Bistro 5
Everybody loves Italian food, right? So here’s an Italian restaurant you should add to your must-visit lie: Bistro 5 in Medford.
Bistro 5 has been serving up super fresh Italian classics for over two decades. It’s a cozy and inviting spot featuring an open kitchen, Italian Carnival inspired artwork on the walls, and a lively bar.
Chef/Owner Vittorio Ettore honors his Italian roots and fresh, local ingredients in all of his dishes. So Bistro 5 has become a neighborhood favorite, a place where you’re not just a guest, you’re more like a member of a club.
“Our menu is influenced by, first an Italian heart. I am from Florence originally, and I continue travel. So every time I travel, there is always a new inspiration. And of course, the ingredients, and our local ingredients especially, are the ones that really, really drive the menu. And that is what sets us apart. Sometimes I joke around the dining room and I go like, Excuse me, are you a member? Because every single table is either our neighbors from here or my neighbors from my house or or, you know, those customers that have been coming here forever. So sometimes I joke around like that because it feels like a club.”
Appetizers at Bistro 5 feature upscale, traditional Italian dishes like the Beef Carpaccio with thinly sliced beef, topped with pickled asparagus, and shaved parmigiano drizzled in a rich black truffle sauce. For something sweet and refreshing, Vittorio recommends the Golden Beet & Watermelon salad bursting with flavor. There’s fresh, juicy watermelon, mixed with mint, golden beets, quinoa, honey and finished with creamy ricotta salata. They also serve a fantastic Calamari with a sweet and spicy tomato chutney.
“So the flavor combination of the of the calamari, that sauce, just having the the tanginess of the sauce with it, with the natural acidity of the tomato, and then having that soft, crunchy and soft calamari, so you have a combination of textures and flavors that make, like, make the really the perfect bite.”
The real star of the show at Bistro 5 is their homemade pasta, which is crafted fresh daily.
From the hand rolled, pillowy, pan-seared gnocchi drizzled in truffle oil, sauteed wild mushrooms and fresh Pamigiano, to the housemade noodles for the Spaghetti Chitarra featuring tender Spanish octopus, savory olive crumbs and crispy capers.
But the Taglitalle Bolognese is an absolute must, with a rich beef and pork ragu, and hints of lemon zest and nutmeg so the aroma is just as enticing as the taste.
“So when you bite into our pasta, it's like, you basically get transported to Italy. And the reason for that is because when it's fresh made and when it's emulsified and combined well with fresh ingredients, it's just kind of perfect. Whatever home means to you, that's what it tastes like. So maybe you had a different dish that you made, that you grew up with, but that taste that brings you home, that is the taste.”
Other dinner options include a perfectly Grilled Steak topped with a spicy red pepper chimichurri served with crispy yucca fries. Or try the tangy parsley-lemon marinated chicken that’s served on a bed of salsa verde with radishes and roasted fingerling potatoes. Another dish not to be missed is the Pork Milanese.
“So the pork Milanese is one of those dishes that are extremely simple, but at the same time, there's lots of little things that you have to just do it right. It has to be just the right amount of bread, not overly breaded and the temperature of the oil has to be perfect. And I think that brings us to the perfect like crispiness of the pork. And people are have a serious addiction to our pork Milanese, for sure. You have to come in and try it.”
And if you have room for dessert, Bistro 5 offers a sweet and surprising opinion: Olive Oil Cake served with creamy basil-yogurt gelato, fresh strawberries and a balsamic syrup.
“A lot of times people question that dessert because you just don't expect the basil to be sweet or olive oil, for that matter, to be worked into a dessert. So I sometimes I just convince them to have it and then when they have it, it's, I've just created another addiction. it's kind it really makes you smile.”
Bistro 5 is one of those restaurants where you truly just feel like you belong and where a passion for making great, fresh food is contagious. So just just want to keep coming back.
“I mean, I absolutely love what I do because there's not a single day that I'm not, that I don't get up excited about what I'm going to do.
So I think keeping that relationship with the with our customers, I think that's what really makes it fun.”
