B A T T L E F O O D: Giacomo's (Boston)

In September, I went on a month long trip to Boston for an away rotation. Of course, I went to many different joints, located everywhere from South End to Brookline to Cambridge. I'll have all those up later in a dedicated Boston blog, but I had to give this particular restaurant its own blog. Why? Because I own this blog, and I can do whatever I want.

Giacomo's has two locations, one located in South End and one located in North End. People in the know say that the North End site is better, and curiously has a slightly different menu as well, so we went there around opening time at 5:00 PM. By this time, a line had already formed around the corner. "What gives?" I asked my cousin, the person who had originally turned me on to this little gem of a place. Apparently, Giacomo's does not take reservations, and it operates solely under a first-come, first-serve basis. Pretty arrogant, huh? Well, if they keep serving this type of food, I'd eat in the nude if they wanted me to.

After about an hour of waiting, we were finally taken inside the restaurant. As I entered, I was smacked across the face with the incredible aroma of spice, olive oil, freshly cooked pasta, and sex. Okay, not the last one. But it was so good, I literally could have eaten the scent of this place.

Making decisions on what to eat in a place like this is like choosing between children, but I managed to finally make a decision. I ordered mussels in Giacomo sauce, a spicy, slightly briny red sauce that took me by surprise with how much flavor it packed. You see, I am not easily impressed by red sauces. I'm just not a fan of tomatoes. But believe me when I tell you that I could have showered in this stuff. As for the main course, I ordered "butternut squash ravioli with diced asparagus in a prosciutto mascarpone cheese cream sauce." I was like Usher saying oh my god. Texture, flavor, aroma, portion size, balance...all done to perfection. And if that weren't enough, I tasted my cousin's fried calamari and lobster ravioli, which were all so luscious. Oh my god.

Friends, let me introduce to you only the second perfect rating ever given out in Battlefood history. Hooray!