Getting in touch with my roots

Since I go to Northeastern and live on Mission Hill, it's rare that I make the journey to the North End. I know my grandfather would probably tear up at the mere thought that I don't make regular visits to the neighborhood of our people in the city I now live in, but c'mon Papa, it's not exactly on my side of the tracks. But really, it is sort of a crying shame that I don't go up there all the time, since a) I am super obnoxious about the fact that I am Italian and b) it's just a really awesome place to go. There are dozens of Italian restaurants, pastry shops, cafes and knick knack stores all over the span of just a couple of tiny one-way streets. It's a beautiful place, and, although it does get a lot of tourists, it has so much character. I really should make more trips up there and take pictures just of the area for those of you who have never been there. I know it's not food related, but I feel like it's still necessary for this blog because that way, all of you glorious readers (all 500,000 of you) will get a sneak peak into what warms my heart the most (besides food and...other things).
I've always kind of wanted to live there. If journalism doesn't work out, plan b is to move to the North End and work at a pastry shop or a restaurant where I can brew espresso, recommend wine pairings and mix all kinds of thick, creamy fillings together all day to make the perfect desserts. I'll probably end up doing this anyway when I'm old and gray and officially over the hill and will literally have to stop being a journalist at the risk of going into cardiac arrest.
Anyway, I went there on Friday and decided I would go all out. I figured I might as well, considering it was a treat to go there (although my dad, who supplies my spending money, probably isn't too happy about that...sorry Dad, I start co-op soon...)
We went to a restaurant called Cafe Pompeii, which in all honesty we picked just because it was there and the prices seemed reasonable. I don't remember what my dish was called, but I do remember that I ordered it because it said "chicken" and "prosciutto" in the same sentence.

I'm reading Yelp reviews of this place now, and they're all pretty bad. But I was very happy with this dish. The sauce (wish I knew what it was) was very creamy. The chicken was cooked to perfection and, of course, the prosciutto was amazing. Those little potato-like things over to the left of the plate were crispy, which I appreciated. I don't think they eat things like that in Italy, but hey, I'm not complaining. And the veggies were very good. So Yelp can suck it.
Anyway, after dinner, we went to one of my favorite dessert spots in the North End called Cafe Vittoria. I'm looking at their website right now and learning that this place was actually the first Italian cafe in Boston, which I guess makes them pretty legit. I would definitely say they are, in fact, legit, because their desserts are out of this world.

As you lovely readers know, I'm a big fan of cannolis, so obviously I had to get one. My friend Heidi got that good-looking cappuccino, which was just as scrumptious as it looks. And, of course, the chocolate martini my other friend ordered was out of this world. Chocolate and alcohol are great by themselves, but who could possibly resist the combination of the two?
This place is located right next to Mike's Pastry, which most Bostonians (and tourists) will recognize is arguably the most popular cannoli spot in town. While Mike's' cannolis are very, very good, there usually isn't anywhere to sit, and the shop lacks the intimacy and hospitality Cafe Vittoria offers. For one thing, Cafe has sit-down table service while at Mike's, you have to walk up to the counter and stand around and wait for a table (which you can usually only swipe if you're lucky). I feel like when the line is really long at Mike's, people spill over to Cafe Vittoria as a back-up, which is a shame because their desserts are just as good, if not better than the one's at Mike's. So y'all should definitely check this place out. It's awesome. But watch out, because the prices aren't on the menu, so you may soon find yourself fat and broke if you're not careful :)