A3 in Kingston
IN THE KITCHEN
If you live in the suburbs, you might not have a family-style eatery nearby that’s consistently good enough to frequent often like people do in many cities, especially European ones. But Boston’s suburban dining scene gets better every year, and Kingston took a step in that direction with the opening in 2017 of chef-owner John Cataldi’s A3. Named after the stretch of motorway in Southern Italy where Cataldi’s great-grandparents were born, A3 is the chef’s shot at reliving his childhood in the late ’60s.
“I grew up in my father’s first restaurant, Nanina’s in Fields Corner in Dorchester, eating with the whole family — my sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins all together,” said Cataldi. The chef, who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, makes all A3’s pizza dough, bread, bacon, sausage, pasta, and dressings just as he’s been doing since 2004 at his first restaurant, Solstice, right next door. Whereas Solstice is more of a fine dining spot with an elaborately creative American menu, A3 is casual, but the same attention to detail is there on the plate at both restaurants.
“We’re not trying to be Northern Italian,” said Cataldi. “We’re more of a family place that makes Italian-American food: simple dishes done right with a little bit more care than most places are willing to do.”
THE LOCALE
Cataldi sure found himself a great spot for A3. It’s adjacent to Solstice in downtown Kingston, although the buildings couldn’t be more different. Solstice is set back off the road in Kingston’s beautiful old train station, and A3 is a white, single-story building right on the street. Its only signage is the digits A and 3 etched on its windows. If you don’t see it, just turn in at the sign for Solstice, which shares the same driveway entrance.
The 38-seat space is a very pretty, bright, pleasing room with windows on two sides, wooden floors and tables, white tin ceiling squares, crisp white subway tiles, and yellow pendant lighting. There are high-top tables and countertop seating along the front window and overlooking the pizza ovens and kitchen. Center stage is a big 16-seat island with chairs on all four sides — perfect for a girls’ soccer team having pizza on a recent Thursday night.
ON THE MENU
A3 bills itself as a “pizza pasta parm” place, but there are also several types of crostini, meatballs, fried mozzarella, real salads with good protein add-ons, and a big antipasto plate. The margherita pizza ($19.50) has a terrific thin crust, and I love that Cataldi makes the big pie with both fresh and aged mozzarella. Order it perhaps with a side of his great meatballs ($10), which have a comforting, light texture. They’re served three to a plate topped with a dollop of whipped ricotta and served with a slice of toasted cheese bread. A3’s Caesar salad ($10.75) is a reminder of why this simple dish is a classic. The dressing is light (Cataldi also bottles it for sale), the croutons are made from homemade bread, and it’s dusted with fluffy, freshly grated Parmesan cheese. You can really bite into the strozzaprete pasta in the carbonara ($18), its creamy sauce made with house-made bacon and a sprinkling of bread crumbs. The shrimp scampi has a mild creamy sauce that’s topped with four perfectly cooked extra large shrimp. One of the things that makes A3 so good is a professionalism that gives the kitchen a consistency you can count on. That’s key.
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