Bar Cino
Ultra-thin Grilled Pizzas. Extra hearty Bolognese. And light fluffy Tiramisu. If that’s your kind of meal, Bar Cino is your kind of restaurant.
With locations in Brookline, Newport Rhode Island, and this one in the heart of Watertown Square, Bar Cino strives to be that go to neighborhood spot. In fact, the name loosely translates to ‘neighborhood bar’, and according to General Manager Bryan Parkin, that comfortable come-as-you-are vibe is what they’re all about here.
Bryan Parkin – GM, Bar Cino: “We’re meant to be an informal eating and drinking establishment that is very bar centric. But very neighborhood centric as well. We want people to be able to come in and feel comfortable dining however they’d like, whether it's with their family, or whether it's a date night with just the two of them, or whether it's yourself and you want to grab a beer and pizza at the bar.”
That big bar is the centerpiece of the space, and there’s lots of exposed brick and local art throughout.
Bryan Parkin – GM, Bar Cino: “It's a beautiful and fun space. It's incredibly lively, and everybody's very engaging with each other while they're here.”
There’s also a busy open kitchen, where the chefs are in perpetual motion, slicing, stretching, sautéing, simmering, and serving scratch made Italian comfort food.
Bryan Parkin – GM, Bar Cino: “It feels comfortable. It feels like you're eating in your grandmother's Italian kitchen.”
Much of the menu at Bar Cino is designed to transport you straight to a restaurant in Italy, with items like a carefully crafted antipasto that goes well beyond meat and cheese with additions like tomatoes, olives, and marinated white beans. Or the light and crispy Potato Chips with Garlic Aioli.
Bryan Parkin – GM, Bar Cino: “We don't think of potato chips as like an Italian dish, right? But if you're in northern Italy, and you're having a cocktail, like you have a basket of potato chips. It's reminiscent of being in Verona and having Aperol Spritz, and having just a little bite to eat with it.”
Other light bites include Bar Cino’s Bruschetta, with toppings like confit tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, or prosciutto, fig jam, and goat cheese.
Bryan Parkin – GM, Bar Cino: “The Prosciutto Bruschetta it’s awesome. The fig jam is like sweet and a little savory. The goat cheese is just the right amount of tanginess and twang. And then the prosciutto is just like incredibly thinly sliced, just kind of laid over top of it, nice richness and saltiness to the dish.”
For something a bit heartier, order the Braised Meatballs.
Bryan Parkin – GM, Bar Cino: “We make the meatballs in house. It’s a mixture of ground sausage and ground beef. with a really really rich pomodoro sauce. It's put on top of herbed ricotta. So you have that richness from the sauce but the acidity from the tomatoes and that mellowness from the ricotta. It's awesome. It's an awesome dish.”
The team at Bar Cino is especially proud of their Rhode Island Style Grilled Pizza, made with a delicious olive oil infused dough.
Bryan Parkin – GM, Bar Cino: “They’re super thin, pretty light toppings, it’s meant to be that way, the dough is really the star of the show. They eat really well and if we want to be known for one food item, we want to be known for our pizza.”
And whether you go for the simple Margherita, or the decadent prosciutto, arugula, fig, and gorgonzola, they’re all served with scissors, making for a deliciously interactive experience.
Bryan Parkin – GM, Bar Cino: “We serve it with shears to be able to cut it whatever shape you want. I tell guests when they look at me and they’re like ‘what do I do?’ I say, ‘it’s like when you were a kid, it’s shapes, make whatever shape you want.’ You want a small piece just to try it, and the rest of the table can have the rest of it, you can do that. But the pizza is where it's at.”
The entrees at Bar Cino showcase plenty of comfort food favorites. Like Chianti-Marsala Braised Beef Short Rib, or a Whole Roasted Lemon-Scented Chicken that Bryan says should not be overlooked.
Bryan Parkin – GM, Bar Cino: “What I tell people is, I’m like, ‘it sounds so lame of me to tell you that this is delicious right now, because it's chicken. But it's not lame, it's awesome.”
Of course a good Italian restaurant is only as good as its Bolognese, and this version is a must try.
Bryan Parkin – GM, Bar Cino: “We use a mixture of ground pork, and ground veal, and ground beef. San Marzano tomatoes it all gets cooked for hours and hours, till it gets this really rich, decadent sauce, it gets tossed with a really high quality rigatoni that we use. It is by far the most popular pasta that we have. It is so simple, yet so delicious.”
For dessert, there is the always popular Tiramisu.
Bryan Parkin – GM, Bar Cino: “It's light. It's fluffy. It's like eating into a delicious sweet pillow.”
But for something a little different, check out the Pistachio Ricotta Cake.
Bryan Parkin – GM, Bar Cino: “The Pistachio Ricotta Cake is my favorite dessert that we have. It’s a layer of sponge cake, a layer of pistachio cream, another layer of sponge cake, and another layer of pistachio cream. A little bit of powdered sugar, some fresh whipped cream and some chopped pistachios on it. It's like not too sweet. It's just a decadent bite of dessert that everybody likes.”
And Bar Cino is simply striving to be the kind of restaurant that everybody likes.
Bryan Parkin – GM, Bar Cino: “If you want to come into a fun lively atmosphere, and have an engaging meal with top quality products, incredible service, come try us. We will not disappoint.”
