Italian restaurant La Padrona to open at Raffles Boston on May 15

Celebrity Boston chef Jody Adams will open a new restaurant, La Padrona, on May 15, adding to the Raffles Boston hotel’s lineup of restaurants and bars, which has been gradually rolling out following the opening of the hotel last September.

La Padrona is also the latest addition to the Boston-based A Street Hospitality restaurant group, led by Adams as culinary chef, CEO Eric Papachristos and COO Jon Mendez, and includes Trade, Porto, two Salonika Greek locations and The Venetian. .

Entry into La Padrona, an impressive 8,600-square-foot split-level space in the Back Bay neighborhood, begins with the bright and airy 40-seat street-level lounge and bar. A grand staircase, which combines wrought iron balusters, a walnut wood handrail and natural travertine stone steps, connects the second level, which can accommodate 200 people. There is an elevator for those who wish to avoid the climb.

The focal point of the darker-toned, more sensually designed dining room is a central bar crowned by a purple-veined Calcutta marble countertop that matches the marble flooring surrounding the bar stool seats. Bright purple pops against the room’s rich burgundy painted walls, framed by heavy curtains. Dining room seating varies from freestanding high-tops to reclusive Hollywood booths, and there are several customizable private dining rooms.

To create the menu, Adams, Mendez and Papachristos took a trip to Italy.

“We covered 10 different regions in 11 days,” Adams said. “We cooked everywhere, from Michelin-starred kitchens to home kitchens. You’ll see the rustic influence on the menu, but it’s refined,” she added.

The menu includes housemade pastas and local seafood: paccheri and clams combine charred wheat pasta with sweet little Barnstable clams; then there are meats and “a lot of contorni,” Adams said, referring to vegetable dishes.

“One dish is roasted cabbage,” she enthused. “This is conical arrowhead cabbage, roasted at a very high temperature and served with anchovy butter. It’s so simple, but you won’t want to stop eating this.

The menu is divided into familiar traditional Italian categories like antipasto, primi, secondi and, of course, dolce! Desserts include a brioche ice cream sandwich, served as a trio and filled with pistachio, strawberry mascarpone and ginger-brown butter ice cream; and a cannoli with a thin Florentine biscuit-style almond tuile shell filled with whipped orange ricotta.

In addition to Adams, A Street Hospitality’s culinary team also includes executive chef Amatelys Colón; executive chef Philip Nacron and pastry chef Kimberly Beatrix lead the kitchen team at La Padrona.

While Italian beers, cordials and amari digestives are offered, wines come from around the world as well as Italy. La Padrona’s cocktail menu includes a collection of martinis and one of Negronis. Classic and vintage cocktails have playful twists: the Sophia Loren on the Beach is a refined, hibiscus and ginger-accented version of the fruity Sex on the Beach from the 1980s, and made with JM Fruité rum, Caribbean rum Ten to One and arrack Batavia.

La Padrona, Papachristos said, was created for the enjoyment of Bostonians and Raffles hotel guests.

“International travelers are attracting a lot of attention to the Raffles brand,” Papachristos added. “But we don’t want to cater just to that demographic. We also want to honor the city.

La Padrona opens daily at 4 p.m. for lounge service; and for dinner service from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday to Wednesday; 5:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m., Thursday – Saturday, 40 Trinity Place, Boston