Small Plates and Laughter at Coppa

On Thursday night, I had a seriously sensational meal at Coppa in the South End with Bianca, Megan, Meghan, Kristen, and Elina.

We had talked about going to Coppa at Taste of the Nation and once we heard that Coppa was starting to take reservations, Elina got straight to work on finding a date and time that works for six super busy women. It took us several emails and a few weeks to figure it out, but last Thursday night’s dinner was worth the wait.

During the course of three hours (and three rounds of ordering off the menu), we laughed, ate, laughed, drank and laughed some more. I seriously can’t remember a more enjoyable meal. Of course, much to the amusement of our patient server, we took photos of everything as well:

I was in the mood to celebrate...
so I started with a glass of prosecco.

The house charcuterie plate was the perfect start to the evening.
P.S. I really want this cutting board!

Meatballs Alforno were moist and super flavorful.

Chicken liver crostini was one of my favorite plates. 
I couldn't get enough!

The cured tuna belly and anchovy was a tad too salty for me.

The trophie con pesto was a crowd-pleaser.
This is a generous half-portion but a full-portion is also available.

The table then moved onto a bottle of rose.

This black cod with burrata was a special for the evening. 
I loved the house burrata!

This wood-fired pizza had tomato, spicy pork sausage and ricotta (sans red onion).

The wood-oven roasted pig tail with mostarda was delightful.

The spaghetti alla carbonara was a little underwhelming.
This modern take was too far away from the traditional dish.

I insisted that we order some vegetables!
The roasted asparagus with poached farm egg was, however, a tad salty.

We then moved onto a bottle of sparkling rose.

I was dubious about the chocolate-covered foie gras with macerated strawberries.
But in the end, I was one of the few fans of this dish!

The marinated mushrooms were simple but perfect.

We couldn't resist a good cheese plate.

And our only true sour note for the evening was the burnt bread pudding.

After several bottles of wine, Meghan, Kristen and I headed to Delux Café to close out the night. And Kristen and I may have closed out Delux too. I was definitely in a celebratory mood and I was glad to share such a happy evening with such good friends.

Thank you to Elina for organizing this wonderful dinner!

Coppa is located at 253 Shawmut Avenue, Boston, MA.