Weekend feast: Don Antonio NYC and Coquette Boston

Being able to visit New York regularly is a great privilege of mine. Living in the Boston area also allows me easy access to another booming city. Having been in both New York and Boston this weekend, I obviously had some great dining experiences with dear friends.

Recommended to me by one of my coworkers, after hearing that I’d be in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, was Don Antonio – a Neapolitan-style pizzeria with a wood-fired oven imported from Italy. The popular location has won many awards and is run by Pizzaiola Giorgia Caporuscio. The casual sit-down restaurant is inviting and a great place to grab dinner with friends before your night out. My friends and I were greeted by a lovely waitress who was attentive and liked to banter with us.

My girlfriends and I split the Fraticelli cacio e pepe, which were fried mini calzoni filled with mozzarella, pecorino, and black pepper. I have to say that my first bite of this appetizer was incredibly nostalgic for me. Something about this combination of dough, cheese, and pepper reminded me of a dish that my father has made in the past (Dad, if you’re reading this, let’s figure out what the dish was). The dish was nicely seasoned and didn’t feel too oily considering it was fried. This is definitely an appetizer that has to be eaten right away, though. The mozzarella will start to harden if it is not eaten while still hot.

After sipping on some cocktails and chatting over the cacio e pepe mini calzoni, the stars of the show came out. I was reminded of my trip to Naples, seeing that each person got an individual pizza. My favorite thing about Neapolitan pizza is the crust. The center of the pizza is thin, but the crust is chewy and soft. I love the slightly burnt bottom, as it adds so much flavor to the pizza. Below you can see (from left to right) the 10-year anniversary pizza, le Margherite, ricotta, kesté, and diavola pizzas. While we all truly enjoyed this meal, the one critique we had is that the center of the pizza was almost too thin to hold up the toppings. The dough itself was appetizing and a wonderful base for these toppings overall.

All in all, we had a lovely time at Don Antonio. Thank you to my amazing NYC girlies for seeing me on such short notice!

The small, inviting restaurant was a perfect way to start our Friday night. I would love to try this restaurant again and taste some of the other popular items from their menu. Maybe we’ll see the famous Pizzaiola next time.

⭐️ Rating: 8.3/10

Following the quick trip to NYC, I rushed back to Boston and met some friends at a fairly new, trendy restaurant named Coquette. Coquette, in French, means flirtatious, and flirtatious it truly was. You enter this restaurant and see beautiful ceilings reminiscent of those in Europe, as well as a beautifully lit cocktail bar. Once you enter the dining room, colorful chandeliers and angelic paintings take over the room. The beauty of the restaurant is truly the first thing you’ll notice.

Another peculiar thing about this restaurant is that it is NOT a French restaurant. The name had us all fooled. The restaurant describes itself as a Mediterranean restaurant. You’ll be able to order from the raw bar, Mediterranean share plates, and Capri-style pizzas. The best way, in my humble opinion, to review a restaurant is to order many dishes. Given that I was with a group of friends, we were able to order multiple dishes to share.

Below you’ll see the focaccia with spicy cacio e pepe butter, four cheese pizza, lamb meatballs, Borek spring rolls, charred caulini, lobster mac and cheese, and merda dé can. While I do not eat meat or fish, the girls absolutely loved these dishes. Coquette has a well-rounded menu, even though it does not serve what you would expect from a restaurant with a French name. The pizza was sub-par, but everything else was super flavorful and plated beautifully. The Borek spring rolls featured spicy chicken with dates, ras el hanout, and a creamy sauce. The charred caulini came with tahini creme, spices, crunchy chickpeas, and currants. I loved the mixture of sweet and tanginess in this dish. Merda dé can was like rustic spinach gnocchi. It was chewy, bright green, and came with a brown butter sauce and crunchy hazelnuts.

Thank you to our friendly waiter, who helped us pick our plates! And thank you to my girlfriends for a lovely evening. I love being able to try new places with dear friends. Next time I go to Coquette, I most likely won’t get the pizza, but I’ll enjoy every other dish that the place has to offer.

⭐️ Rating: 8.5/10