too, so yeah, Pazzo is becoming one of my favorite spots in Boston already… and the restaurant is only 2 weeks old! Oh yes, back to dessert. I got (shocker I know!) the warm chocolate cake with raspberry sauce and (pink) ice cream (I can’t remember what kind of ice cream this was! Any guesses?… it was delicious – that I remember )

Yum yum yum. I was a good girl and shared everything with Adam. He was a good boy and paid for dinner

Hope you enjoyed this post. It just made me happy thinking about the night – we had such a wonderful time!  I think Pazzo is exactly what Newbury Street needed… great location, amazing food, and good prices… we may just become regulars there