Another restaurant owned by the very inventive and creative Lydia Shire, Scampo is located in the downstairs of the Liberty Hotel, home to the young “in crowd” of Boston. Scampo itself seems draw a mixed crowd of urban and surbanites. A high price point definitely lends itself to a more up market crowd for dinner and the 30-something plus trendy crowd for drinks.
A very cool space… the dining area encircles the big square bar in the center of the restaurant. Over to the back of the restaurant there is another bar area for dining that surrounds the Chef’s at work. Lots of high-top seating for larger crowds – great for a birthday party or celebration. There is also a really nice outside patio. Myself and Kristen decided on dinner at the main the bar… best place for people watching we thought, and we were right. The people watching at Scampo is outstanding. You are definitely entertained merely by looking around. It’s a very vibrant bar scene.
I started the evening with an Espresso Martini. I prefer my Espresso Martinis dark, no Baileys and the bartender made it perfectly – a deliciously fun drink to start the evening.
The menu is very imaginative with lots of amazing choices and great foods to share. Although the menu offers a lot of Italian dishes it also seems to have a number of Indian-inspired options. They offer everything from pizza to pasta to mozzarella dishes to superb looking entrees.
After perusing the starters and wanting something a little different we ended up choosing the Whole Baked Artichoke with Sausage Crumbs, Mint and Fennel Pollen to share. The dish was tasty, however not much artichoke meat until you got right to the heart of it. Once we did it was delicious and the mint and fennel really gave it a nice freshness.
For my entrée I went with the White Pepper Seared Rare Tuna with Lemony Tahini Sauce and Stinging Nettles Panzotti. The tuna was delicious; but I wasn’t a huge fan of the sauce as it was a little too sweet for me. The Panzotti was amazing… small ravioli pasta filled with rich creamy cheese. Kristen selected the Scampo Duck with Plum and Peppercorn Sauces with Duck Fat Fries. I had serious food envy… the duck was outstanding. It was tender, juicy and not too fatty as some duck dishes can be. Kristen was very happy to share with me and I was extremely happy to take her up on the offer.
It was about this time that a slew of plain clothes policeman and burly bouncers came in, walked over to one of the tables and handcuffed a guy. My neck was aching so bad as I kept having to look to find out what was going on. Drama!!!!
Not long after that an older guy made a comment about my friend Kristen being out with her mother. Me… her mother L. I nearly started crying right on the spot. It practically ruined my whole evening. He apologized profusely and said I took it the wrong way. Not sure how you get that wrong. Now, this is important for any man reading… NEVER ever comment on a woman’s age or weight! He did have a very very funny friend who made up for his rudeness.
As well as the super friendly barstaff, we also met a ton of other interesting people. A female ice hockey goalie, Orlando from New Jersey, Ben the paper salesman and a mini celebrity, CT from the Real World Paris.
My spirits and good mood was back and our evening at Scampo finished with an over indulgent almost immoral Dark Chocolate Cake with Milk Chocolate Ice Cream and Irish Cream Anglaise that we devoured so quickly I forgot to take a photo… woops. It really was very pretty and absolutely fabulous.
What an entertaining and fun evening.
As you know, I’m a big fan of Scampo and always enjoy going there. In the summer the back patio is where I prefer to dine (weather permitting).