The Boston food boards are always talking up Central Kitchen (Cambridge). I thought it might be disappointing after all the hype… but the place is almost perfect – loved it. We arrived about 9:00 on a Wednesday night. The vibe here is warm and relaxed, intimate and devoid of that rumpled, academic feel that you sometimes get in Cambridge. It’s dark, candle-lit (except that bars can only use fake candles in Cambridge), and a little bit sexy.

We sat at the bar, and started with two expertly prepared sidecars (bonus points for sugar rims), and a nicely dressed salad of arugula, bresaola and parmigiano, which we devoured with large chunks of their exceptional crusty peasant bread (also came with a tasty and garlic-y bean dip).

Mains were equally impressive. Mr. Rabbit had paella, made with rabbit, chorizo and escargot. He thought this was an innovative spin on traditional paella, and said that the indivdiual parts were well executed (I had a sliver of rabbit, which was succulent). Still, Mr. Rabbit missed the traditional seafood in this dish, and he didn’t finish his rice, complaining that it was “drab.” I went with the porkchop — and it was fantastic (no drab-ness in sight!). Generous chop had a slightly smoke-y flavour, and came plated on corn grits, made more interesting in taste and texture with lovely, fresh, sweet corn. A delectable glaze on the chop, and fat, juicy figs made this dish a total winner.

We washed mains down with a bottle of Catalonian red from the Grenache list. Do ask to see the wine list at CK. We were initially disappointed with the by-the-glass selection, but their list of bottles is interesting, quite extensive, and reasonably priced. Service throughout this meal was relaxed, friendly, knowledgeable and attentive. The total for one app, two mains ($20-25), bottle of wine ($39), two sidecars… $109.

Even thought Mr. Rabbit didn’t love his main, both of us were totally seduced by this place. I can’t even quite put my finger on why CK is so great, but if I lived in Cambridge, this would be one of my regular stops.

We skipped dessert at CK because Mr. Rabbit wanted to revisit one of his favourite haunts from his MIT student days — Toscanini’s (ice cream!). We each opted for two scoops: I had pistachio/coffee ice cream sandwich (those are two different flavours, not one concoction), while Mr. Rab had “hydrox cookie” (Boston’s weird, clinical name for Oreo)/rum and raisin. Toscanini’s is often credited as Boston’s best ice cream. They obviously uses high quality ingredients, and while the product was quite excellent, it also manages to have a slightly virtuous, “natural” feeling. And instead of being comforting, this left me a little unsatisfied. Something didn’t feel “bad” enough… the Toscanini’s experience somehow lacked the peasant authenticity of our local NH ice cream stand (no cleats in the Kreme and Kone!) — and the colony of nerds with laptops kind of messed up my ice-cream eating vibe (and I’m an academic so very accustomed to dorkage). Still, gotta admit that the pistachio was especially fabulous with lots of nuts and a great bit of almond flavour in the mix.

www.tosci.com/
www.enormous.tv/central/index1.html (note that this site can be buggy)

Posted on August 19th, 2007 by rabbit
Filed under: Boston, Restaurant Reviews