The wines on the blackboard can be very good, but the glass prices will shock some people. A recent glass of 2003 Cumaro by Umani Ronchi was $17! This is a top-level red, but from part of Abruzzo that we don’t usually look to for top-level wines. I think it’ll be a pretty great wine in a few years. At the moment, though, the ’03 has a nose with a lot of dust on the fruit. Still, the flavor is large, warm, and mighty astringent. Much better right now was an ’02 merlot from Bastianich ($12/glass), a new producer set up by the family of New York restaurateur and author Lydia Bastianich. This was as fruity and complicated as some very fine merlot wines out of Bordeaux, which perhaps justifies the price. But a glass of Castelluccio “Lunaria” sauvignon blanc ($14/glass) was clean, tart, and lemony — and not a value. The regular wine list mixes in wines from around the world with Italian bottles, and the glass prices range from $7 to $10. Espresso ($2.25) is a relative bargain, and very well made in both regular and decaf.
Breaking with North End tradition, Trattoria di Monica has several desserts, which it claims are also homemade. This is certainly true of the unique Nutella bread pudding ($6), a rather homogeneous pie slice of pudding, but wonderfully marbled with the hazelnut-chocolate spread. The cannoli ($6) might well be homemade, as both the fried shells and the ricotta filling were very fresh tasting.
Service on a couple of slow weeknights was good but not rapid, with some nice touches, such as the complimentary glass of prosecco we received one night. There were pauses between the appetizers and entrées, but the entrées were so exciting we didn’t mind. The background music, barely noticeable, is deeply retro. And candles grace each table, which prevents the small, bare-brick room of 16 seats from seeming too small. Apart from that, the décor comes mostly from framed art, with a line-drawn portrait that starts to resemble Jimi Hendrix after a while. This, like the music, must be personally meaningful to the chef-owners, since the ’60s and ’70s in America are not usually part of the nostalgia of the North End, nor of Argentina, where the Mendozas had a few intervening generations.
Trattoria Di Monica | 67 Prince Street, Boston | Open Daily, 5–10 Pm | AE, DC, MC, VI | Beer and wine | No | Valet Parking | Access Up Two Steps From Sidewalk Level | 617.720.5472
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Robert Nadeau: RobtNadeau@aol.com
