The 2010 North End CityFeast at Tresca Boston

By: Finance Foodie

The North End CityFeast held this past Sunday can be summed up in two words: Charitable Gluttony. Hosted by six participating restaurants in the North End of Boston, this event was held to benefit the Joslin Diabetes Center's High Hopes Fund. Even though my stomach already received quite a workout at Beer and Bourbon Festival the day before, I am always down for supporting a good cause (and trying a new restaurant), so I threw my most acceptable-for-public pair of “fat” pants and ventured out into the night...

I arrived at Tresca, the restaurant I was to dine at, promptly at 6pm. I had sampled some wonderful morsels from Tresca before (at the Beyond Shelter Gala last year), so I was excited to enjoy a full meal at this cozy Italian eatery. Plus, I was seated by fellow blogger Richard of the Passionate Foodie – so I was doubly excited that I would be having dinner with someone equally passionate about good food as myself.

The five-course dinner started off with a Caesar con Tartufi salad. Personally, I am not the biggest fan of rabbit food salad, but the flavorful white truffle Caesar dressing and the thin and crisp crouton topper pleasantly surprised my taste buds. A good start to the night!

Next up was the Crespelle al Forno, two crisp chive crepes stuffed with roasted wild mushrooms and truffled fresh ricotta cheese. This was my favorite dish of the night since 1. I think mushrooms are one of the Top 5 Foods on this planet  2. The crepe was very well balanced: intense and hearty but not overly heavy or greasy to send me into heart attack mode.

The third course was a the Rigatoni Norma, which consisted of rigatoni pasta tossed with roasted eggplant, San Marzano tomatoes and fresh basil, topped with shaved ricotta salata. The sauce was a bit too tangy and tart for my tastes but the rigatoni was perfectly toothsome.

For the main course, Tresca served a Pollo Romono, a grilled chicken breast cutlet topped with arugula and grilled veggies, served with corn polenta. Mama Mia! The chicken breast was bigger than my head (and I have a bigger head than the average person)! The polenta (hidden under the pile of rabbit food arugula) was to die for – light, fluffy, yet creamy with embedded crunchy corn kernels that provided an exhilarating and unexpected texture to the dish.

[At this point, I was finding myself short of breath (the portions were beyond generous) and my favorite part of every meal (dessert) still hadn’t arrived. I was tempted to take a quick walk around the block but my 4 inch heels and the sub-arctic weather kept me at bay.]

Last but certainly not least, dessert – the Sogno del Cioccolato, a warm chocolate truffle cake topped with vanilla gelato. Absolutely uh-mazing (and I was already beached-whale full at this point). The chocolate cake was sinfully moist and melt in my mouth good. The gelato was a perfect complement – its smooth buttery texture served to enhance the already flavorful cake.

And with that happy ending, I waddled out into the night, reflecting on another indulgent yet happy weekend that has once again come to close.

About Joslin Diabetes Center: Joslin Diabetes Center is the world's preeminent diabetes research and clinical care organization. Joslin is dedicated to ensuring people with diabetes live long, healthy lives and offers real hope and progress toward diabetes prevention and a cure for the disease. Founded in 1898 by Elliott P. Joslin, M.D., Joslin is an independent nonprofit institution affiliated with Harvard Medical School. For more information about Joslin, visit www.joslin.org

Tresca
233 Hanover Street
Boston, MA 02113-2310
(617) 742-8240