Subject
Fw: cul-de-sac that was home to ''Lolita'' author Vladimir
Nabokov in the 1940s ...
Nabokov in the 1940s ...
From
Date
Body
EDITOR NOTE. I wonder if the famous Bend Sinister puddle is still there?
----- Original Message -----
From: Sandy P. Klein
To:
Subject: cul-de-sac that was home to ''Lolita'' author Vladimir Nabokov in the 1940s ...
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/263/living/A_local_concept_clicks_but_hold_the_francais+.shtml
SAUCE
A local concept clicks, but hold the francais
By Joe Yonan and Amy Graves, Globe Staff, 9/20/2002
CAMBRIDGE - Our 40-something waiter, looking very old-school hippie Cambridge in his unbuttoned shirt and long ponytail, held up the plate and named the dish in such exquisitely precise - and fast - French that it sounded something like ''Peche-au-foi-foi?''
Excuse us?
''The peaches,'' he said dryly.
Oh. Of course. The guiltiest party at our table, the one who ordered this particular dessert and should have recognized at least the word ''peche'' for ''peach,'' gulped at the waiter's Frencher-than-thou attitude. When we looked at the menu later, the pretentiousness became all the more clear: Not a single dish, including the peaches, was described in French.
The exchange transported us to Paris, where we've dined at the mercy of many a famously rude garcon, except that we were just outside Harvard Square, at the new Craigie Street Bistrot, and this waiter had actually been quite friendl y, even a bit effusive, until then. Thankfully, little else felt pretentious about this place, a near-perfect rendition of a bistro in the Marais or Montmartre: elegantly simple food at reasonable prices, and a decor saturated with mustard, black, and red.
On tony little Craigie Circle, a cul-de-sac that was home to ''Lolita'' author Vladimir Nabokov in the 1940s, this bistro takes up the fine-dining cause that Butterfish and Cafe Celador had valiantly fought in the same space. With only three parking places, this would seem to be a tough spot for a destination restaurant, and the demise of Butterfish and Cafe Celador, with their pricey menus, bolsters that estimation.
What about a neighborhood emphasis, then? All these manor-like homes nearby must be occupied by folks who want to eat well, and if their stock portfolios have taken a dip, all the more reason to come to Craigie Street, because they won't find an entree over $20 on the menu. Even the wines range from $15 to $82, with most well under $40.
After chef Tony Maws's mother, the hostess, Marjorie Maws, plied us with glasses of sweet Lillet Blanc and a Granier Pastis, that licorice-flavored aperitif, until our foursome was complete, we settled into our red-leather banquette, gazed at the graphic retro posters on the walls, and scoped out the neighborly crowd.
The place was barely half full on this Thursday night, in its first week of business. A young couple - she with that studied-geek look and he in jeans and plain white T-shirt, with long sideburns - were as hip as they come, and after he told the waiter he had been a co-worker of the chef, Maws came out to catch up.
The menu is small; we tasted everything on it except one entree. Two of us took Craigie Street up on its ''neighborhood menu,'' a prix -fixe approach that offers an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert for only $29.
There were a few small disapointments: pallid tomatoes with the skate wing, a bit of blandness in a pork chop that the waiter had effusively sold. But most of the food shone, from the soup that sang of pure celery to the duck rillettes that came in a gorgeous red Le Creuset terrine to the chicken two ways.
The latter dish required a 35-minute wait, but with an appetizer course such a wait was undetectable and would have been worth it nonetheless. Roasted breast sat atop a buttery confit thigh, and both pieces had the kind of crispy skin we usually only dream about. The desserts, from the ''peche'' with lemon verbena ice cream to the chocolate mousse terrine, were perfectly subtle.
The best part? With three aperitifs, a bottle of wine, four apps, four entrees, and four desserts, our grand total came to less than $200.
Such a combination of taste and price - as long as the Francophonic attitude remains a side dish - might be precisely the Craigie Circle formula that sticks.
Craigie Street Bistrot -- 5 Craigie Circle, Cambridge, 617-479-5511.
This story ran on page C12 of the Boston Globe on 9/20/2002.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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----- Original Message -----
From: Sandy P. Klein
To:
Subject: cul-de-sac that was home to ''Lolita'' author Vladimir Nabokov in the 1940s ...
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/263/living/A_local_concept_clicks_but_hold_the_francais+.shtml
SAUCE
A local concept clicks, but hold the francais
By Joe Yonan and Amy Graves, Globe Staff, 9/20/2002
CAMBRIDGE - Our 40-something waiter, looking very old-school hippie Cambridge in his unbuttoned shirt and long ponytail, held up the plate and named the dish in such exquisitely precise - and fast - French that it sounded something like ''Peche-au-foi-foi?''
Excuse us?
''The peaches,'' he said dryly.
Oh. Of course. The guiltiest party at our table, the one who ordered this particular dessert and should have recognized at least the word ''peche'' for ''peach,'' gulped at the waiter's Frencher-than-thou attitude. When we looked at the menu later, the pretentiousness became all the more clear: Not a single dish, including the peaches, was described in French.
The exchange transported us to Paris, where we've dined at the mercy of many a famously rude garcon, except that we were just outside Harvard Square, at the new Craigie Street Bistrot, and this waiter had actually been quite friendl y, even a bit effusive, until then. Thankfully, little else felt pretentious about this place, a near-perfect rendition of a bistro in the Marais or Montmartre: elegantly simple food at reasonable prices, and a decor saturated with mustard, black, and red.
On tony little Craigie Circle, a cul-de-sac that was home to ''Lolita'' author Vladimir Nabokov in the 1940s, this bistro takes up the fine-dining cause that Butterfish and Cafe Celador had valiantly fought in the same space. With only three parking places, this would seem to be a tough spot for a destination restaurant, and the demise of Butterfish and Cafe Celador, with their pricey menus, bolsters that estimation.
What about a neighborhood emphasis, then? All these manor-like homes nearby must be occupied by folks who want to eat well, and if their stock portfolios have taken a dip, all the more reason to come to Craigie Street, because they won't find an entree over $20 on the menu. Even the wines range from $15 to $82, with most well under $40.
After chef Tony Maws's mother, the hostess, Marjorie Maws, plied us with glasses of sweet Lillet Blanc and a Granier Pastis, that licorice-flavored aperitif, until our foursome was complete, we settled into our red-leather banquette, gazed at the graphic retro posters on the walls, and scoped out the neighborly crowd.
The place was barely half full on this Thursday night, in its first week of business. A young couple - she with that studied-geek look and he in jeans and plain white T-shirt, with long sideburns - were as hip as they come, and after he told the waiter he had been a co-worker of the chef, Maws came out to catch up.
The menu is small; we tasted everything on it except one entree. Two of us took Craigie Street up on its ''neighborhood menu,'' a prix -fixe approach that offers an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert for only $29.
There were a few small disapointments: pallid tomatoes with the skate wing, a bit of blandness in a pork chop that the waiter had effusively sold. But most of the food shone, from the soup that sang of pure celery to the duck rillettes that came in a gorgeous red Le Creuset terrine to the chicken two ways.
The latter dish required a 35-minute wait, but with an appetizer course such a wait was undetectable and would have been worth it nonetheless. Roasted breast sat atop a buttery confit thigh, and both pieces had the kind of crispy skin we usually only dream about. The desserts, from the ''peche'' with lemon verbena ice cream to the chocolate mousse terrine, were perfectly subtle.
The best part? With three aperitifs, a bottle of wine, four apps, four entrees, and four desserts, our grand total came to less than $200.
Such a combination of taste and price - as long as the Francophonic attitude remains a side dish - might be precisely the Craigie Circle formula that sticks.
Craigie Street Bistrot -- 5 Craigie Circle, Cambridge, 617-479-5511.
This story ran on page C12 of the Boston Globe on 9/20/2002.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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