A mere week and a half after opening day, Barbara and I finally got to have dinner at Via Cannuccia, which is small (maybe 30 seats), very Italian, and absolutely delicious. Warm and welcoming too, it’s clearly destined to be the neighborhood go-to venue for weekend brunches and daily dinners.

Fortunately it’s a very easy walking distance for us (348 feet, according to Dr. Google), so there’s no need to drive and try to park.

Anyway, the neighborhood has been abuzz even before opening day, so they were nearly full on a weekday evening despite the lack of a website or other advertising. Of course we saw several people we knew.

Barbara started with a generous portion of Sautéed Mussels alla Porto d’Anzese, made with parsley pesto, Calabrian chili, and white wine; I started with Pappa al Pomodoro, which the menu translated merely as Tuscan Soup with fresh tomatoes, basil, grana padano, and bread—but Google Translate adds this helpful description:

Vivanda di pane cotto in acqua o brodo, talvolta condita con olio, aglio, pomodoro ( p. al pomodoro, piatto tipico della cucina fiorentina).

If you don’t read Italian, just dredge up your high-school Spanish, French, or Latin and you’ll figure it out. Or take a side trip to Florence. Or summarize it as one word: yum.

For our main dishes, Barbara had Signora Melanzane Parmigiana, a crispy version of eggplant parmigiana. And I had the unadvertised special on Aisle 5, Mezze Maniche All’amatriciana. (You can look it up.)

But wait, there’s more! A FOAF at the next table heard us wondering about the pizza, so they sent over two slices of their delicious sausage pizza.

We had to take home some of what we had ordered but couldn’t finish. Fortunately that left room for me to eat a scrumptious house-made warm raspberry crostata. More yum!

Needless to say, we’ll have to try their brunch and more dinners. As Arnold would say…

Categories: Dorchester/Boston, Food & Restaurants