quick bite: brunch at SRV

April 15, 2021

One of my favorite restaurants in Boston is SRV. I love the creativity and execution of their menu. The atmosphere of the dining room and the back patio is charming through and through. The Groundhog Day reference that accompanies “Vermouth of the Day” on the menu makes me smile every time I read it. I was a little sad when they went on winter break during the pandemic and excited once they returned from the hiatus. To celebrate their reopening, I joined them for Sunday brunch last weekend. Although I’m going to briefly walk you through the meal, their menu changes often, so if any of these dishes sound amazing, go now.

We started with three cicchetti, small bites, barely larger than an amuse bouche. The first was a fava bean crostini, then stuffed cabbage, and last “Vitello Tonnato Tramezzini.” The rich, two-bite cabbages stuffed with a beautiful, green spring onion risotto were fantastic. Even better were the veal finger sandwiches with a tuna sauce, “Vitello Tonnato Tramezzini.” The gently fried veal was almost as light as the choux it was served on. A remarkable bite that should not be missed.

Next came baked eggs served in a spicy tomato sauce along with cauliflower and polenta. I suggest eating them with a generous side of bacon. If you aren’t in the mood for eggs, you can just go straight to the rabbit rigatoni. This dish was incredible. If you haven’t had rabbit before start here. You will find tender rabbit tossed with a beautiful pasta in a creamy sauce. The rabbit is perfectly cooked and fava bean puree dots the top to balance out the richness of the sauce. Fortunately, this dish is also available at dinner and I highly recommend trying it before it moves off the menu.

Before we dug into dessert, we went back to the cicchetti menu for one more small bite. This time we got two delicious meatballs. It’s a little family tradition to have meatballs just before dessert, or sometimes after dessert, or sometimes both. The SRV meatballs, which I have had before, are excellent. The little balls of ground pork and beef are lightly packed and, like all their other meat, incredibly tender. The only down side is not having bread to get every last bite of tomato sauce.

Brunch wrapped up with an enormous bowl of tiramisu, big, really big. It certainly shouldn’t be eaten by one person, even though I nearly did. The sweet marsala really comes through and made it especially to my liking. The cream was luxurious and the layers were well preserved. It went wonderfully with a glass of Nocino from the lengthy amaro list.

Brunch at SRV was delicious, but in reality I gravitated back to dinner menu items. Whether I go for brunch or dinner, I want the veal, the rabbit, and the tiramisu. Anytime of day, you can’t go wrong with that meal. It is without a doubt one of the best meals at one of the best restaurants in Boston.