Cinquecento (by Kosta)

Steph Santos and I had a lovely evening last Thursday night at Cinquecento, a new Italian restaurant and bar that has taken up residence in the space formerly held by Rocca. The newly renovated interior gave off a very chic vibe, somewhere between a Brooklyn loft and a swank downtown bar.

Waiters were circulating with a few appetizers being served up on platters along with a bevy of drinks. One I quite enjoyed was a toasted piece of bread with pancetta and pear on top. It was a great treat and a number of other similar appetizers were floating around.

The red and white wine being served paired well with the appetizers. We also sampled two cocktails prepared specially for the opening. A Limencello based drink with some herbs and spices was a perfect blend with sweet and floral notes coming though and I hope it becomes a standard on the menu. I also tried a great Basil cocktail which added a bit of a bite to an excellent drink.

Our last tastes were small cups of panna cotta with blueberries on top which was my favorite; the custard/cheese cake like desert was scrumptious. It was accompanied by biscotti with anise seeds providing a very strong but tasty flavor.

While tasting we also got to chat with a number of people in the Boston food scene and had a great time. We talked a while with Will from a Boston Foodie; definitely check out his blog, it’s one of the mainstays of the foodie community.

The event was sponsored by Ferrari and Maserati and the guests got to gawk at the fancy cars outside that had been parked as decoration.

Overall we had an enjoyable evening at this new hot spot. We’ll be sure to check it out for dinner sometime soon!

Cinqucento

500 Harrison Avenue
Boston, MA
http://www.cinquecentoboston.com