Restaurant Review - Sportello + Drink

Restaurant: Sportello/Drink
Location: 348 Congress Street (Ft. Pt Channel), South Boston, MA
Rating: Sportello = B+ ; Drink = C

I braved the Southeast Expressway for 90 minutes, followed by a healthy dose of pop culture at the Puma City exhibit at Fan Pier. Needless to say, I was famished by the time we headed over to Fort Point for an 8:30 dinner. Wellesley speaks fondly of local celebrity chef Barbara Lynch, so I was pretty curious to check out Sportello, her newest Italian restaurant in gentrified Southie.

Sportello is not your typical red sauce Italian food; in fact not knowing this ahead of time turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Chances are if I had looked at the menu beforehand, I probably would have been adverse to dining at Sportello - I would've truly missed out. Our attentive waitress made wine recommendations before bringing over a plate of crusty Italian bread with a creamy raisin/butter spread. From there we dove into an order of hiramasa crudo (sashimi) served up on chip-like cucumbers and burrata (cheese) with cippolini onion and chestnut honey - delicious!

For our main course we both wanted to try the potato gnocci with porcini mushrooms, peas, and cream. Rather than order two plates, we decided to split one and go from there. I didn't feel that the peas added much to the meal, but the richness of the cream combined with the pillowly gnocci and porcini was simply divine. Add a platter of fresh baked assorted cookies for dessert and it makes for a very happy meal.

The food at Sportello was obviously excellent, but it gets dinged a bit for its' seating arrangement. With only two traditional tables, the majority of diners sit on stools surrounding two long white bars. While fantastic in theory, Sportello is far too pricey for this casual concept. By the time cookie time rolled around, my back was starting to stiffen up.

Afterwards we headed downstairs to a packed bar of beautiful people drinking beautiful cocktails at Drink. Two seats at the bar had just opened up, so we slid in and watched the suspender and tie wearing bartender chop off a block of ice with an ice pick for a patron's crazy concoction. Drink does not have a drink menu and all liquor is stored out of site in a closed cabinet. Rather than pick a random beverage, the bartenders interview you to find out what you like before mixing a tailor made cocktail.

My cocktail of choice is scotch on the rocks, but it seemed like such a waste to drink one when I had access to a personal mixologist. Instead, the barkeep mixed up a raspberry mojito and though it was tasty, it just wasn't the scotch that I was used to. My rating of a C has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that I don't really care for cocktails. If mixed drinks are more your speed, you'll be very satisfied with the atmosphere, cleanliness, and awe inspiring cocktails at Drink.

Fort Point is an easy walk from the Seaport Silver Line stop. Metered street parking is also available. For menu options, check out www.sportelloboston.com and www.drinkfortpoint.com.