Critic Finds Italian Traditions and American Whimsy in South Boston

“Beautifully Executed” Pastas and More

MC Slim JB reviews Karen Akunowicz’s new South Boston enoteca Fox & the Knife for the Improper Bostonian this week, digging into the full spread of Italian dishes, from aperitivo hour through dinner and dessert. Starting dinner with the house-made focaccia, “lasciviously oozing melted taleggio,” and easing into a “genius reinvention” of a Caesar salad, Slim also samples the pasta dishes, which he calls “sensibly sized, original, and beautifully executed.”

He “swoons” over a spaghetti con vongole and praises the texture of the mafaldine alla funghi. The harissa-braised agnello is “gently spicy,” pretty, and rich, and the desserts delight, he writes. Overall, Akunowicz and her team provide “a thoroughly enjoyable take on northern Italian cuisine that is at once firmly grounded in tradition but not averse to occasional flights of American whimsy.”

• Foxy Ladies [IB]