I love trying new restaurants I hear about, especially when one is touted as "a modern version of the classic lunch counter." The idea of combining lunch counter-dining with great food is brilliant. So I had high hopes for Barbara Lynch's new Italian concept Sportello on Congress St. in Boston. Although Sportello does indeed look like a lunch counter--with main seating at one snaking counter; diners sitting on round plastic stools, facing the open efficiency kitchen area--there is no nostalgia here.
As you would expect from a Barbara Lynch creation, the food is very high quality. From the salad of farmers market greens to the house-made cookies and the appealing crema on top of my de-caf coffee, everything is well-prepared and well-presented.
But the camaraderie of a diner--the rapport anyone who walks in can immediately establish with the guy on the next stool, the kind of ephemeral intimacy lunch counter-dining inspires--is missing. It's a true 20-something domain if ever there was one. Like cell phones, iPods, and text-messaging, Sportello keeps customers apart despite elbow-to-elbow dining.
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