Antico Forno

Recently I read an interesting study on the process of decision making, where our rational side evaluates the options and our emotions are finally responsible for pulling the trigger. People who have had an injury that inhibits the passionate side of their brain end up deliberating pros and cons all day without being able to make any choices, completely crippled if presented with two boxes of similar cereal. I would hate to see those poor souls pick out a spot to eat in the North End, Boston’s historical Italian neighborhood.  Last night we walked past a dozen windows, each sporting menus that seem identical yet varied as Italy itself. Also each restaurant’s prices are often within a dollar of their neighbors, but if you walk enough blocks you will see that $10 dish of pasta creep up to $40 with the addition of truffles and aged balsamic vinegar. We settled somewhere in the middle, with a quaint looking spot that boasted brick oven pizza and baked pasta dishes at reasonable prices.

Antico Forno turned out to be extremely good, despite some minor problems we encountered with the service and drinks. First of all the group I went with knew they wanted Italian food but they had no clue as to what specific dish; and the waitress seemed almost offended by our request for another few minutes to review the menu. Drinks where a problem too: when one of the guests asked if the beer selection included Corona she snickered and said “this is Italian restaurant, so no”. Also the Coke another guest ordered was dead flat, and when we asked for a refill with a little carbonation this time it came back as flat as the first one. Still her suggestion of a Peroni beer satisfied the Corona drinker and she didn’t force a bottle of wine on us, allowing everyone to get whatever they wanted. By the end of the meal she had warmed up to us, expressing how proud she was that we cleaned our plates and telling us how much it annoys her when people barely touch their food. “If you not hungry, why come to restaurant?” she joked with a thick but hard to place accent I can only guess was Italian because of the food in front of us.

This review is based on the food we shared in a single visit so, unfortunately, there are a lot of great looking dishes I won’t be talking about this time around. I ordered La Capricciosa, served as a personal pizza for big appetites and topped with homemade Italian sausage, artichoke hearts and imported buffalo mozzarella. I enjoyed its crispy and smoky crust and generous sprinkling toppings. Then I decided to sprinkle a little crushed red pepper on top and ended up with a spicy meal since the lid fell off and coated my pizza with flakes. After handing out a few slices as bribes I gained access to my fellow guest’s plates as well. The rigatoni salsiccia e ricotta consisted in rigatoni of course with rounds of Italian sausage, sweet onions, tomato sauce and a big dollop of ricotta cheese. It was delicious, sweet from the onions and cheese and salty from the sauce and sausage, and it seemed to get better as it cooled and mixed. The pollo arrosto was simple yet well prepared, half a roasted chicken with crispy herb crusted skin and juicy flesh right underneath. Finally it turns out that chicken parmesan was a special that night and I figured it would be a simple, safe choice for one of the guests who didn’t know what she wanted. Turns out it was by far the best dish on our table that evening, which is always hard to recommend when it’s not officially on the menu. The herbed and breaded breast filet and pasta was good but it was drenched in an amazing sauce of tomatoes and red wine that came sizzling straight from the oven. This sauce made my night, there was nothing conservative at all about how much wine was reduced into it, its bold saltiness and its smoky caramelized taste.

In the end the cost for five people including drinks and gratuity was slightly over $100, which I understand is the cost of a date at a nice restaurant in the north end. Also I have to applaud their small touches, from the quality bread and oil placed on each table to the unusually cool business cards they stock by their register; they actually fold out with a map of the north end, dinner suggestions and favorable quotes from Zagat, the Improper Bostonian, and the Boston Globe. So long as you don’t want a Coke with some bubbles in it I think the place can be considered the perfect choice for lovers of Italian cuisine.