July RC found us on my side of the river, at Puritan & Company in Inman Square. I have been a fan of Garden at the Cellar for a long time, so I was excited about checking out Wil Gilson’s (fairly) new place. Puritan & Company describes itself as serving modern American cuisine, “with particular emphasis on traditional New England fare”.
I loved the space (and the wine list), but unfortunately they have some issues with the air conditioning and we went on a super HHH (hazy, hot, humid) day. It was a bit uncomfortable, to say the least.
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| Behind the bar |
We ordered oysters to start, two kinds that I cannot remember. I think they were both Wellfleet, but don’t quote me on that. We all definitely had a preference for one over the other. Julie thought the one we didn’t like was bitter. Our other appetizers included cherry tomatoes & stracciatella, roasted beets, smoked duck rillette, and heirloom grain risotto (which is a main dish). The portions were small and the plates were very pretty, which is not typically what I would expect for “traditional New England fare”…I guess that’s the “modern” side.
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| Cherry tomatoes & stracciatella with basils, sunflower, sourdough |
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| Roasted beets with farmer’s cheese, arugula, pistachio |
I surprised myself by actually liking the duck. I always remember how much my grandfather loved duck, but it’s not something I would tend to order. Ah RC, so good at making us try new things.
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| Smoked duck rillette with pumpernickel, whole grain mustard |
We couldn’t wait to dig into that risotto…everything was delicious, but if I had to pick a favorite, I think that would be the winner.
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| Heirloom grain risotto with peas, mustard greens, lemon, parmesan |
For dinner I ordered the chicken, which was very enthusiastically described by our server as chicken three ways. The breast was torqued with the skin on, the thigh was deboned, and the drumstick was brined and then fried. She had me at fried. This dish sold out, so it must be pretty popular. I cleaned my plate, but was wishing there were more veg.
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| Free-range chicken with sunchokes, brussels, fingerlings |
The other entrées ordered were the scallops and the lamb…yum yum yum.
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| Seared dayboat scallops with zucchini, brown butter, amaranth |
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| Assiette of lamb with peas, carrots, potato, lamb jus |
For dessert we ordered a “cherries jubilee” special dessert. It wasn’t really cherries jubilee, but I didn’t pay attention to what it actually was. Bitter, smoky, cornbready, and savory were all adjectives used to describe it…which probably doesn’t help you figure out what it was! Whatever it was, it was not nearly as delicious as the milk chocolate pots de crème. I loved the salted caramel crunch topping!
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| Milk chocolate pots de crème with salted caramel, honey, hazelnut |
Great pick Kim!
The damage
$89 each
The rundown
Puritan & Company
1166 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
Kara Cooks and Eats 