L'Osteria

          Last weekend, I went to the north end with friends and fellow bloggers Jen and Jodi. We decided to try somewhere new and chose L’Osteria based on Melissa’s recommendation. **As a side note please visit Melissa’s blog and read her post about Hurricane Sandy She was in an area hit particularly hard and even without power managed to get this up in support of the relief effort**

          When we first walked in, I noticed the atmosphere – small, like most places in the North End, but cozy and inviting. We were seated at a table right by the window, and as we watched an accordion player out on the street, he paused and came into the restaurant, stopping at tables to play for guests while they enjoyed their dinner.

          Shortly after we sat down, the owner Nina stopped by to introduce herself and checked in several times to make sure everything was going well.

          We started with the antipasto, which included tomato and mozzarella, proscuitto, Parmesan cheese, roasted red peppers and olives. Everything was fresh and tasty, but my favorite was the tomato and mozzarella!

          When it was time to order our entrees, our server told us about several special dishes not on the menu. Among these were veal osso bucco and house made gnocchi. I love osso bucco and their preparation with risotto sounded amazing, but as a rule if a place has lobster ravioli on the menu I HAVE to try it! L'Osteria's was a generous portion stuffed with lots of lobster meat in a tomato cream sauce.

 

          We also enjoyed a side of homemade meatballs and tomato sauce.

          We finished with amaretto cake, which was surprisingly very light. The cake was soaked with liquor and topped with a delicious pastry cream.

          We enjoyed everything we ordered, as well as the laidback atmosphere and friendly service. I would love to go back and check out more of the menu, especially the osso bucco!