I found myself with an actual full hour free for lunch this past work week, unheard of these days, and it was a gorgeous day. I had no choice but to find somewhere to dine al fresco. Rather than staying in Back Bay where I work, I ended up meeting my friend, BosGuy over in the South End.
After thinking about where to go, he suggested Coppa. I had no idea they did lunch! I agreed immediately as I hadn’t visited them in a while and I have never been disappointed with my experiences at this cute South End locale.
Coppa is a little Enoteca managed by famed Boston Chefs, Ken Orringer and Jamie Bissonnette. The restaurant is intimate, but loud. The décor is simple with a long bar, which seats about eight people and lots of small square tables very close to each other that look into the small kitchen or out to Shawmut Street. In the warmer months they do have some seating outside, but on this lunchtime occasion we chose to sit inside at one of the tiny tables facing the open windows.
The menu offers small plates to share of Italian Bar Snacks to meats and cheeses to pizza to housemade pastas. So many yummy and very interesting choices for an impromptu lunch.
No wine for lunch (boo), just a sparkling water with lemon. I just pretended it was wine .
After perusing the menu for a while we decided on a few things to share.
Our first choice was the local burrata with Middle Eastern pepper puree. Freshly delightful burrata messily spread on soft white bread with a wonderfully sweet tang of puree made me grin with joy. I love burrata and the added puree really worked to make it something more special.
We both agreed we needed some greens. A weekend in New Orleans eating beignets and crawfish pie did nothing for my healthy eating habits. A dish of broccolini was ordered based on a recommendation from our friendly waiter. I can honestly say, this dish really surprised me with how flavorful it is. I absolutely loved the crunch of the broccolini stalks with soft bites of chickpeas. I may have to try and replicate it at home.
Our final choice was the Parma Pizza. Again, super delicious with a thin crust base and bubbled sides, a sweet tomato sauce base, tons of fabulous bitter arugula and salty prosciutto – a very happy combination.
If you have time, you absolutely need to venture out to the South End neighborhood. While the evenings are usually crazed at Coppa and there is often a wait, no wait at all for during the day. What a delightful way to spend an hour (perhaps a little more after moving my 1pm appointment back a bit.) Coppa continues to impress on every level.
