Hello Hingham! Guess Who's Back?

On Friday afternoon, RRR & I headed up to Boston for her birthday weekend. We met up with Mitch at The Square Cafe in Hingham Center for a cocktail. I went for a repeat performance of the previous posted X-Rated martini, RRR had a delightful pear martini and Mitch had a white cranberry version. All of the drinks were smooth, clean, fresh and absolutely delicious! This is THE place to go for a great cocktail!

We left Square Cafe and met up with Mr. RRR for dinner at Caffe Tosca; a regular stop for the RRR's - her for the pizza, him for the steak. I started with a Caesar salad which is a most unusual choice for me but the description of domestic Asiago, cherry tomatoes and with or without white anchovies and I was sold. I took mine with the anchovies!

RRR & Mitch both had a salad with crunchy Romaine hearts, cherry tomatoes, red onions and I believe Feta cheese? All the salads were fresh and delicious and I'm still in shock that I ate a Caesar salad! What a caloric faux pas!

For entrees, Mr. RRR chose the 'Caffe' Hanger Steak with Asiago fries, garlic butter, and watercress. Yes, my bro-in-law is a (well-done) meat & potato man and in this instance he made a great choice. I managed to grab a fry off his plate before it was inhaled and yes I only managed A FRY.

Mrs. RRR chose the pizza (yes neither of the RRR's deviated from their norm) and had the eggplant pizza which arrived tableside on an upside down baking sheet. The thin crispy crust and fresh cheese makes it standout in an area that hasn't shown much of a penchant for making a decent pizza.

Like my choice of Caesar salad, Mitch went against her 'norm' and ordered the chicken parmigiano with aged provolone and a side of ricotta gnocchi in a creamy pink sauce. The chicken was moist and tender on the inside with a rich tomato sauce and this entree exceeded expectations.

I went with the wood seared pork steak on a bed of fig and sage polenta and roasted garlic. The thick boneless chop had a nice sear on the outside was well cooked but too much to be dried out whcih is not such an easy feat with such a thick piece of meat.

The fig and sage polenta was the standout item here; the creamy savory polenta had a hint of herby sage to add a great depth of flavor to the roasted garlic and chewy sweet figs. The balsamic glaze brought this sweet and savory dish together perfectly. Wow! What a gastronomic surprise!

The generous portions had us way too full for dessert and unfortunately for me, I left my leftovers in RRR's refrigerator. My loss is certainly her gain!