BostonChefs.com - Boston restaurant guide to the best Boston restaurants
 
Cookbooks by Bosotn Chefs

The Basics: Davio's - Boston restaurant information

Davio's - Boston

75 Arlington Street
Boston, MA 02116
617-357-4810

Davio's - Boston restaurant information
Share Davio's - Boston share on LinkedIn share on Twitter share on Facebook

In their spacious digs in the Paine Furniture Building in Park Square, Davio’s, Boston’s only Northern Italian Steakhouse, offers an extensive menu of the finest seafood and the best meats available. With its high ceilings, majestic columns and floor to ceiling windows overlooking Arlington and Stuart Streets, the dining room’s urbane sophistication remains true to the integrity of this landmark Back Bay space.

The 9,000 square foot space also features an enormous display kitchen complete with an in-house bakery, a temperature-controlled wine room housing more than 300 bottles, and a myriad of private dining rooms for parties from ten to 100.

News and Events at Davio's - Boston restaurant

Get Your Tickets for Chefs in Shorts
June 22nd may seem a ways off but your savvy, foodie friends are already reserving their spots at this year ...

Taste of the Nation 2012
Share Our Strength, the national non-profit which aims to end childhood hunger in America, is once again bringing the Taste ...

Straight Outta Umbria
On Tuesday, April 10th, the winemakers of Scacciadiavoli Winery are coming to Davio's, bringing with them knowledge and a ...

Tom Ponticelli

Pastry Chef at Davio's - Boston

Chef Tom Ponticelli at Davio's - Boston

In addition to running the bakery at Avila Modern Mediterranean, Tom Ponticelli is also the pastry chef at Davio's. Unlike many in his field, Ponticelli's first calling was not food. Ponticelli, a native of Massachusetts, earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1970 in English Literature from St. Anslem College in Manchester, New Hampshire.

He then went on to earn his graduate degree at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. Not truly of the librarian mindset, Ponticelli realized that creative cooking was more to his liking and in 1973, switched careers by applying for a job in the kitchen of a restaurant. He remained in Iowa until 1979, working his way up in a variety of positions including waiter, Baker, Assistant Chef and Head Chef.

In 1979, Ponticelli, eager to return home in order to be near his family, assumed the position of Head Chef at the Monadnock Inn in Jaffrey Center, New Hampshire. Always learning new tricks of the trade along the way, Ponticelli realized his fondness for food was especially inventive when working with pastries and desserts.

In 1983, he began working at Il Dolce Momento in Boston, an Italian and European café featuring fresh baked pastries, breads and desserts. Here, Ponticelli worked with a third generation ice cream master from Florence, Italy and learned techniques for making fine gelato, sorbetto and regional Italian desserts. In 1985, an opportunity to work in the kitchen at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston was just too good to pass up and Ponticelli began as a pastry cook then worked his way up to Pastry Chef in 1992; a position he would hold for ten years. During his tenure as Pastry Chef, the Four Seasons Hotel Boston, and its famed restaurant Aujourd'hui, garnered a five diamond and five star rating.

Wanting a change after seventeen years in the same pastry kitchen, in 2002 Ponticelli was curious to hear about the possibility of working for the new, large Davio's restaurant which was under construction around the corner from the Four Seasons Hotel. After meeting with owner Steve DiFillippo and reviewing plans for the expansive kitchen and separate bakery complete with a large public viewing window, Ponticelli knew he found a new home where his creativity could flourish.

Ponticielli is excited about his expanded role of running the two separate bakeries. "I enjoy working in the busy atmosphere - I've never seen a restaurant so busy - I love it! I've also been afforded a great staff in both restaurants. I enjoy nurturing, just as I have been taught along the way," he stated. Ponticelli lives with his wife and two teenage sons in Braintree.

  • food
  • chef
  • info
 
 
Dictionary
 
Aïoli
1. noun A blend of ail (garlic) and oli (oil) in the parlance of the Provence region of southern France. Around here, we'd call it a garlic mayonnaise.
Brioche
1. noun A soft, yeasty French bread enriched with butter and eggs.
Champ
1. noun An Irish favorite of mashed potatoes, green onions and butter.
Chanterelle
1. noun A wild and nutty mushroom with a trumpet-shaped head.
Choucroute
1. noun French-style sauerkraut, cooked with goose fat, onions, white wine, and juniper berries or caraway seeds.
Cipollini
1. noun Small, yellowish onions that add sweet and savory accents to cooked dishes.
Crostini
1. noun The Italian word for "little toasts" (referring to bread, not grappa).
Foie gras
1. noun Expensive, silk-textured goose or duck liver that has been enlarged by a process you don't want to read about if you're going to eat this dish.
Gratin
1. noun Any dish covered with cheese or buttered breadcrumbs and baked or broiled.
Mâche
1. noun Dark, tangy greens used most often in salads.
Pancetta
1. noun Cured Italian bacon.
Panna cotta
1. noun Egg-less Italian custard.
Pâté
1. noun Ground meat, fish or vegetables blended with fat and seasonings; can be smooth or chunky, served cold or hot.
Pâte
1. noun French for dough, paste or batter.
Polenta
1. noun A slow-cooked cornmeal porridge popular in northern Italy; can be served soupy or firm, sometimes fried.
Prix fixe
1. noun French for fixed price, a complete meal that features a limited number of selections at a preset price.
Risotto
1. noun Italian dish made from rice cooked by intermittently adding small amounts of stock or broth. Other ingredients are added as required.
Semolina
1. noun Very coarse flour used to make pizza and bread. Also refers to rounded parts of wheat used to make a pudding of the same name.
Tagliatelle
1. noun What they call fettuccine born in northern Italy.
Tartare
1. noun Ground or finely chopped, seasoned raw meat (traditionally beef). May or may not come mounded, and with a raw egg.