Oringer You Glad There's a New Restaurant Coming?


I spoke with Toro‘s Jamie Bissonnette today about his forthcoming new project in the South End with Boston star Ken Oringer, called Coppa–a “neighborhood enoteca” that will occupy the Shawmut Avenue storefront which previously housed Dish. Some of the details have already been revealed–Coppa will be Italian in spirit and style (a first for Oringer, who’s tackled Spanish, Mexican, steak, and haute cuisine to great acclaim).

It’ll serve lunch and dinner, featuring a selection of small plates, pastas, and pizzas, all priced under $13. And there will be a strong emphasis on local sourcing.

“We want it to be sustainable,” Bissonnette says. “We don’t want to beat people over the head with where we get our greens, but we want to be artisanal and local. As much house-cured salami as possible, Vermont cheeses, eggs from Round the Bend Farm in Dartmouth for our pasta dough. We’re hoping they can supply us with a whole animal each week. I’ve always been really into nose-to-tail cooking, but I want to be even more into it here.”

At the same time he says, this isn’t going to be some sort of fussy foodie temple. Bissonnette and Oringer understand that Bostonians like their comfort food (sigh), and will have plenty of familiar fare to offset the offal.

I know that these are lean times for restaurants, and we’ve seen some scary restaurant closings of late (more on that later this week), but this one sounds like a winner: the right concept for the right neighborhood at the right time. The ETA is looking more like “late August,” according to Oringer. And a website is in the works: coppaboston.com.

It hasn’t gone live yet, but keep checking back for more info. We can’t wait.

— AMY TRAVERSO