ON-LINE EXCLUSIVE
Eating at the bar
Globe reviewer Alison Arnett administers the Boston bar exam
By Alison Arnett, Boston Globe Staff, 05/99
Go into Casablanca in Harvard Square, or the Vault downtown, or
Brasserie Jo in Back Bay, or even tiny places like Taberno de Haro in
Brookline. You'll see diners sharing tidbits and talk, laughing at the
bartenders' chatter, soaking up wine or martini lore and having a grand time.
The bar's the place where you can dine on a Saturday night without having
reservations; the more-casual alternative to the white clothed tables, the
spot where a single diner can feel welcome and included. In an era when we're
all looking for connections, the restaurant bar has become a place to find
community.
Some restaurants, such as Biba and Radius, have separate bar menus,
featuring lovely nibbles like spicy fried squid with a scallion dipping sauce
or baked goat cheese with greens. Others serve elaborate tapas, such as
Casablanca or Tapeo. Still more serve the regular menu, complete with napery
and full tableware. You may be tempted to bar hop from one to another to
sample as many as possible.
After the Kendall Square Theater opened, the Blue Room, close by,
expanded its bar area. Now settling down to chef Steve Johnson's heady fare
before (or after) a flick is a most urbane way to spend an evening. Try
Johnson's steamed halibut with black bean sauce, grilled pork with lime
leaves, or finish an evening with maple sugar creme brulee. Casablanca in
Harvard Square has long been a gathering place for the town-and-gown crowd.
In the 31/2 years that Ana Sortun has manned the stoves, the bar area rocks
to squeals of gustatory appreciation as well as tales of college life. Her
inventive way with everything from oyster and sausage pizza to Tunisian spoon
lamb with wild barley couscous adds zest to a visit to the square.
Chez Henri is a neighborhood hangout, right above Harvard Square, and the
bar sometimes seems to be a revolving conversation. The long, narrow bar
next to the dining room can actually be a quieter alternative for intimate
chats; the Cuban-tinged sandwiches and hearty French stews make the
neighborhood warmer.
Rialto's bar looks like someone's living room - someone whose
sophisticated taste you've always envied. It's a great place for meeting and
sampling some of chef/owner Jody Adams' stellar cuisine. The action at
Salamander in Cambridge swirls around the small bar area. It's a great
people-watching spot while you savor the scents of spices and exotic flavors
of chef Stan Frankenthaler's food.
The Spanish affinity for stretching the convival evening out by snacking
at the bar is catching on here. The regulars at Dali's in Somerville have
long known that sampling olives, the marinated goat cheese with tomatoes or
the miniscule baby eels perfectly complements the zany atmosphere and owner
Mario Iocco's flamboyant presence. The young Euro and Asian crowd on Newbury
street does the same at the family's second restaurant, Tapeo under son
Ferdinand Iocco.
Catalan cooking and the flair of Barcelona infuses the little bar at
Rauxa in Union Square in Somerville. A glass of cava or sherry matches
perfectly chef Jim Becker's fantastic crispy battered shellfish or a luscious
garlic soup dotted with littleneck clams.
Taberno de Haro is the littlest member of the Spanish crowd but the
cheerful welcome of owners Deborah and Julio de Haro at the sliver of a bar
makes the evening special. Deborah graciously suggests wines and offers
treats of serrano ham or Spanish omelette. The selection of Spanish cheeses
are wonderful any time of the evening.
No. 9 Park is right across from the State House, and you never know what
kind of political gossip you might be able to glean at its long, polished
bar. Chef-owner Barbara Lynch serves up a sparkling menu of cafe dishes
ranging from a simple bowl of marinated olives to seared tuna and her
wonderful housemade pastas. The wine list with imaginative wines by the glass
add to the experience.
Cafe Louis is a sliver of a place, as elegant as a perfect Italian suit
from Louis department store. The bar is even tinier but a perfect place to
feel urbane and chic. It's a perfect place to try the original Al Forno (the
famed Providence restaurateurs own this place) grilled pizza and inventions
by chef David Reynoso.
Legal Sea Foods at its many locations has always fostered dining at the
bar, the perfect place for a single visiting businessman or a couple pressed
for time. And city steakhouses, like Capital Grille on Newbury street and
Grill 23 & Bar on Berkeley, both in Back Bay, offer dining and smoking,
sometimes a difficult twosome in Boston these days.
Others like bar dining because of the scene. The downstairs bar at Biba
across from the Public Garden is a city tableau unparalleled, a place to see
and be seen and have a whimsical little dish or too while socializing. Around
the corner, Pignoli's bar offers a glimpse into the Adam Tihany-designed
dining room but is more intimate. And Daniele Baliani's food can be savored
at elegant little marble tables.
The leopard-skin clad bar area at Restaurant Clio on the other side of
Back Bay on Massachusetts avenue is a different scene altogether, chic and
quiet, a place to sample some of chef Kenneth Oringer's specialties such as
roasted fois gras steak with Mutsu apples and spice dates or vanill bean
panna cotta with sassafras sorbet and a tiny root bear float without waiting
months for a table. The bar at Mistral on Columbus street sports long-legged
beauties and power-suited men - a great place to nibble chef and co-owner
Jamie Mammano's delectable pizzas or a more substantial entree.
Of course, if you're young or at least restless, nothing can match Sonsie
on lower Newbury street for a lively bar scene. Chef Bill Poirier's
excellent fare with Asian and Latin touches gives sustenance to major people
watching. Icarus on quiet Appleton street in the South End personifies the
other end of nightlife, romantic and quiet. A little meal of chef-owner Chris
Douglass's New American food could buoy a love affair or just a friendship.
French food, French ambience, French everything has returned to
popularity with a vengeance. Brasserie Jo in the Colonnade Hotel sports a bar
- noisy, smoky and glittery with mirrors and brass - with just the right
insouciant attitude. The seafood tower is delightful, the frites irresistible
and the house beer as delicious as the gossip.
Ambrosia on Huntington, with its high communal table and cozy upholstered
window seats, is an elite place to meet, as attractive as eating in the
dining room. Any given night there are couples trading nibbles and singles
having a substantial entree, maybe Tony Ambrose's famous pig chop, in the bar
area as others trade air kisses and gossip.
Tucked behind the Hard Rock Cafe where the Back Bay meets the South End
is Restaurant Zinc. The long zinc bar gets raucously busy on weekends but
it's a great spot to slurp oysters and try some of chef E. Michael Reidt's
imaginative appetizers.
There's not much room at the bar of Aquitaine on Tremont street in the
South End, but the ambience is great as one samples the delicious pates and
maybe a cheese plate while facing a floor-to-ceiling wall of wines.
Galleria Italiana near the Theater District and La Bettola on Columbus
Avenue in the South End are both owned by Rita D'Angelo and Marisa Iocco,
Italians who make the good life a stylish bet. Both restaurants have chic
little bars, where appetizers devised by executive chef Rene Michelena can
spin a bar stop into a fascinating evening. Try Italian specialties like an
array of antipasti or a calzone filled with prosciutto, scamorze cheese and
foie gras at Galleria. A delicate marinated quail salad or sweet pea ravioli
might be a good bet at La Bettola.
Les Zygomates on South street near South Station is a cozy place with
simple and satisfying bistro fare. The real draw here though is the very
imaginative and reasonably priced wine list with many good wines by the
glass. Have steak frites or some fish at the long zinc bar while working your
way around the French wine regions.
The Japanese long ago made an art of eating at the bar, sushi bars that
is. Boston has been gaining ground in the art the last several years. Ginza
in Chinatown and its sister restaurant in Brookline are great places to
settle down for enticing sushi and sashimi creations. The Brookline Ginza
also has a sake bar with the widest selection in the area. A new sushi
restaurant, Fugakyu, also on Beacon street in Brookline, deepens the sushi
bar repertoire with more wonderfully fresh seafood.
Not all the action at the bar is in the city or Cambridge; in fact, some
of the liveliest scenes are in the burbs. The fetching little bar at Il
Capriccio in Waltham is great place to have a plate of chef-owner Rich
Barron's pasta and try the delightful wine selections of co-owner Jeanne
Rogers. Less than a mile away is the perennially popular Tuscan Grill where
chef-owner Jimmy Burke puts out gutsy Italian fare. It's tough to get a
reservation, making the lively little bar area a great spot for a quick bite
of bruschetta or some grilled fish or meat.
Arlington's another close-by suburb where the dining scene has upscaled
in the past few years. Flora on Massachusetts Ave. is definitely the chic
spot in town. The skinny bar offers not only chef-owner Bob Sargent's zesty
food but a clear view of him and his cooks preparing it.
Salem is often mistakenly identified only with the witch craze. But
there's much more in the historic city and the Grapevine on Congress street
is one of the best finds. In its casual and welcoming bar area, North Shore
sophisticates and visitors taste chef and co-owner Kate Hammond's imaginative
Italian-accented dishes.
Blue Ginger in Wellesley can be a tough place to book a weekend
reservation; the neighborhood is faithful and Bostonians and others make the
trek there. So the bar, with a clear view of Ming Tsai and his crew working
away, can be an evening saver.
The South Shore shouldn't be neglected. Even after six years, stepping
into the sleek Cal-Italian ambience of Tosca in Hingham is a pleasant
surprise. The long bar is a nice place to try chef Joe Simone's over-the-top
fare such as a creamy spinach or wild mushroom pizza or maybe a crabmeat and
roasted cauliflower ravioli. It's even a little quieter than the packed
dining room.
Finally, I have to reveal my favorite bar. I like the Julien bar in the
Le Meridien Hotel not because of the food, although simple fare, prepared in
the Julien kitchen, is served after 5 each evening. But the opulent room with
historic paintings and beautiful woods give it such an urbane feel that I
don't even mind the steep wine by the glass prices. For a little while, I can
imagine I'm Grace Kelly. What could be more sophisticated?
