spaghetti carbonara
This past Sunday, I had every intention to split a bowl of ramen with Mr. E at Little Big Diner. Sundays are recovery day in my very scheduled fitness life, as well as meal prep day. The last thing I felt like eating before prepping all of my healthy meals for the week was something healthy! I mean, why on earth would I want to do that?!
We arrived at 3:15 because we couldn’t get our acts together to eat lunch at a normal time. We realized our blunder immediately, seeing the staff having their meeting before dinner service at 5. My hunt for noodles brought me to this little gem a few doors down. I had been to the Bottega Fiorentina location down in Coolidge, it it’s been YEARS.
I scanned the chalk board filled with pastas ranging in price from $5-7 ($5 on Wednesdays and Sundays). I threw caution to the wind and ordered the GD spaghetti alla carbonara. Inspired by my devil may care attitude, Mr. E followed suit. We grabbed our plates at the counter (quickest service ever!) and perched ourselves at two window seats.
The first thing that struck me was the portion. It was less pasta than I’m used to seeing at American Italian restaurants. This was actually portion controlled. I wanted to hug the owner for doing this. I can see this bothering some people, but I respected their bold stance to do this. The spaghetti had a nice al dente bite and the sauce was rich without being overwhelming. It’s definitely not my cousin Aly’s carbonara, which is my favorite, but it was good.
With a very attractive price point and a wide variety of pasta and sauces, you can mix and match to your heart’s content without breaking the bank. A plus is that they sell a nice selection of dried pastas, sauces, oils, and Italian treats.
If I’m in the area, it’ll be very tough for me not to beeline directly to Little Big Diner because I’m obsessed with their spicy miso ramen. That being said, if the mood for pasta hits, I’m heading down to Bottega Fiorentina for the no frills, quick and easy counter service.
Bottega Fiorentina
1231 Centre St
Newton, MA 02459
(617) 564-0713
Katie Eats Boston 