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.

Captivating Cold Cuts at Coppa - Boston

Upon entering and taking a seat at one of the few tables, you will find yourself consorting in the cozy-but-not-too-crowded Coppa. You sip your water, munch on the mixed fruit (a brilliant alternative to bread!), and place your order from the brunch menu, which includes at least one of the myriad meats. After you order, you furtively scan your surroundings, bathing your eyes in the atmosphere of relaxation that only accompanies Sunday brunch, and your eyes rest on the decorative head of a boar that protrudes above the doorframe. From its lofty perch, this omniscient mascot overlooks the entire dining area and ogles your table as you and your fellow diners eagerly devour its delectable body. If that doesn’t creep you out, I don’t know what does…

We started with two cured meats – the Duck Proscuitto was too cool a concept to pass up, and why not try the Coppa, the neckmeat of the boar after which the restaurant was named? The duck was impossibly melt-away light, just ignore (and savor!) the huge ring of fat around it…The coppa carries a lingering sweetness, which the server described perfectly, and these thinly-sliced treats were enough to convince me that you could close your eyes and point to the cold cut menu and fall in love with wherever your finger lands.

Unfortunately, Coppa lost major star-points due to the fact that everything was doused in olive oil. Cured meats do NOT need to be topped with oil. There was clearly plenty of fat in the meat already, and the greasiness coats your savory receptors to wash away the lingering savor the meats leave on your tongue.

Our next indulgence arrived in the form of fantastically fresh filets with little circles of radish that added an appetizing splash of color. The Fluke Crudo was a beautifully prepared dish that tasted like…well…nothing…I awaited the apocalypse while eating this dish because I actually had to ask for extra sea salt. I never ask for extra salt. I could be dying of salt-wasting CAH, and I still wouldn’t add it to my food! I don’t even like IV saline! Major points lost. Oh, and where was that chili vinegar? Clearly still in the bottle and not on my food…

My friend and I figured that man (and woman!) was not made to live on cured meats and antipasti alone so we shared the coolest-looking main dish. The Orecchiette con Trippa was a delectable dish with al dente orecchiette containing a perfectly even coating of cream combined with chewy tripe, bulky beef tongue, and a pinch of pork belly. This was my friend’s fave dish, and IMHO, second to none except Via Matta.

So when it comes down to grading, Coppa is just not Toro. For now, I’ll give a tentative 4 stars for incredible selection of cured meats and consider the fluke crudo a mere fluke, but I’ll need to come back for dinner to fairly judge the cooked food. But if everything is like the orecchiette, Coppa, there just might be a way to atone for the fluke.