[Boston] 4 days end of October

Modern’s dessert, not pizza!

Sarma is about a 2 minute walk from the new Gilman Green Line stop. If you go a reservation is probably needed (if you get there exactly at opening you can get a seat at the bar.)

I was puzzled about the pizza too, but didn’t want to appear to be not-in-know by asking.

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the one time I went to Toscano (Harv Sq) I found it mediocre. Not bad, just eh in an old-school Italian way…

For really good Italian I’d go to Giulia or Fox and Knife ((already included in the OP list)

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@fooddabbler I found this Modern Underground. WTF?! How did I never hear about this before? This sounds phenomenal.

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I still have not found any other picture of the pizza at Modern so I am not sure what it is like, but the one I linked to below does not look bad.
I am not a dessert person so that would be like placing pearls before swine. I thought pizza was one of Modern’s well known dishes when I was scrolling through their menu. My original thought was to do seafood dishes at places known for seafood, but I am open to other dishes.

A photo at Modern Underground Bar and Grill

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Isn’t it great when we learn from our visitors??? :laughing:

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@ZivBnd I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Boston, but it sounds like you are going to stick to the north end and when in the north end, for pizza, I would wholeheartedly recommend Regina . It’s the original location. If you can snag a seat at the tiny bar upfront, it’s a lot of fun. The bartenders are a hoot. Oh, and the pizza is pretty good*. Some like the ones with sausage. I (a card-carrying pescatarian) may have accidentally had said pizza topping. :wink:

ETA: *Probably better than Montana but not as good as Italy.

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“*Probably better than Montana but not as good as Italy.”

LOL! More than a little truth there, I imagine. And I will take your advice and check out Regina. The name has a certain cachet with me, not to mention their pies look great. I am going to have “the best Italian sub in North End” for a late breakfast (not sure where, it is part of a walking tour), a late lunch at Neptune and a pizza at Regina if my plans fall into place.

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I just reviewed your itinerary and if your late lunch at Neptune is realized, a Regina visit might be tough in terms of stomach real estate. A slice at Ernesto’s on Salem (which equals 1/4 of a large pie) ain’t a bad thing. If you choose to eat inside the tiny shop, they have cheap Italian red wine (I like to call it “table wine”) or swill like Peroni. Quintessential Boston.

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I loved Neptune. I suggest going mid afternoon on a weekday if you can, to avoid the line.

I also liked Select Oyster Bar’s hot lobster roll.

I wish I had found a way to dine at Oleana (Cambridge) or Sarma (Somerville)

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I don’t remember Select offering a lobster roll. I thought Serpa was dead-set against them but my memory about that is foggy.

ETA: so I googled :grinning:. He didn’t offer them at Select initially but it looks like he caved at some point.

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Hahaha, I find that funny because the only thing I ordered was the hot lobster roll. October 2018.
I don’t see it on the current menu. I went there for lunch.
Current menu

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Well, I certainly wasn’t “in the know about this”…only knew about the pastries. Sorry!

Thanks.

Interesting.

We interacted with him 10 years ago when a very close friend, a Canadian singer and songwriter who’d composed and sung a song at our wedding, was visiting on the way to some music fest on the Cape. She’d been a dedicated vegetarian for some years, so we took her to Neptune (Freedom Trail and all that). But, before that I wrote to Serpa – in the way that that was done in centuries past. First I made some paper. Then I hunted down a goose and grabbed a quill … you get the drift. What I begged for was that we be guaranteed a table and that our friend have something entirely vegetarian. He replied. He wouldn’t be there that day but would make all arrangements. We were to show up 30 minutes early on line and when we got to the front, there would be a table for us. We did our part, and he more than did his. He’d designed a salad for our friend, fit for the goddesses, and for her, with all kinds of greens, vegetables, nuts, etc.

The point of this long story is that we also mentioned that my wife and I would start our lunch by splitting a warm lobster roll, then move to whatever seemed interesting fishwise. He didn’t discourage us from the lobster roll. Curious, that.

(Oh, and our friend, freed from her Canadian vegetarian persona, showed an inordinate interest in fish and fowl. At Neptune we ate more than half her salad, and she had significant amounts of our fish. Later that day we took her to Oleana for dinner and I reflexively ordered her the vegetarian tasting menu. She offered the slightest wrinkle of a frown, then zestily dug into whatever my wife and I were eating.)

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I should’ve stated in my post that a long-ago memory told me that Serpa was dead-set against serving them at his then-new joint, Select.

Interesting story, by the way.

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You remembered right, @digga.
image
There’s a paywall so I didn’t link to the article.

Other comments by Serpa re: the originality of lobster rolls

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Glad that I’m not totally losing my marbles. :crazy_face:

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If you’re looking for steak, skip the national chains mentioned and go to Boston’s own Grill 23. Probably the oldest steak house in town. Traditional, very good.

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