Fiorella's (Newton, MA)

Fiorella's in Newton has been around for 15 years; the owner was only 23 when they opened. The restaurant used to be half the size and had since expanded to include the bar area. This restaurant has a lot of local following - it's off the beaten path and can be a little hard to find at first, but people keep returning and I went to find out why along with a group of other Boston bloggers.

Before sitting down for dinner, we mingled over a glass of Blueberry Smash, made with bourbon and blueberry simple syrup.

The new bar area

We shared some appetizers to start: Arancini (large crisp risotto ball stuffed with mozzarella cheese, served with their signature marinara sauce, $7)

A nice dish that also showcases their marinara sauce. It's quite a comforting dish with the melted cheese and the hearty sauce.


Antipasto board. Among these I enjoyed the parmacotto ham, marinated artichoke hearts and the marinated Japanese eggplants.

We also had a plate of various fried appetizers, including Calamari Fritti, Toasted Ravioli (breaded ravioli filled with a delicious blend of cheese, fried until crisp), Stuffed Peppers Parmigiana (red peppers stuffed with DePasquale’s hot Italian sausage, pepperoni, risotto, a blend of ricotta, parmesan & pecorino romano cheese, topped with marinara sauce & melted mozzarella)

My favorite from this plate was the stuffed peppers, which weren't that spicy but had a nice kick to it.

Fiorella's offers both flatbreads and pizza. We tried both including the mushroom & truffle flatbread and the margherita pizza. The mushroom flatbread is topped with Crimini mushroom, prosciutto, and fontina cheese, drizzled with truffle oil

We ordered our own entrees but I shared with another blogger so I can try more, starting with the Fusilli Bolognese (veal, beef, and pork bolognese braised and simmered with diced carrots, onion, celery, crushed tomatoes in a red wine tomato sauce, $15).

As you can see, fusilli a corkscrew-shaped pasta and it's one of the fresh, handmade pastas that Fiorella's offers. The handmade fusilli was great, this bolognese was a simple but excellent plate of pasta. 

Veal Parmigiana ($19). This is normally served with linguini but I wanted to try another of their handmade pasta so I substituted the handmade fettucine.

The veal was quite tender. It was topped with mozzarella and more of that marinara.

For dessert, we had a choice of cannoli or tiramisu, and obviously I opted for tiramisu. I can't say no to tiramisu.

I liked the version here, it was moist and had just the proper ratio of all the ingredients. A nicely balanced tiramisu.


The restaurant also sells their signature marinara sauce in jars! They gave us all one, which should help me make some quick delicious dinners in the future.

While Newton is their primary location, Fiorella's has three Express locations featuring mainly take out and delivery versions of the same classic Italian dishes. The Express locations are in Brighton, Belmont, and Cambridge.

Fiorella's
187 North St
Newton, MA 02460
(617) 969-9990
http://www.fiorellasnewton.com/


Disclosure: This meal was hosted