Bar del Corso

E and I first moved to Beacon Hill in '98 and we never left. Things have changed a great deal in the intervening years, most of them for the better. Amazon.com came and recently left, the neighborhood continues to gentrify with more and more young couples moving in, and now we have the blessed light rail. As far as we're concerned, the Hill is pretty damned great, but we were missing a couple of things: a pizza joint and a good pub, both within walking distance. Well, one out of two is a pretty good start.

We first heard about Bar del Corso some time back and have been anxiously following their progress via blogs. We decided to head on over a few days after their grand opening but got discouraged and left after hearing that the wait time was over an hour. Not to be defeated, we tried again a week later but left again after facing another hour+ wait time. Without much optimism, we attempted another visit a week later and I guess the third time was the charm because within 5 minutes of our arrival, we found ourselves sitting at the bar. (Please note that the bar is not free sitting and you will need to be on the waiting list.) We are so glad we kept pounding at the door because it was well worth it.

Bar del Corso used to be the Beacon Pub, which was the local dive bar. We actually always had a great time at the bar because it was always filled with the greatest mix of people and personalities, who all shared extreme friendliness in common. But it was a DIVE. We could not have been more shocked, therefore, when we walked into the open, light, clean lined and airy space that Bar del Corso now occupies.

E and I ordered two pizzas, a bottle of very lovely white wine, and an appetizer of Suppli al Telefono, which is Roman street food that consists of fried risotto balls and mozzarella. All I have to say about the appetizer is Holy F'ing Crap, my mouth is delirious. The plate came with three balls of gooey, chewy, fried loveliness.

The pizzas both came at the same time. We had ordered a Salame Piccante and a Fiore di Zucca. The first had salame, tomato, mozzarella, roasted red bell peppers and grana (an Italian hard cheese). It tasted like a wonderful pepperoni pizza and we absolutely loved it.

The Fiore di Zucca was outside the box for us in that it was completely vegetarian, in other words, completely SANS BEEF. This pie came with basil pesto, grilled zucchini, zucchini flowers, caramelized onions, mozzarella and grana. Wow. This pizza just exploded with flavor and texture. It was so good that we will be ordering it again and again despite it's being the v-word.

So, to sum it up, the experience was all we had hoped that it would be. The appetizer was great. The pies were wonderful with very thin crust and great flavor. And the ambiance was just right. Ultimately, the food at Bar del Corso is amazing but what pushes it up yet another notch is that it is also a feast for the eyes.