Rumours run one of two ways about food in the US: 1) It is
terrible, no wonder there are health issues. 2) It is incredible with such a
melting pot of people and cuisines. On a
recent trip to the empire country, I got to experience both. Unfortunately Antico Forno showed the former.
Arriving in Boston on a freezing afternoon, I smiled as we
trudged through little Italy, baggage in hand.
We were staying in the centre of this cute America meets Europe
hub. The winding street and door frames
were quintessentially European and pasta seemed to be sold in every second
shop. We meandered for a time till we
found our accommodation, and then meandered more till we found a place popular
enough to indicate quality food.
Antico Forno was busy that afternoon. We were seated by the window, and felt lucky
as majority of tables were already taken.
The interior was cosy and rustic, warming us from the snowy day.
I tried the cabernet franc from Monte Luce, Veneto, 2011. It was the first time I had tasted the grape
solo. Its fragrance was similar to
cabernet sauvignon, big and dusty. The
taste, on the other hand, was contrasting with a softer fruitiness.
Slabs of bread with garlic infused olive oil tied us over
till pizzas arrived.
The vegetarian pizza was weird. There
was no tomato base, it was like bread with cheese smothered over the top. The base and red onion were oddly sweet. It was more like cheese bread
than pizza.
My brother’s pizza was worse. The tomato on his was so watery that there
was a puddle at the bottom of his plate and the whole base was soggy. Yuck.
Antico Forno prides itself on serving delicious and
traditional pizza. Its reviews are raves
as well. Sadly, my brother and I were disappointed,
and as tourists our impressions of this one pizza restaurant reflected the
whole city. Fortunately, better meals
were to come on this trip.
We really enjoyed our trip to Boston. We walked along the history trail, went to
Harvard, visited Cape Ann for a day watched a beautiful performance of the
Nutcracker by the Boston Ballet. Whilst
we enjoyed walking past all the busy restaurants around the North End, we did
not succumb again to the promise of traditional Italian food in Boston. Locals reading this, let me know, does traditional
Italian pizza exist in little Italy? Who do you think makes the best?
