Artu

When my sister turned 23 a few weeks ago we had a big family dinner at Artu in the North End (they also have a location in Beacon Hill). We all loved it. The food was great; everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meals. We went on a Sunday night and had the upstairs space all to ourselves.

I loved the ambiance here, semi modern but with the traditional Italian restaurant feel. Located on Price Street, right off of Hanover Street, it was little quieter than other restaurants right on Hanover.

Jeremy ordered the Veal Piccata was a flavorful dish of thin slices of veal, capers and mushrooms in a white wine lemon sauce. The veal was not breaded or coated in anything and was gluten free, as was the sauce.

I had the Frutti di Mare with gluten free penne. It was delicious! The penne was cooked to perfection, had great taste and texture.  The portion size was just right, not too big, and full of shrimp, calamari and little necks in a light tomato sauce.  The only down side is that they charge extra for the gluten free pasta but don’t tell you this ….until the bill comes, and it’s on there. But it was so delicious that this time I wasn’t too upset (and I wasn’t paying!)

My aunt also ordered gluten free pasta with her eggplant parmesan, which they made special for her without the breadcrumbs. The kitchen was very accommodating and I highly praise them for this.

My cousin ordered the Maple Glazed Salmon special served with mixed greens and balsamic vinaigrette. It was also deliciously, slightly pink in the middle, just the way we like it! He devoured his plate

My only complaint is that after telling the waitress we had two gluten allergies and talking with her about the menu options, we ordered 2 orders of the Mussels appetizers. The broth had flour in it. I was very surprised she didn’t tell the kitchen to omit it. She also told us she “thinks” the veal was gluten free, so of course we asked someone else to confirm this. She wasn’t the greatest waitress I’ve ever had, to put it nicely.

We brought our own gluten free chocolate cake ($35) from Modern Pastry. It was delicious! No one could tell that it was gluten free, and almost everyone ate their entire piece. One of the other waitresses came up to sing happy birthday and she was a riot! She was this little older Italian lady with such a great personality, I wish she had been our server that night! We even gave her a piece of cake! Just an FYI, they do serve a $2 cutting fee per person, but since this was a special occasion – and they won’t bring a knife to the table (so I’m not sure how else you could do it) – my mom did not mind paying for this extra service. 

Modern pastry also has gluten free muffins, whoopie pies, and biscotti. What they carry in store week to week varies.

Website: http://www.artuboston.com/
Location: 6 Prince Street (North End) and 89 Charles Street (Beacon Hill)