Phenomenal Italian food and a wine bar too!!! Piattini Boston

We were in search of good authentic Italian food in the Back Bay and we hit the jackpot.  Piattini not only has fantastic Italian food it is also a wine bar.  Many passing its location on Newbury street may miss that it has Italian food because it sells itself as a wine bar, but that is just selling this restaurant short.   This restaurant/wine bar is elegant and cozy, the perfect place to meet friends or colleagues or to have a romantic dinner.
They do have an extensive selection of wines in all categorizes to suite every palate.  You can have the wine solo or if you are ordering dinner, each entree has a white and red paring suggestion in parenthesis next to it!  Very helpful and ingenious!
Once we placed our beverage order, our very attentive waiter, brought us  the bread.  It was  perfect, crusty on the outside and warm and soft on the inside.  Olive oil was provided for dipping as well.  I had to contain myself so that I didn't ruin my dinner eating too much bread!
I ordered the Rigatoni Agnello.  Wow!   Slow cooked lamb ragu over rigatoni!  I was in heaven.  Usually, I like a lot of Parmesan sprinkle over my pasta but that wasn't necessary here.  The lamb was soft and the sauce was rich highlighting the sweetness of the tomato to balance the lamb.  Here is my entree:

The suggested red wine paring was Shoofly Shiraz.   The wine came with an index card with all the wine's origin, makeup and description.  

My colleague ordered the Risotto al Tartufo and was kind enough to share some with me!   I have had my share of risotto over the years, some good, some bad.  This entree was great!  The risotto was firm  but tender, cooked perfect.  The sauce was cream based but not too rich.  I could have eaten her whole dish as well !

How pretty is that dish!  The entrees were flavorful  and creative, such as the Risotto Gamberetti with asparagus or the Penne con zucca (This one was amazing!  Penne pasta with butternut squash and gorgonzola cheese in an apple cider sauce with roasted chicken).  You could also get an assortment of small plates, hot or cold, such as the Melazane Affunicate (eggplant with tomatoes and parmesan-see below) or caprese or arranchini.  Needless to say, I was definately a happy girl that night!

Risotto Gamberetti

Melanzane Affumicate