The Italian Villa Grandeur of Boston’s Best New Restaurant

The focal point of the ground-level lounge bar is the grand staircase that leads your eye up the double height space into the main dining space on the second floor. / Photo by Joe Thomas

This article is from the winter 2025 issue of Boston Home. Sign up here to receive a subscription.

Since opening late last spring in Raffles Boston, La Padrona has become one of the most coveted dinner reservations in the city. Without question, patrons are coming for the restaurant’s classic Italian dishes, prepared by James Beard Award winner Jody Adams and her executive chef, Amarilys Colón. But they’re also coming for the overall dining experience, which A Street Hospitality CEO Eric Papachristos has ensured is unrivaled elsewhere in the city.

Papachristos, who has partnered with Adams on a slew of other eateries under the A Street umbrella, most notably Porto and Trade, strove to create an atmosphere that set a new bar for Boston restaurants. Regal and alluring, the décor of the restaurant takes its cues from Italian architecture and interior design, where Papachristos and members of his team traveled for inspiration. From the street, one enters La Padrona’s lounge, where a walnut bar is topped with a smoky-gray stone counter; beveled antique mirror tiles sheath the wall behind, reflecting natural light from the full-height windows along the façade during the day, and the glow of the lights at night. Walls are Venetian plaster, and marble-topped tables and plush lounge seating upholstered in rich velvets and leather with fringe and piping details are layered on patterned custom area rugs. “This is my reinterpretation of how a grand Italian villa would be furnished,” says Papachristos, who looked to AvroKO Group to bring his vision to life.

Walls are painted a ravishing shade of merlot, paired with high gloss ceiling coffers that house an array of custom ceiling-mounted light fixtures. / Photo by Joe Thomas

The idea was to create two distinct atmospheres within La Padrona. The ceiling was opened to the second level to accommodate a majestic stairwell that beckons guests from the brighter ambiance of the first floor to the sultry second level. Combining traditional details such as black-iron open balusters, walnut handrails, and travertine stone steps, the curved stair also evokes a modern elegance with a decorative runner and subtle brass hardware.

Photo by Joe Thomas

Upon arrival, the dimly lit second level evokes the aura of being transported to a different time and place, says Adams. “It makes you feel like you are someplace special.” Indeed, the restaurant, taking cues from the Golden Era of cinema, features a dramatic oval-shaped, 360-degree central bar—one of the rare bars in Boston that you can walk entirely around—which has a unifying impact on the entire dining room. Above the Calacatta viola–topped bar, a bespoke textile-art installation is hung from a coffer that has the appeal of delicate gold fringe. The main dining room features a mix of floating tables, banquette seating around the perimeter, and intimate Hollywood-inspired booths with tufted walls. Dark wood floors, merlot-painted walls, and custom brass lighting exude a combination of glamour, Old World elegance, and modernity.

Photo by Joe Thomas

“My muse was the idea of people getting dressed up, and it’s exactly what I envisioned it would be. Across all age categories, guests who come here are dressing up; they are really enjoying themselves,” Papachristos says. “It’s beautiful to see.”

Photo by Joe Thomas

First published in the print edition of Boston Home’s Winter 2025 issue, with the headline, “Top Shelf.”

Previously

• The Top 10 New Restaurants in Greater Boston
• La Padrona, a Luxurious Italian Restaurant, Debuts at Raffles Boston
• Inside the Layered Luxury of Raffles Boston