Lunch at The Salty Pig

One recent Saturday after a training run I was hungry, but wasn't sure exactly what I wanted. There's no lack of great restaurants in Boston, and any new-to-me place would fit the bill. Then I saw something I've never seen before - a restaurant called The Salty Pig. The restaurant opened in July, and is located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. How I haven't heard of it will always be a mystery...

The Salty Pig makes what it was named after: salty pig parts. The menu boasts various pork products such as Porchetta, Speck and Jamon Serrano.

Seated on the seasonal outdoor patio, we started out with beers, as post-long run hydration is very important to me. Great beer list at Salty Pig, I was impressed with the selection of local and seasonal beers. I had an Allagash White (or two).

We started with a charcuterie platter on the lunch menu called the Mix-Up. Presented on a wooden board, this platter contained bresola, soppressata, robiola due latte (Italian soft cheese), comte forte St-Antone (cow's milk French cheese), pickles, grilled Iggy's bread and seasonal greens with a honey basil dressing.

Mix-Up Charcuterie platter

A great started, we decided to order two sandwiches to share. I was happy to see that the sandwiches were accompanied by kettle chips. It's not that I don't like fries or a side salad, but chips are perfect with a sandwich.

North End sandwich

Meatball sandwich

It was a good choice sharing both a hot and cold sandwich - two good choices, too. I loved the North End because it had both spicy soppressata and mortadella - as well as arugula (and sandwich green favorite of mine). And, while the meatball sandwich was a little messy to share, it was flavorful and filling. Not smothered in cheese like some meatball subs, the garlicky pork meatballs were the star of the sandwich.

It was a lovely lunch and it reminded me of one I had almost a year ago in Chicago at The Purple Pig. Great company, pork and drinks. In any city, at any time, that's all you really need.

One thing with the dinner menu that we missed out on was where the charcuterie plates can be "mixed and matched"  to create personalized boards. The sections are appropriately named "Salty Pig Parts, Stinky Cheese, and Round Out the Plate." Very fun.