A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

Coppa has been on my to try list since it opened, in 2009 (how embarrassing!). I finally made it there for my birthday, and let me tell you, it was worth the wait. It was an unusually warm fall night-so there were people eating at tables outside when we got there. We had 6:30 reservations and the place was pretty empty-we felt like we were at the early bird special. Apparently this fashionable crowd eats dinner like the Europeans, it didn’t start to get crowded until about 8:30. The scene is an upscale neighborhood bar-dim lighting with dark wood and huge mirrors with a bar and friendly bartender in the back.

We sat at a small table close to the front of the restaurant. There aren’t many seats in here so things started to get tight when more people showed up. The restaurant is the brain child of Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette – so we knew that we were going to be in for something good. The restaurant offers tapas style plates, small offerings so that you can have a little bit of everything. Our waitress, Angelique, was excellent, attentive and she knew her food. She started us off with an amuse bouche that was a little more than one bite. These great peppers-really bright and crisp, really tasty.

We had the burrata with apples and sage ($14) which was really nice. The textures blended well with each other, although I wish there were a few more apples-the crispness of the apple went so well with the smooth, creamy cheese.

The meatballs ($8) were wood roasted and served with tomato gravy. A really nice meatball, flavorful and really moist, they melted in your mouth.

Arancini came next ($6) fried risotto balls with fontina cheese inside. These were excellent, but then again, how can you go wrong here?

The cavatelli pasta was home made and came with chicken sausage. ($14) The pasta was perfectly al dente and the chicken sausage was tasty, albeit a little on the salty side.

This dish has all of my “new things” in it. The special pizza of the night with hen of the woods mushrooms and a fried egg. Oh so delicious. The mixture of creamy and salty was really nice. We left feeling full, but in a good way, and really felt like for the amount of food we had, the price was right.

I give Coppa high marks, high quality food with excellent service. Stop in for a bite, you won’t be disappointed.

Coppa

253 Shawmut Ave

Boston MA

617.391.0902

http://www.coppaboston.com/

Tags: food, jamie bissonnette, restaurant, south end, tapas