Nighttime is the right time
Restaurant critic Alison Arnett returns next week.
When it comes to late-night dining, Bostonians usually shrug. There's that dodgy 24-hour doughnut joint up Route 1, open for all sorts of business. There's decent city stalwarts like the South Street Diner and News, both on Kneeland Street. Or there's stomach-bomber IHOP on Soldier's Field Road in Brighton and in Harvard Square.
But the possibility of a good culinary experience no longer ends at 10 p.m. Now all-night owls have the 24-hour Miel (510 Atlantic Ave., Boston. 617-217-5151), the Intercontinental Hotel's upscale restaurant. There are plenty of other options, too:
Dante (5 Cambridge Parkway, Cambridge. 617-497-4200. restaurantdante.com) has a new late-night bar menu, served until 1:30 a.m., Thursday through Saturday. The sleek restaurant closes for dinner at 10 p.m. through the week and at 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Then the action moves into the equally chic lounge area. You can nibble on an elegant mini cheeseburger ($5) that's served with a smoked pepper aioli or grapple with the ''epic tuna melt'' ($8), which is served on crusty country-style bread and generously stuffed with freshly grilled tuna bathed in a lemon aioli and finished with tangy fontina. The menu also includes steak frites ($22) and Dante's signature thin spaghetti ''a la guitarra'' with rock shrimp, mushrooms, and pancetta, ($14/$28 for entree). For an ultimate late-night treat, the ''ooey gooey'' sandwich ($12) is a grilled indulgence of sauteed bananas, Nutella chocolate spread, and Grand Marnier, served with vanilla ice cream. Sweet dreams are definitely made of this.
The Franklin Cafe (278 Shawmut Ave., Boston. 617-350-0010. franklincafe.com) in the South End is a longtime favorite for late eating. This casual boite serves its full dinner menu until 1:30 a.m. every night. (Its sister restaurant in Gloucester, the Franklin Cape Ann, serves until midnight on weekends year-round and every evening in the summer.) Black paint, dim lighting, and worn flooring give the Franklin Cafe a dive-y atmosphere. But the food is far from poor. A fresh, plentiful plate of baby arugula ($7) with cremini mushrooms has a zingy smack of aniseed. It is accompanied by a goat cheese croquette with a sadly oversweet onion jam. Ale-basted shrimp ($9) are succulent and spicy. A roasted beet and sweet potato caprese salad ($8) has a lovely tart dressing and pistachio pesto. The menu changes seasonally, and there are daily specials. The house specialty, turkey meatloaf ($17), however, is a fixture. It is draped with luscious fig gravy spiced with cinnamon. Mashed potatoes are a given.
Still, if a sweet tooth troubles at 3 a.m., Bova's (134 Salem St., Boston. 617-523-5601. northendboston.com/bovabakery) in the North End has more than one cure. The family-owned bakery is open 24/7 and is packed with pastries, pizzas, subs, and hearty calzones ($6.99 per pound). Really, where else can you get chocolate-dipped strawberries ($2.50 each) as the sun rises? The sfogliatelle (2.25) is worth staying up for. This traditional, almost unpronounceable (''sofidelli'' is close enough) pastry wraps a crisp phyllo-style crust around a cakey ricotta filling. A sprinkling of powered sugar and it's heavenly. Bova's is a place where Italian tradition - cannoli (small, $1.50) overstuffed with a sweetened ricotta custard - meets New England's. The whoopie pie ($3) sandwiches chocolate sponge with thick whipped cream. And you can pick up a loaf of freshly baked focaccia at the same time.
In the Theater District, Rustic Kitchen (210 Stuart St., Boston. 617-423-5700. rustickitchen.biz) has a new late-night menu served from 10 p.m.-2 a.m., Thursday through Saturday. It includes Rustic's popular pizzas, pastas, some specials, and large appetizers such as the generous platter of proscuitto and mozzarella ($13) with a spicy olive-chili tapenade. Paired with Rustic's freshly baked cranberry and rosemary focaccia, it's a kaleidoscope of zesty favors. For late-night comfort, there's truffled mac and cheese ($8) with porcini mushrooms in a sauce made with tangy fontina cheese. Peas add a nice bright counterpoint. The eggplant involtini ($8) has a lovely hint of sage; whey from its ricotta stuffing mixes with the tomato sauce during baking and creates a nice creamy hybrid. A smattering of salty Gorgonzola is melted on top, adding a good finish.
Solea Restaurant and Tapas Bar (388 Moody St., Waltham. 781-894-1805. solearestaurant.com) serves its tapas menu in the pretty, brightly colored bar-cafe area until midnight Sunday through Wednesday, and until 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. The poblano relleno ($7.50) is excellent: plump with a tasty filling of braised yucca, corn, and mushrooms and coated in a crispy almond crust. The terrina ($5.50) is good, too: A whole braised portobello mushroom is topped with a black-bean cake that's covered with wilted spinach sauteed with garlic and blue cheese. The spinach is very salty but just about works with the blander bean cake. The chipirones rellenos ($7) prove challenging, however. The squid is stuffed with shrimp and cod and swamped in a black ''ink'' gravy. It tastes better than it looks, which is something like sickly off-white rubber balls floating in a mud puddle. Still, stranger things happen at the end of a long, long night.
