Captivating Cold Cuts at Coppa UPDATE – Boston

Upon a repeat visit to Coppa, I am decisively awarding it the full four stars of my original visit. This is pretty much the only time Coppa doesn’t enhance my indecision, but I’m starting to enjoy the challenge.

For starters, Coppa’s cocktails are a challenge with a brave new world of liquors and a glass with such flavors in it. Both the Spring Break and Hawaiian Holiday channeled girly-sweet-n-sour, yet there was something not quite right about the sometimes-clashing, sometimes-contrasting, often-dueling citrus, and I couldn’t quite decide if I liked either drink. But something about these drinks made me want to take just one more sip, though each sip made it harder and harder to decide. If you’re in a philosophical or drunken-philosophical mood, taste the cocktails - they’ll make you think.

The first thing we ordered was the Duck Proscuitto. Just like last time, just like every time. These smoky little strips of duck covered with a melt-in-your-mouth strip of fat are too good to ever pass up, and congrats, duck prosciutto, you’ve just made it onto my decisive list of things to always order.

The Artichoke was salted by the blue cheese, but the cheese was stronger than I would like for something as neutral-tasting as artichoke. I couldn’t quite decide how much I liked this one - some of the tougher, not-quite-chewable outer leaves were left on the artichoke, and there was too much olive oil. Not surprising for Coppa, but my arteries would prefer a little lighter hand with the oil. I don’t think I’d order this again, but my love for artichoke hearts makes that impossible to say that with conviction.

Pizza had us heartbroken when we realized that, as joint detesters of celery, we couldn’t indulge in the one with bone marrow. We finally decided on the Pepe Bianco. The clams were diced so they snuck cunningly into each mouthful for a seafood surprise, and bacon is the friend that makes everything a little bit brighter just by being there. There was a also fried seafood-loaded pizza getting around, and from the looks of it, Coppa’s pizza is the best bang for your buck. Pun intended. Decisively.

The Paccheri con Agnello was seasonally-indecisive, with gamey lamb and dense fava beans turned refreshing with a deep breath of mint. Lamb and fava beans are usually my dead-of-winter comfort foods, but the large floppy tubes of al dente pasta add an airy quality, and the mint does wonders to lighten the load. Despite the ambiguous season, I loved this dish with no shades of gray, and I’ll eat it rain or shine.

I was too full for dessert, but sometimes more IS more. The Peach and Ricotta Gelato sounded too good to pass up and with a friend like Bo to indulge my whims, the delicate dish of frozen delight hit the table decisively. The texture was thick and rich from the ricotta with a hint of fragrant peach. This dessert was more savory than sweet, but the full notes of ricotta hit the spot with the peach.

The drinks and food at Coppa raise way more questions than they answer, but my four stars are a decisive answer for the creativity and quality of the food. The brilliant minds that created the food at Coppa are unmistakably omnipresent, and there is absolutely nothing that would make hesitate before deciding to dine at Coppa.