La Padrona Is One of Boston’s Best Italian Restaurants | Eater Boston

"A glittering, ritzy Italian restaurant inside the luxury hotel Raffles in Back Bay, this spot made waves almost instantly after opening in May 2024; it was Eater Boston’s Best New Restaurant in 2024 and landed on the New York Times’ 2025 restaurant list. Spearheaded by chef Jody Adams, with Amarilys Colon, the menu fuses Italian classics prepared with precision and seasonal New England flavors, taking diners through regional specialties from Puglia pasta traditions to Tuscany’s showstopper bistecca alla fiorentina. I recommend the chickpea spoon bread—roasted squash, black currant agrodolce, and gorgonzola piccante folded into pillowy soft bread, served warm in a mini cast-iron skillet—and the lobster and uni risotto with caramelized fennel, tomato, and chives; a less pricey and just-as-delicious alternative, the tagliatelle Emilia-Romagna, bursts with a mound of creamy, cheesy, saucy pasta drizzled with aged balsamic, and the grilled sweet farm peppers, marinated in creamy tonnato, get an expected flavor punch from tangy anchovies that cut the sweetness of the peppers and the black currant agrodolce just right. Calling all extra filthy martini lovers: the salty truffle martini—an ice-cold glass of black truffle–infused vodka and olive brine—arrives elegantly with a cocktail pick full of ricotta-Parmigiano and black truffle–stuffed olives resting on their own little chilling tray; there are six different martinis on the cocktail menu. I treat it as a splurgy, special-occasion destination; go early to snag a bar seat or a quieter, more intimate atmosphere, since the room gets busier and veers sceney as the night goes on—an earlier Monday dinner feels romantic, while a later Thursday skews nightlife." - Celina Colby