Ever been to one of those secret restaurants? The "off-the-beaten-path" ones that are so unassuming and out-of-the-way that they must be terrible? But one trip inside, one sniff of the hot, fresh homemade food, turns skeptics into believers - believers who wonder how they could they have ever lived before that one fateful night when they discovered "the" restaurant.
Vinny's at Night is one of those places. While the secret may be out, and knowledge of Vinny's common, the food most certainly is not.
The secret to Vinny's history of mystique has been its appearance. By day, Vinny's fronts as a deli/superette. Selling mostly meats, subs and convenience store items, one almost misses the glimmer of tables in the back.
At night, though, as the aisle lights of the superette dim, the lights in back shine bright, shrouded by thick red curtains, and one knows that Vinny's Superette has now transformed into Vinny's at Night.
Seeing as this reviewer has a propensity for the unknown and is easily swayed by the suggestive and alluring reviews of every critic in Boston (Google Vinny's and you'll see!) it was time to give Vinny's at Night a go.
Leading friends up to a restaurant that had a large yellow "Vinny's Superette" sign screaming at them yielded cries of "Dude, you've got to be kidding me," and "I can't believe dinner is in there." (Yes, I have yuppies for friends.)
Step behind those curtains, however, and you're in another world. Imagine a scene where "The Godfather" meets "Lady and the Tramp." Walls plastered with murals of Italy lend itself to the tourist-y, authentic-albeit-cheesy feel of the restaurant, while a basement seating area with more murals and a wine cellar big enough to make any alkie swoon round out the atmosphere.
As one first sits down, his or her eyes immediately drift to the highlight of the appetizer selection, a self-serve antipasto bar. For $8.95, you can send one emissary from your table to plate enough food to make even Marlon Brando full (think "The Godfather," not "A Streetcar Named Desire"). This tiny bar includes goodies such as eggplant parmigiana, fried rice balls with tomato paste, stuffed jalape?±o peppers with prosciutto and spicy cheese and, of course, cured meats.
Other notable appetizers included broccoli rabe and spinach saut?©ed in garlic and olive oil, calamari salad, arugula topped with freshly fried calamari rings and littlenecks - 15 of them, saut?©ed in olive oil and stuffed with even more chopped clams.
Starving yet? Well, saying "full" at Vinny's is as blasphemous as not trying the main entr?©es. Everything on Vinny's menu comes with your choice of linguini, ziti, angel hair, homemade fusili or homemade mafaldi, most smothered with the red sauce (a homemade house specialty, as evidenced by the fresh tomatoes throughout).
The inch-thick chicken parm is too fat to fit with the pasta, so it's served on its own plate, lathered in mozzarella and doused in Vinny's house red sauce. The shrimp fra diavolo has that same sauce laced with hot peppers, and, while it doesn't have a kick, it will certainly keep milder taste buds happy. Finally, veal lovers will kill for the veal marsala, pink in the middle and perfectly marinated with soft, sweet sun-dried tomatoes that perfectly compliment the marsala wine sauce
Specialty meat dishes included homemade pork sausage saut?©ed with bell peppers and a grilled Australian rack of lamb with roasted garlic and rosemary sauce. If you're in for an adventure (think exotic), try the ostrich dish that's been Italian-ed up with pasta.
Disappointments were, unfortunately, the chicken marsala and the chicken with ziti and broccoli. Both had fantastic sauces and the broccoli had a great fresh crunch, but the chicken was leathery and dry.
Like sweets? So does Vinny's - especially the variety of fruit sorbets. The best sorbet was the pineapple served in an itsy-bitsy pineapple shell. Try the tartuffe of limoncello, which is limoncello-flavored ice cream covered in meringue sprinkles with a delightful lemon liqueur center.
Vinny's manages to capture both the imagination (who else would put a gourmet restaurant in the back of a superette?) and the palate (delicious food). The service, however, is the cannoli on top. The waitress and busboy were both knowledgeable and competent. While the server's initial response to "what's good?" was a truthful "everything," a little more prying yielded some great dining suggestions, such as the seafood extravaganza. She checked in every five minutes, the water glasses were always full and her responses were always pleasant. In short, service worthy of five stars.
For the caliber of its food, Vinny's is a steal, but the college student on a minimum income may hurt a bit (entr?©es are in the $15 to $20 range). This restaurant best suits a unique date or visiting parents.
So forget the posh restaurants of Davis, the overpriced long haul to the North End, and your mom's home cooking. But don't forget the WD-40 - you'll need it to grease the doorway on your way out of Vinny's.
