Something New at Salvatore’s, South Boston for Late Night Dining

Back before the explosion of new restaurants in the Seaport District, there were just a few to choose from – Morton’s and LTK being two and then there was Salvatore’s, a place I would stop by regularly for their outstanding, outrageously huge Arancinis.  Lately, I have been neglectful of this old favorite given how many new places there are on offer.  So, you can imagine my thrill at receiving an invite to their Pajama Press Pizza Party and reminding me that this place is still around.

Salvatore’s opened about five years ago by Sal Lupoli, famously known for his approximately 30 pizza restaurants called Sal’s Pizza Company around New England.  The restaurant is long and slim and starts with a decent sized square bar at the front, follow a narrow short hallway and you are in their small retro restaurant with glass walls all along one side and fun colors around the rest of the space.  A nice touch is that the restaurant has partitions to give a little more privacy for those who want a quiet evening.  They do also have outside dining for balmy evenings.

Joined by my friend Kerry, we arrived at Salvatore’s and were immediately greeted with super friendliness from a number of folks and then we were instantly escorted to the bar in the private area off to the side of the restaurant.  I liked it already! Two special cocktails were on offer and knowing we would likely try both, we started with the ZZZtini (basically a cosmopolitan) – deliciously sweet and dangerously strong, I was feeling a little woozy after just one.  Hmm, is that why it has that name?  Apparently not.  I was told it was for the “late night” menu.  Get it… zzz’s.

For our tasting we made sure we had a bite of every pizza on offer.  Their late night offerings are for six inch pizzas for just $3 starting at 10.00pm.  On offer are the following…

BRUSCHETTA AND ARUGULA PIZZA
Flat bread pizza topped with bruschetta, marinated arugula and parmigiano

CHICKEN PESTO
Roasted chicken, ricotta, mozzarella, touch of garlic and oregano topped with basil psto

MARGHERITA
Fresh tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, drizzled with EVOO cooked well done

SAUSAGE & RICOTTA
Sweet Italian sausage, fresh ricotta, roasted garlic, red chili peppers, banana peppers and fresh tomato sauce

SOPPRESATA PICANTE
Imported spicy sopressata, fresh mozzarella, pomodoro sauce, parmigiano and spicy honey

SPINACH & GORGONZOLA
Fresh baby spinach tossed with EVOO, fresh garlic, fresh mozzarella, gorgonzola and parmigiano finished with sun dried tomato pesto

While I applaud all of the pizzas as having the freshest and tastiest of ingredients, I do have some favorites.  Firstly the oh my goodness Spinach and Gorgonzola.  This pizza give me pause after the first bite, just to take in how wonderful it is.  A sharpness of gorgonzola with briny sweetness of sun dried tomatoes, lightly drizzled with olive oil made this my number one favorite.

My second favorite and a surprise to me was the Chicken Pesto.  Surprising because I don’t really like chicken on pizza.  The roasted bites of chicken worked in harmony with the creamy, almost sweet ricotta blended with a hint of garlic and that nice appeal that only pesto can give makes this pizza scrumptious.

As a treat, well two treats actually, we were firstly presented with the Vign Ola Cherry pizza to try.  This is on their main menu only and worthy of a very loud shout out.  The bing cherries are soaked in raspberry vodka for a week prior to being layered on flatbread pizza, which combines strong gorgonzola and rich creamy mozzarella with an added mild sweetness of honey.  This pizza could make your knees go weak and if it was on the late night menu, I would have put it as my number one favorite.  In fact, I recommend that you stop by just for this pizza at any time, you will not be disappointed.  As a side note, you have to be 21 to eat this pizza.  Not surprising given the week long soaking of cherries in vodka.

Salvatore’s is definitely back on my radar, and I am sure my friend, Kerry’s.  Their menu is extensive serving both lunch and dinner and now late night.  I will be back.  How can I not be with a late night menu like this?