There’s a terrific review out in today’s NYT by Pete Wells of I Sodi: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/13/dining/i-sodi-restaurant-review.html?rref=collection%2Fcollection%2Frestaurant-guide&action=click&contentCollection=undefined®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest-stories&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection.
Wells makes note of the skill and focus it takes to make great pasta. The piece’s best lines are: “The current food scene rewards egotistic gestures of novel techniques or ingredient pairings above rigorous devotion to tradition like Ms. Sodi’s. But there can’t be any doubt that she is one of the city’s great pasta practitioners…”
Compare that to a review in today’s Boston Globe where a new joint is praised for goat Bolognese.
I remember years ago going out to eat with a well known Boston chef and how he laughed about the buffalo ribs–or was it bison?–saying that because it was a unique menu item, at the time, there was no way to compare it to other versions that might determine if the one on the menu was any good.
There are really two very good Italian restaurants in all of Boston–Giulia and Babbo Pizzeria and Enoteca–and it would be nice, of course, to see many more. Locanda Verde, Lupa, Alimentari il Buco, I Sodi, Da Silvano, Bar Primi, Babbo, Osteria Morini…but that takes a sea change in how food is regarded.