At the southeast end of the hip, restaurant-filled Davis Square, just past the neon signs for Wing Works and Domino’s, is the rustic Italian restaurant Pizzeria Posto. The restaurant offers bountiful salads, antipasti, delicious homemade pasta and wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas, all made with fresh ingredients and an artful attention to detail. Additionally, one wall of Posto is occupied by dark mahogany racks filled with over 50 types of wine that are served at the wine bar for a more casual dining experience.
Ignoring the jarring neon paintings of suburbia that hang on the walls, Posto’s small yellow lights and large glass windows create a warm and comfortable vibe. The waiting staff is casual and friendly with customers, and patrons are kept well stocked with water and crunchy, Parmesan-covered breadsticks. Patrons are also granted a view of the chefs as they make their pizza, which makes the overall experience feel surprisingly homey.
The restaurant uses ingredients from local farms whenever possible, which its menu of fresh, homemade offerings makes clear. For example, the arugula salad — served with endive and bleu cheese and dressed with a tart, light and lemony vinaigrette — feels like a little bite of springtime even in the middle of the harsh Boston winter. Another delightful appetizer, the Vermont Burrata, is served on a bed of invigorating pickled fennel and blood orange, a welcoming juxtaposition to the creamy, rich taste of the cheese.
The pasta dishes are also delicious, but are devoid of some of the creativity present in other courses. The Bolognese, served over homemade pasta, is certainly comforting and tasty, but is not quite as unique. However, Posto does make an effort to step outside of the box with some of its other pasta offerings, especially with clever preparations of both land and sea- dwelling creatures in the Rabbit Ravioli and Crab Tortellini.
Posto’s wood-fired pizza offerings are probably the most inspired items on the menu. All of the pizzas are made with a wonderfully crisp crust that bubbles at the edges. The prosciutto pizza, made with Fior di latte — a type of cow mozzarella — as well as Parmesan and fresh arugula tossed in olive oil, is both fresh and flavorful. The pizza menu also displays some artful innovation, evident in the Tuscan kale and apple options. The Tuscan kale pizza is topped with a rich and bitter combination of smoked bacon, soft egg and roasted kale, while the apple pizza is topped with the distinctive flavor of Gorgonzola cheese, applewood smoked bacon, caramelized onion, arugula and vincotta. These delicious and unusual pizzas are unique to Posto and exemplify the farm-fresh, rustic style of the restaurant’s cuisine. They also represent a refreshing deviation from “standard” pizza flavors — you won’t find any preservative-laden pepperoni pizza here.
The inspiration for Posto Pizza came from Naples, where dough is hand stretched and ingredients are always fresh. Owner and chef Joseph Cassinelli, after successes at multiple upscale Boston restaurants, was inspired by trips to Italy and California’s Napa Valley to create Posto. Though Cassinelli had helped to bring other owners’ visions for restaurants to come to fruition, he was itching to create Posto as his own brainchild.
As Cassinelli’s varied background would suggest, Posto’s cuisine is reminiscent of many Italian restaurants in the Bay Area. In particular, Delfina Pizzeria in San Francisco and Pizzeria Picco in Marin County offer similar locally sourced ingredients and creative approaches to wood-fire pizza. Posto is a refreshing, delicious option and recommendable to anyone looking for a rustic, farm-fresh meal in Somerville. It’s even worth the trip for anyone in the greater Boston area. Kudos, Cassinelli.
