.jpg)
Two Family-Style Specials to End a Feud For
When the restaurant has you serving yourself, your wallet goes home happy.
AS THE OLD SAYING GOES, presentation is everything. But those willing to give up formal service and Kandinsky-esque swirls of bordelaise can save a pretty penny. Structured like Sunday suppers with the extended clan (minus the agita and the washing up afterward), family-style dining, with its big dishes of comfort food to share, is a win-win proposition. The restaurant can streamline staff—it takes less manpower to load a single platter than to fuss over individual plates—while passing along the savings to you. Heartier eaters can get an even better deal, provided they dine with easily sated companions. Speaking of which...was anybody gonna eat that last piece of chicken?
OUR PICKS
IL CASALE
Chef Dante de Magistris keeps things flexible at his new Belmont eatery by offering family-style options any day of the week: the all-out five-course "Ferrari" ($60 a head), and the more restrained four-course "Fiat" ($35 a head), both presented as chef's-whim menus of rustic Italian dishes like spaghetti carbonara, veal saltimbocca, and braised greens. Go with the Fiat—it's plenty of food, however big your party's appetite. 50 Leonard St., Belmont, 617-209-4942, ilcasalebelmont.com.
LA MORRA
Truly family-friendly, this Italian specialist's four-course Sunday dinner goes for $25 a head, with kids 12 and under eating for half that. Chef Josh Ziskin knows how to do comfort food that's far from dowdy (tagliatelle with asparagus, goat cheese, and cherry peppers), though your red sauce–loving grandma will still feel right at home. 48 Boylston St., Brookline, 617-739-0007, lamorra.com.
