A higher bar
Cocktails, beer shaping the scene in North End
Anew cocktail and beer culture is shaking up the drinking scene in one of America’s great restaurant communities.
Boston’s North End has been a beloved tourist and date-night dining destination for decades. It’s a world-class place for fine wine, decadent pastries and delicious Italian fare — all of it available in a haven of narrow streets and hidden alleyways that give tourists from the Midwest a true taste of Europe right here in America.
The cocktail-and-beer scene has long been its weak link, however, overshadowed by trendsetting boites in the South End, Cambridge and Kenmore Square. Serious drinks people did not take the North End, well, seriously.
“If you wanted great wine, the North End was the place to be. Otherwise, not so much,” said Mike Paquette, a Boston fine-dining restaurant veteran and now bar manager at small but spiffy new Aqua Pazza in the former Mare space on Richmond Street.
Beer in the North End typically meant bland, industrial Italian-brewed lagers such as Moretti and Peroni. Not the stuff for today’s sophisticated beer consumer. The booze scene was fueled by the acquired taste of grappa served straight up after dinner.
But Paquette and a handful of progressive young restaurateurs with North End street cred are fueling its beer-andcocktail ascendancy.
The North End got its first legit new-wave drinking bar in 2013 when Ward 8 opened on North Washington Street, serving classic cocktails and world-class beers.
The North End drinking scene has accelerated since, with the opening of craft-beer-centric eateries such as Ducali and Rocco’s Cucina; and more recently Parla, which features American whiskey and Kentucky barn wood decor; and the opening this spring of both Aqua Pazza and North Square Oyster, the latter from the team behind Ward 8. Longtime North End dining landmarks such as Lucca have recently upgraded their bar programs. “Young North End residents are looking for something more than just what’s been the norm of the past 100 years,” said Mike Wyatt, a North End resident and general manager for both Ward 8 and North Square Oyster. His drinks program at North Square Oyster features New England-distilled spirits and Bay State-brewed beer and ciders. Aqua Pazza does not serve hard alcohol, only cordials. Guests enjoy creative cordial cocktails such as Spuma alla Pesca (Peach Foam), with sparkling rose topped by white peach prosecco foam; the Piazza del Nord (North Square), a sort of Manhattan made with amaro instead of bourbon; and Il Mulo di Amalfi (the Mule of Amalfi), Paquette’s interpretation of a Moscow mule mixed with citronflavored cordial Acqua di Cedro instead of vodka.
Old-school Italian lagers, meanwhile, have been replaced by newwave Italian craft beers from breweries such as Baladin and Birrificio Rurale, plus locally made suds such as Goody Two Shoes Kolsch from Exhibit A Brewing Co. in Framingham.
Paquette says his cordial-and-beer bar scene is consistent with both traditional and contemporary Italian drinking.
“They don’t make vodka or gin in Italy,” he said. “They make cordials, which are the star of the show. And the beer scene in Rome is really taking shape, which is awesome for those of us who love great beer.”