New identity, fresh approach

Lucca Back Bay remains true to classy, modern Italian dishes

December 30, 2009|Dining out, Devra First, Globe Staff

When the Italian restaurant Sasso became Lucca Back Bay a few months ago, here’s what changed: approximately nothing. The location is the same. The restaurant looks the same. The owners are still Ted Kennedy and Matthew and Sean Williams, who also run Lucca in the North End. The menu is largely the same. And the chef is still Anthony Mazzotta.

Which is why Lucca Back Bay warrants another look. When the Globe last reviewed the restaurant, as Sasso, chef David Ross was at the helm. He left shortly thereafter, and Mazzotta took over. He’s worked here and there - you know, little places like French Laundry in California and Per Se in New York, as well as Toro in the South End. And he and his staff make very good food, which they serve till late. The regional emphasis of Mazzotta’s menu changes with the seasons, geared more to the hearty foods of Piedmont and Lombardy in the winter, and shifting toward Umbria and Abruzzo in the spring, Sicily and Calabria in the summer, and Sardinia and Lazio in the fall. It’s an intriguing approach. Yet when people talk Italian food, and people do talk Italian food, this spot on the hotel-heavy stretch of Huntington Avenue seldom comes up.

On some nights, it’s fairly empty. On others, particularly around the holidays, it’s crowded with corporate events and tourists staying at the Marriott or the Colonnade who don’t want to brave freezing temperatures in search of dinner. The room is stately, done up in browns, with giant portraits stretching down from the ceiling miles away. A long marble staircase connects to the upstairs kitchen; it looks like an Escher composition. Off to one side, there’s a bar with a warm, clubby vibe. If I were a businessman who wanted to woo other businessmen, this restaurant would be in my arsenal of secret weapons. It’s classy. And it doesn’t hurt that the bartenders make a good spicy martini, goosed with jalapeno-stuffed olives.

Like the decor, the food here is solid yet modern. Caesar salad becomes insalata di Cesare, and much more dashing for it. Goodbye, stodgy Caesar. This deconstructed version offers the dish piece by piece: a wedge of ro maine, deviled egg, and delicious marinated white anchovies.

Tuna tartare features the raw fish formed into a round; it’s mixed with pine nuts, mint, oranges, and radishes. The flavors are light, sophisticated, and balanced. Calamari transcend the usual fried trope, sauteed and very tender; they’re mixed with florets of roasted cauliflower, a surprising and pleasing combination.