Toscano (Beacon Hill, Boston)

Keri's father was in town last weekend, which means we got to have some pretty fun food experiences.  The highlight of the weekend by far was Toscano, a small rustic Italian restaurant in the heart of Beacon Hill.  Since Keri, Debbie and Keri's father spent the day shopping while I worked, we ended up getting a late reservation.  We arrived a few minutes early and were seated after a few short minutes of waiting.  Toscano has some really beautiful architecture inside with large carved wooden french doors separating parts of the dining area.  The  rustic Italian menu has some really interesting items, my favorite part of the menu is that you can get any pasta dish as a half order which makes me feel a little less guilty ordering two meals.

There were a bunch of specials being served that sounded really good and most of what we ordered were specials, not the normal menu (this being our second trip, I you can't go wrong ordering off the regular menu.  We ended up having a four course meal, that was truly spectacular from start to finish!

Lets start from the beginning;  Our first course was an appetizer course in which we got two specials and a cheese plate.  The first was braised calamari with swiss chard.  The calamari was very fresh and had a nice flavor, unfortunately the swiss chard dominated the dish.  The chard was a little bitter and very overpowering.  The second special was a variety of sauteed wild mushrooms over a bed of cabbage.  The mushrooms were fresh and sauteed perfectly; they were moist, flavorful and had a perfect consistency (not too mushy).  The cheese platter had  of four cheeses, but the presentation and accouterments were definitely lacking.  The plate included two hard cheeses (Parmesan & Romano), a semi-soft cheese (not sure of the name but similar to muenster), and a soft cheese (similar to brie with a slightly different flavor).   The cheeses were all delicious, but only came with pears and figs so we used the table bread as a medium to eat the cheese.  Overall the first course was quite good, but definitely not the star of the night.

Our second course was a soup and salad course, the four of us shared two salads and two bowls of the same soup.  The soup was Pasta Fagioli and was a little different than your standard Pasta Fagioli because it had a bean puree base instead of the traditional whole beans in broth.  Overall the soup was spectacular; the bean puree gave the soup a creamy consistency and the small noodles were a great addition.  The first salad was a tri-color salad that included cabbage, arugula & endive.  The three ingredients were all fresh but all on the bitter side (by nature) and they combined to make a bitter salad that wasn't really my taste.  The second salad was a beat salad with dolci gorgonzola topped with salt and pepper.  The gorgonzola had a nice sharp, creamy flavor and was soft (not crumbly).  The cheese complimented the beats perfectly; the subtle flavor of the beats were not overpowered by the sharp cheese.

The third course was our main course and definitely the highlight of the meal.  I couldn't decide between  pasta and meat, so Keri and I shared a half order of past in addition to our meals.  The past was my favorite part of the night; we had gnocchi with ground duck.  The gnocchi was very fresh, smaller than you typical commercial gnocchi and had a very light consistency.  The ground duck was lean and had a really nice flavor (not gamey at all).  Keri & Debbie both got the grilled seafood special that was really spectacular and right up Keri's alley (its like they knew she was coming).  The grilled seafood plate came with shrimp, scallops and monk fish grilled perfectly and very lightly seasoned, the fish was very fresh and had a nice charbroiled flavor.  I got the bone in pork loin that was juicy and tender and not over seasoned.  The star of my entree was the mashed potato's which were fluffy and had an unbelievable flavor, coming from someone that doesn't like potato's, this is saying something!

While we were probably too full for dessert, we got it anyways.  I had the flowerless chocolate cake that was decedent, but not too sweet.   Keri had the peach tart that was basically a peach pie, it was mediocre, but may have been better if we weren't so full.

Overall our experience was great!  The food and service was some of the best I have had in Boston.  There was enough variety on the menu to make even picky eaters happy. You can tell the chef was very thoughtful when he put together both the menu and specials, including things you don't find at your run of the mill restaurant.  If you are looking for someplace to go to celebrate a special occasion or just have a really nice experience, Toscano is the place.

Ambiance: 9- love the glass wine room and the large carved wooden doors.  Some smaller areas can be a little loud though.
Service- 9: Our server was knowledgeable and timed everything perfectly.  Our water glasses were never empty.
Overall Menu- 9: Unique menu and specials with some things you don't find anywhere else.
Presentation- 8: Most things looked good, but making a cheese plate in an art and they obviously need some practice.
Order Accuracy- 10: We ordered a lot of different things and everything was spot on.
Overall taste- 9: Ground duck gnocchi was one of the best pasta dishes I have had.
Value- 8: Pricey, but you really get what you pay for.
Flavor Complexity- 9:  They use a variety of ingredients that aren't what you typically see...and they do it well.
Quality of Ingredients- 10:  Fresh vegetables and meat.  The Fish was very evidently high quality and fresh.
Accessibility- 9: Beacon Hill isn't necessarily the easiest place to get to or park in, but you can get there in 5-10 minutes from the green line and they have  valet. The restaurant is good enough to not worry about where your going to park.

Total: 90  Fresh, thoughtful and well prepared food with great service, you can't go wrong.  Expect a higher price point for a meal like this though