The latest Italian restaurant by A Street Hospitality makes a splash at Raffles.
Tagliatelle Emilia-Romagna with Parmigiano Reggiano, cream, black pepper and 12- year balsamico.
It’s hard not to make a dramatic entrance at La Padrona (lapadronaboston.com). To enter the main dining room, diners climb a long staircase up from the light, airy first-floor bar and lounge, fashioned after a curated villa, and are transported to the moody, sexy second floor. A commanding, centrally placed bar is the focal point of the dining room, with tables clustered on the perimeter, and it infiltrates the space with its buzz. “The first-floor lounge is an entry experience and not meant to be formal or intimidating. The upstairs was inspired by northern Italy’s vibrant 1950s cinema culture. When people are downstairs, they get really excited to walk up the staircase, and we hear oohs and ahhs as they make their way up,” says CEO Eric Papachristos. International design firm AvroKO executed the vision. “This is their first project in Boston, and we’re super excited to have worked with them,” says Papachristos.
The entire second floor is reservation-only, whether seated at a cozy corner table or center stage at the bar. The menu, spearheaded by Jody Adams, was inspired by a trip she and her team took to Italy. They hit 10 regions in 11 days and had the opportunity to cook with everyone from Michelin-star chefs to home cooks. “Some of the dishes are authentic, but there are also a lot of twists and turns,” says Adams. She and executive chef Amarilys Colon wove New England ingredients and local purveyors into recipes when fitting. “The spirit of the menu is to take the best ingredients, put them together in a really smart way and don’t mess with them very much. It’s really beautiful flavors, balanced and blended,” says Adams.
CEO Eric Papachristos, chef Jody Adams and COO Jon Mendez
There is a big emphasis on bread. The menu begins with an entire section devoted to it—three different focaccias, breadsticks with fennel pepper and parmesan cheese, and a warm burrata cheese bread inspired by a snack the team had at a gas station in Liguria. Gluten-free guests can get in on the fun by ordering the chickpea spoon bread with charred leeks and preserved lemons. Although impossible to resist, restraint is in order, so as not to spoil the rest of the meal. Two standout antipasti dishes include the charred arrowhead cabbage with anchovy butter, and the razor clams served with a sausage from northern Italy that is reminiscent of a New England Portuguese clam and pork dish.
No Italian meal would be complete without pasta. Choose the tagliatelle, which Adams describes as “Emilia-Romagna on a plate.” Fine egg noodles are tossed with Parmigiano Reggiano and aged balsamic vinegar for a simple, cheesy bite that chef Colon says is the best macaroni and cheese one will ever have. The fazzoletti, a handkerchief-shaped pasta, is rolled with fennel fronds creating a beautiful, lacy design, and is then tossed with milk-braised rabbit, sunchokes and fennel. The paccheri and clams are inspired by a dish from southern Italy that is typically made from burnt wheat. Originally a peasant dish made from what wheat could be salvaged after the farmers burned their fields, chef Colon recreates the flavors by toasting semolina flour and adding ashes to the pasta dough, which is then paired with clams and braised tomatoes in a kombu broth.
an array of dishes including the rack of lamb.
Two outstanding entrees are the seared black cod and the beef tenderloin. The cod filet, an unctuous fish, stays tender and creamy while the skin crisps up and is accompanied by braised, slightly spicy tomatoes, basil, lemon and nettle pesto. The menu’s showstopper may be the 36-ounce pan-seared beef tenderloin Piemontese, served with bone marrow and grilled focaccia. The beef is from Piedmont cattle that are raised here and then dry-aged. “Every time one leaves the kitchen, it’s all I can do to keep from stealing a piece,” says Adams.
From the moment a guest walks in, to their first cheers and down to their last bite, every detail of the experience at La Padrona has been thoughtfully executed by Papachristos, Adams and co-founder and COO Jon Mendez. Although they have worked together for over a decade, this is the first project that all three co-founders of A Street Hospitality have developed together from the ground up. “You can find all of our big personalities in every corner of the restaurant,” says Papachristos. “La Padrona’s success is an ode to us.”
Photography by: BRIAN SAMUELS; ERIC LEVIN
