RESTAURANT PERMANENTLY CLOSED
HOW SWEET IT IS
Dolce Vita might get hectic on the weekends,
but how many places can boast a singing owner?
By
J. Charles Mokriski, Photographs by Berta A. Daniels,
Improper Bostonian, May 2001
I've
heard that people in the restaurant business call Saturday evening "amateur
night". Presumably the phrase is meant to apply to diners who choose
to frequent restaurants at their busiest time, and not to suggest that
restaurateurs leave their establishments in the care of amateurs on
such nights (although occasionally I have wondered).Ý
It
may well be that Saturday night patrons, competing for tables on the
most popular night of the week, lack discrimination and are willing
to accept mediocre performance from restaurants pushed beyond their
capacity by the crowd.Ý My recent wildly divergent experiences at Dolce
Vita lead me to believe that no matter what the cause, Saturday night
may not be the best time to experience a restaurant's most golden moments.
Dolce
Vita is housed in a newly renovated space on Hanover Street in the North
End, into which owner Franco Graceffa has moved his more modest establishment
from next door.Ý The 60-seat dining room features a high, gray metal
ceiling with fans and exposed ducts; mustard-hued walls hung with colorful
oil paintings, including a large, bold rendering of two black-hatted
Carbinieri; two slender gray pillars; and a lively bar.
On
a Thursday night visit, recorded Italian songs and opera were delightful,
but on a crowded Saturday night the noise level was such that recorded
music was lost in the babble, and the tentative live rendering of Andrea
Boccelli songs accompanied by guitar and violin was not much more successful.Ý
Only when the enthusiastic Franco launched into a hearty rendition of
"Volare", encouraging audience participation, was he able
to overcome the din.
My
first impression of Dolce Vita, following the favorable impression made
by its earnest, friendly, enthusiastic owner, was predominantly positive.Ý
The waiter brought a delightful plate of assorted olives for nibbling
while perusing the menu - plump Calamatas, and tangy green and savory
black olives mixed among them.
The soft-crusted
bread was disappointing, especially considering Boston's many good bakeries
- Iggy's, Clear Flour and Hi-Rise, to name a few.Ý The wine list was
predictable, and while we were temporarily charmed to see one of our
favorite domestic cabernets, Beaulieu Vineyards Rutherford, listed at
a very reasonable price, our delight turned to dismay when our request
for that estimable wine yielded two similar but not nearly as good products
with confusingly similar names.Ý
Franco
apologized for the wine list's lack of precision, and we settled on
the 1998 Regaleali, Tosca d'Alm-erita, a full-bodied Sicilian red ($22),
robust yet fruity.Ý Dolce Vita also offers a selection of draft beers
at a reasonable price of $3.50 for imports and $3 for domestic, including
Sam Adams among the latter.Ý Wine by the glass, on the other hand, is
not exactly a bargain, with a skimpy glass fetching $5.
Our
very first choice from the menu was a resounding success.Ý Tortellini a la boscaiola ($10.95) was
a soup bowl brimming with large, tender, white and green tortellini.
Soft, almost silky in texture, they were swimming in a splendid cream
sauce filled with marvelous ingredients - sweet peas, succulent hunks
of ham, large mushroom slices and Italian parsley.Ý The delicate but
full-flavored sauce was rose colored from a hint of tomato, and the
entire dish complete with a generous dusting of grated cheese, was superb.Ý
Not
so successful was the spaghetti alla carbonara ($9.95) which
we tried on Saturday evening, but we suspect that its hurried and substandard
preparation - the bacon was undercooked and the pasta erred on the other
side - was a casualty of a hard-pressed kitchen on a hectic Saturday.
Antipasti
included a satisfactory pomodoro
e mozzarella ($6.95), with six thick slices of mozzarella and decent
if not memorable tomatoes (late March is not exactly tomato season in
Boston) in an olive oil dressing.Ý Prosciutt e melone ($6.95) arrived as four large wedges of honeydew
melon, reasonably ripe and juicy, accompanied by slices of lean, smoky-salty
prosciutto.
Main
courses varied radically in quality.Ý The pollo al verdicchio, chicken in white wine
from Italy's Marches province ($13.95), was excellent.Ý As is the case
with some of the other Dolce Vita dishes, the menu does not tell the
whole story.Ý Far more than the simple "chicken sautÈed in wine
with artichokes" described on the menu, this huge, whole, succulent
boneless chicken breast was accompanied by a veritable garden of vegetable,
including artichoke hearts, red peppers, flat green beans, thick carrots,
cooked celery, large mushroom slices, hefty rings of zucchini and olives.Ý
We had expressed some concern to Franco that boneless chicken breasts
are often dry and tough.Ý He assured us that his would be different,
and he was right.
None
of the other main courses we tried at Dolce Vita came close to rivaling
the chicken. We're not sure whether this was because of the "Saturday
night syndrome" or because chicken is something Franco does particularly
well.Ý The Gamberi Scampi
($16.95), sautÈed with garlic and lemon, was satisfactory - five giant
scampi of decent texture served on a bed of linguini. Unfortunately,
a heavy hand on the lemon preempted the other flavors.
On
the meat side of the ledger, we ordered the bistecca
alla Fiorentina ($16.95), requesting it rare to medium-rare. It
arrived medium-well, and while its flavor was decent, the cut was underwhelming
and not what we expected of a Fiorentina.Ý
The least successful of Dolce Vita's main courses was the vitello
alla Milanese ($11.95).Ý Two large cutlets, with an indifferent
brown breading, had a texture that bordered on mealy, and reminded us
more of something one might find in the supermarket freezer than the
well-breaded, fresh-fried scallopini
we had been expecting.Ý Again, the gap between anticipation and
actuality may have been the casualty of the Saturday night crush.Ý Garnishes
for both the steak and the veal included well-prepared zucchini, carrots
and celery, together with the ubiquitous french fries and a small salad
of greens.
Main
courses at Dolce Vita were accompanied by a side of pasta, but unfortunately,
it was tired and perfunctory, dressed with a thin tomato sauce.Ý Desserts,
on the other hand, included a very credible crËme alla caramella ($4.25) and a first-rate
tiramisu.Ý And in a charming
gesture, rare in a town where nothing is given away for free, a handful
of fresh, crunchy Jordan almonds accompanied the bill.
It
is difficult not to like Dolce Vita, even after its spotty performance
on Saturday night.Ý The exuberance of its owner, its proven ability
to produce mouth-watering dishes at a less hectic time, and the good
value reflected in its restrained prices make this restaurant well worth
adding to anyone's North End list.