Our main dishes were even better. Johnnie’s piccata di pollo ($20) consisted of two moist breasts (deliciously skin-on, forgoing heart-healthiness) and tender broccoli rabe. Fat capers topped the chicken, and the light sauce had just enough lemon zip. I had the filetto di vitello con funghi ($24). Four thick strips of veal tenderloin were drenched in a mar-sala sauce and served with mushrooms and nicely rosemaried and browned roasted potatoes. The wine sauce was thick enough to adhere to each bite of meat. I was a happy carni-vore.
On our next visit, I’ll probably try an interesting dish called capasante croccanti ($21), described as pan-seared sea scallops over a house-made semolina torte and fennel pome-granate salad. Or, if my teeth are tingling again, maybe the wood-grilled double-thick pork chop, with potatoes puréed rather than mashed and “house-pickled peppers.”
The desserts included Nutella crème brûlée and pumpkin cheesecake, but we went for the kitchen-made cranberry-apple crustata ($8) and weren’t disappointed with the perfect tart-sweet melding. Zooma proved a treat, even without a summery sidewalk table.
Related:
Seasonal fare(well), Post 390, Review: Cafe Longo, More 
- Seasonal fare(well)
With Labor Day weekend behind us, so goes the high tourist season here in Maine. While this means less crowded beaches and the possibility of finding a weekend parking space in the Old Port, it signifies a major transition for restaurateurs around the city.
- Post 390
Another week, another gastro-pub. Okay, Post 390 technically bills itself as a Back Bay "urban tavern," and is bigger and glitzier than most, but it has the same combination of comfort food with a twist, a few bits of high cheffery, serious drinks, and playful desserts found throughout the city so frequently these days.
- Review: Cafe Longo
I suppose there are braver things to do. Perhaps charging a machine gun nest or serving a loosely wrapped braciole to a Sicilian grandmother. But open yet another Italian restaurant on Federal Hill, as Café Longo did in spring of 2009, sounds like diving off a cliff.
- Spumoni's
In far eastern Pawtucket, almost Massachusetts, sits a 30-year-old family-owned restaurant that's a great hit with locals.
- Review: Pasta Beach
The name of this popular Italian eatery conjures up several images. Do you drop by for take-out pasta or pizza and take it down the hill to First Beach?
- Review: Trattoria Simpatico
It’s not only the real estate biz where location means enough to repeat the point.
- Reviewer's notebook: Tavolo and Sanette’s Karoo Kafe
Tavolo snuck under my radar because Chris Douglass, then well-known for Icarus, had made his first Dorchester move with Ashmont Grill, an admitted bistro.
- Review: Tierra Restaurant & Lounge
Here's a welcome addition to the ongoing revitalization of Pawtucket.
- Cucina Twist
In the eight-restaurant empire owned by Bob Pinelli and Steve Marra, Cucina Twist has a special place in the hearts of Wakefield and Kingston residents.
- Junction Trattoria and Bistro
On a recent rainy Friday evening, we were calling around for a place to eat dinner. One restaurant had no reservations till 9 pm (it's still tourist season); another was farther away than we'd realized, and we might end up eating at that same hour.
- Spirito’s
Sunday’s daily special at Spirito’s, an all-you-can-eat roasted chicken deal that borrows from the Blackstone Valley tradition, includes pasta, as well as French fries and salad — for $9.95. You read that right.
- Less
Topics:
Restaurant Reviews
, Culture and Lifestyle, Food and Cooking, Foods, More
, Culture and Lifestyle, Food and Cooking, Foods, Desserts, Meat, Seafood, Italian cuisine, Pasta, Federal Hill, Atwells Avenue, Less
