Restaurants in Belmont

A quaint, shamrock-green and wrought iron sign ushers guests into Kirby Kitchen's dining room, where a faux fireplace, crisp white wainscoting, and sepia-toned portraits evoke the feel of an old-fashioned parlor. The eatery’s goal is equally nostalgic: to serve fresh, homemade fare using local ingredients that have never been frozen or taught profanity. Chef Bob Botchie––who received formal training at Le Cordon Bleu––prepares a simple, yet tasteful menu of salads, made-from-scratch soups, and sandwiches, with a focus on comforting classics such as a BLT topped with fried green tomato and a traditional Irish boiled dinner with house-corned beef, vinegar slaw, and sautéed potatoes. The restaurant shares its cozy space with a small market that sells house-made jams, cheeses, pickles, and cured meats, allowing customers to appreciate artisan eats in the comforting glow of their own home hearth.

Swish Shabu draws its poetic name from the alliterative hiss of thin-sliced rib eye sliding into a bubbling soup base and the ensuing rush of steam. Hinting at ostrich, short rib, scallops and other meats, the vapor rises up among the painted crimson tree limbs and cherry blossoms that erupt from the kitchen door. Seated beneath these floral accents in brown banquettes, patrons fill hot pots with adventurous broths made from tart goji berries or preserved duck egg. After scooping up a cooked or fresh piece of maki sushi, patrons sip a smoothie crowded with fruit like a scarecrow’s day planner.

Fresh from his homeland of Brazil, Chef Rodney Moreira set himself on a path to become a master of Italian cuisine, beginning humbly as a prep cook at Pizzeria Uno. Ultimately, Moreira found his culinary muse, cooking his way up the ladder to his current position as head chef at Porcini's Italian Restaurant, where he holds numerous awards for his pasta and risotto. Building a menu off of these staples, Moreira crafts Italian- and Mediterranean-inspired cuisine finished with homemade sauces and fresh herbs. The restaurant's nightly specials and permanent entrees include grilled swordfish steak and pounded veal cutlets, and pair easily with varietals from around the world represented on the carefully curated wine list. The intimate dining room features the warming tendrils of a crackling fireplace, and the garden patio invites guests to indulge in meals under a sky filled with more stars than the sun's rolodex.

Within an unassuming brick storefront near the river, Avellino's loads up tables with hearty portions of family-style pasta, pizza, and calzones. Boston's Hidden Restaurants praised the subs filled with "some of the best homemade meatballs that this writer has had in the Boston area." Other pages of the gargantuan menu hold dishes designed to tantalize steak-lovers, carb-counters, and those who simply like the way spaghetti feels in the palm.:m]]

After resettling in the United States at age 9, Naples native Francesco Pellino worked hard hours each week as a dishwasher and chef's assistant to pay his way through college. Though he graduated with honors in accounting, Francesco's passions lured him back to the food industry. He opened his first establishment as an energetic 28-year-old, taking the chance to showcase his zeal for authentic Northern Italian cuisine. Rustic and self-described as "somewhat peasant and chic," each of his dishes shows the care in which it's crafted. House-made ingredients such as Francesco's own no-yolk salad croutons, fresh ciabatta bread, and handmade-to-order plates of porcini mushroom ravioli infuse the menu to leave his guests as satisfied as a zamboni in Antarctica.

Pellino's Ristorate's quaintness extends to the restaurant itself. Tucked in a cozy corner house with exposed-brick walls lined with bottles from the expansive and carefully curated wine list, the upscale dining room hosts meals and inspires Shakespearean soliloquies at starched white tablecloths.

Inside Fasika Ethiopian Restaurant, companions gather around a traditional mesob, a table woven from colorful straw, for a communal dining experience. Upon the mesob’s concave surface, servers nestle a broad platter that holds a family-style meal neatly scooped out onto a foundation of spongy injera bread. Diners dive in together, tearing scraps of injera, which they use to pinch turmeric-spiced bites of beef, lamb, poultry, and veggies from the menu's selection of specialty dishes. Between bites, patrons can sip tej, a wine fermented from hops and raw honey that is served hot or cold. After meals, rounds of warming coffee signal the repast's end as clearly as the gong that sounds at the end of a Shakespearian soliloquy.