50 Best Restaurants: Prezza's Fall Menu


There are three reasons I go to the North End’s Prezza: polenta, ravioli, and red meat. And once I’m seated, it’s always next to impossible for me to choose between the egg-filled ravioli di uovo in a brown butter sauce; the spicy mussels served over chorizo polenta; the handmade pasta with Bolognese; or the hulking veal porterhouse. (My solution: Make my husband choose two of those dishes, then order whatever he doesn’t.)

Every autumn though, my dilemma gets even worse, as chef Anthony Caturano starts playing with ingredients like pumpkin, sage, and hazelnuts — flavors that are great complements to the already stellar homemade pastas and grilled meats. This fall appears to be no exception:

Roasted Portobello with tomato, creamy polenta and Parmigiano ($15)
Seared Scallops in lobster squash bisque with hazelnuts and nutmeg mascarpone ($16)
Wild Mushroom Risotto with mushroom duxelle and fontina cheese ($16)
Tagliatelle with aged Parmigiano and white truffles ($60)
Pumpkin Ravioli with lobster, mascarpone, brown butter and sage ($15/$28)
Pear Ravioli with braised rabbit, pecorino cheese, thyme and butter ($15/$28)
Roasted Duck Breast with confit leg, cider braised kale and Sardinian couscous ($30)
Venison Loin with sweet potato mash, mushroom and pancetta red wine sauce ($38)
Swordfish with roasted tomato, cranberry beans, mussels and lobster broth ($28)

Now, most North End restaurants don’t offer dessert, as they expect most diners to wander off for a cannoli or a scoop of gelato instead. Prezza’s one of the few exceptions, and this season, they’ve made a couple of additions to their after-dinner lineup, too: Pumpkin Trifle with gingerbread and salted pecans ($10) and Apple Streusel Cake with maple walnut ice cream ($10). I’ve never had any room for dessert at this place. But if I did, you can guess who’d be doing the ordering then, too … (24 Fleet St., North End. Info: 617-227-1577, prezza.com.)

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