Real Italian Gusto Medford

Real Italian Gusto in Medford opened a year ago and to celebrate, the owners Matteo and Francesca Ronzio, had invited us to a Boston's Food Writer and Taste Maker's Dinner. Everything is made fresh and they import much of their ingredients from Italy. Both Matteo and Francesca are native to Italy, Matteo from Florence and Francesca from Naples. Medford has fallen off my radar after they introduced their infernal parking meters. Parking is free after 6:00 PM. They should take a hint from Waltham where the mayor removed all the parking meters and I'm much more inclined to visit Waltham now.

The foyer was filled with beautiful people when I arrived. I thought I knew most of the bloggers in Boston, but I only recognized two other writers. There were Bellinis and Mimosas to be had at the small bar up front.

The interior is very sleek and modern and the dining room is simply beautiful.

Of course, they have a gas fired pizza oven imported from Italy that cooks the pizza in seconds. Well, almost. Our fresh pasta was waiting.

The dining room was filled with charming touches like the wine racks and the clock you can see here.

We started with some antipasti. A nice salad and the TAGLIERE SALUMI "tasting of a mix of cold cuts" was of the highest quality.

The O'CUOPPO "Mozzarella sticks, arancini small croquette, fried polenta, fried vegetables and fried dough" looked really good and I only tried the arancini and it was excellent with the rice cooked just right.

Two of several pizzas that was available. The MARGHERITA (left) "Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella, Tomatoes, Basil, Parmiggiano" is a classic and was very good. The MEZZALUNA (right) "Mozzarella, ricotta, salami, tomato sauce, prosciutto, arugula, parmigiano" was seriously delicious. The crust was very light and thin and Matteo said it was very low on calories. Excellent pizzas.

Pasta time. To the left, we have Rigatoni Pesto, the pesto was well balanced and, of course, the pasta was perfectly cooked. To the right, we have Pappardelle Alla Bolognese. The pasta was thin and super silky and the bolognese was very palatable. The best pasta I have had in a long time.

Sausage with Polenta. The sausage was very good as was the sauce. I'm sure the polenta was excellent, everyone around the table seemed happy with it, but I have never liked polenta and I don't think I will, regardless how well it's made. I did eat some with the sausage and sauce but it's not for me.

Time for dessert and it was Cannolis all over the place. Crispy shells with super smooth ricotta cheese inside. What's wrong with pizza for dessert? Calzone Alla Nutella was delicious. What a pleasant meal this was. I must say that everything was top notch from the interior to the flatware and silverware to the hospitality. Just look at those beautiful plates we had. They are open for dinner six days a week (closed Mondays) and serve lunch on Fridays and Saturdays. I usually grumble when fellow bloggers don't have business cards, so of course, I promptly ran out of mine.

Disclaimer: I was invited to this event but all opinions are my own.

Address 24 High Street Medford, MA 02155 
Phone Number 781-396-1656