What to order at Fox & the Knife in Southie

Eating places

Chef-owner Karen Akunowicz shares her can’t-miss menu objects from this South Boston hotspot.

Opened in February 2019, Fox & the Knife is a pioneer of elevated eating within the South Boston neighborhood. It was additionally the primary solo restaurant from Chef Karen Akunowicz, who made a reputation for herself in Boston and past when she earned the title of James Beard Basis’s Greatest Chef within the Northeast in 2018 whereas she was govt chef at Myers + Chang. 

Tucked off the nook of West Broadway and Dorchester Avenue, Fox & the Knife welcomes diners into a comfy Amaro-centric bar and a menu showcasing conventional Italian meals impressed by Chef Akunowicz’s yr of residing in Modena. “From Torino to Napoli, I at all times knew that once I opened my very own restaurant it will be consultant of my time there,” shares Akunowicz, who introduced that dream to life greater than a decade later. 

Although it’s since been joined by a collection of stylish overhauls within the neighborhood, together with Akunowicz’s second restaurant, Bar Volpe, simply 2.5 blocks down the road; right now, Fox & the Knife nonetheless shines as a beacon of culinary brilliance in Southie. Each a neighborhood favourite and vacation spot for these touring from afar, it’s usually difficult to discover a reservation on any given weekend, although the restaurant does reserve house for walk-ins and the bar is first come, first serve. 

The wait is value it although for dishes like the entire fish with salsa verde and tagliatelle bolognese – right here’s what to order throughout your subsequent meal at Fox & the Knife immediately from Chef Akunowicz herself. 

Starters and Small Bites

Fried chili chickpeas

Typically missed for the plethora of starches out there all through Italy, chickpeas are a key ingredient in a preferred road meals from the north to south. In Liguria, farinata is a fried savory pancake and in Sicily, panelle is served as bite-sized fritters. At Fox & the Knife, Akunowicz honors the chickpea as a “humble snack,” frying them and tossing them with chili spice beneath the aperitivo menu. “After you have them, you’ll get them organized each single time that you simply are available in,” she shares on the addicting, savory deal with. 

Taleggio Stuffed Focaccia

Oozing with mozzarella and taleggio cheese (a semisoft, sturdy aroma however buttery style) this dish is “what goals are manufactured from,” says Akunowicz. The decadent dish is supposed for sharing, however don’t be stunned if you wish to hoard just a few slices for your self. 

Panzanella di Finocchio

With Tuscan and Umbrian origins, historically, panzanella is a chopped salad of vinegarette-soaked stale bread, onions and tomatoes however at Fox & the Knife, Akunowicz brightens the antipasti recipe with pomegranate and sumac. These distinctive additions “elevate it and take it to a different degree,” she shares of the recent and fruity mixture that’s the good option to begin a meal. 

Tagliatelle Bolognese

A rotating choice of handmade pastas are discovered beneath the “primi” portion of the menu, however Akunowicz’s Bolognese, made with wild boar, thyme and Parmesan Reggiano, is a mainstay. “It’s certainly one of my absolute signature dishes and my favourite pasta dish that I make,” she says. “I might eat this virtually day by day and by no means get uninterested in it.”

Pollo al Mattone

Akunowicz reintroduces diners to sumac on this “secondi” dish of roast rooster ready beneath a brick: “It appears easy however it’s completely ready and melts in your mouth.” The rooster is served in a rosemary brown butter that mouthwateringly combines with the Escarole, which Akunowicz refers to as “the key star” of this dish. 

Pesce Fritto

“I’ll by no means take this dish off the menu,” prefaces Akunowicz of this entire branzino served with salsa verde and pickled lemons. “It has far too many devoted followers and is likely one of the high dishes ordered.”