Tasting Italy in Caffé Vittoria

Italy never tasted sweeter with a freshly baked canola and a hot cappuccino topped with cocoa powder. This sub-forty Boston day, giving baystaters their first taste of winter, is beginning to look up.

I’m new to the Little Italy scene, but the vibe of this cafe sings Italia from front to back. Italy vs. Argentina glide across soccer field on the café’s two flat screen TV’s while the life sized espresso machines hum in the background. A huddle of thick leather clad men nosh on canoli’s in the back while the rest of the café is populated by a mix of young and old Italian Americans enjoying gourmet coffee and freshly baked goods after work.

The menu is not one for sustenance but if it gets any colder I’d certainly dive into they’re “specialty coffee drinks”. The “Caffe Vittoria” crowns the menu as it is comprised of coffee with kahlua, brandy, and tiramisu liquor. It’s if canoli’s and tiramisu aren’t enough there’s also yellow cream savoi, vanilla caked with Bavarian cream and almonds, or twenty different flavors of gelato.

While Boston is a small city, one of the qualities that sets it apart is the essence of each of its neighborhoods. Every area has its own flavor, and the North End’s Italian sector is a refreshing change from the pubs of Blackstone. Grazi Caffe Vittoria, I shall certainly be back.