Hot Spot of the week is very cool Italian Market and
Restaurant, Montelupo! This great NE spot has a very neat business plan and something for every one of your needs. In the mornings, they have coffee and pastries, at night they have dine-in (and heated patio) delicious dinner, and throughout the day they have an excellent grab ‘n go market with wine and wonderful pantry goods. Recently, we took advantage of the heated dining tent and sampled a whole bunch of Montelupo’s dinner service and it was delish!
To start, of course, we tried a cocktail. I opted for the Daisy Chain, a bright and citrusy gin concoction that was too good not to down in about 3 minutes. To follow we ordered a bottle of prosecco, which was pleasantly crisp and complemented the rich food very well.
We wanted to try so many things on the menu that even after a lengthy ‘paring-down’ debate, we still definitely over-ordered. We were not sad about that however, as we got to have Montelupo lunch the next day! To start we went with the Dos Hermanos pull-apart bread, which is a must have in order to mop up sauces as well as eat plain with EVOO. We also got the burrata, which was delicious and fresh, served with olive, tomato aioli, and greens. We also had the arancini, stuffes with rice, bay shrimp, and cheese. Finally, we tried the roasted and carrot with sunchokes (a new favorite) accompanied by tahini and gremolata. The starters were all wonderful and also quite filling.
Even though we were practically stuffed at this point, you can’t go to an Italian restaurant and not try the pasta! We went for the pappardelle, prepared with braised pork ragu and a broccollini-basil pesto for one. For our second choice we tried the fusilli with wild mushrooms, parsnips and cream. The pastas were both well-prepared and the ingredients did not overwhelm with flavor, instead letting the noodles shine.
Too full to even think about dessert, we grabbed an extra bottle of bubbles to go from the market inside and headed home to sip and plan out our next visit. Want to check out Montelupo Italian Market? You can head right over Here.
Do you know a Hot Spot that we should checkout next? Let us know in the comments below!