New gastropubs offer a little something extra
Tell someone you're going to eat at a gastropub tonight, and the likely response will be "Gastro-what?"
What is often called the first gastropub, The Eagle, opened in London in the early 1990s, but the concept is relatively new to the States. Perhaps that's why the folks at Garden at the Cellar, in Cambridge between Harvard and Central squares, have defined it on their website: "a British term for a public house ('pub') which specializes in high-quality food a step above the more basic 'pub grub.' "
And a step above it is. No nachos or frozen chicken tenders; rather, inviting dishes like honey-glazed short ribs with carrot puree and beet-bacon salad, or a seasonal vegetable risotto.
"There are many pubs that serve pub food, like fish and chips with Guinness," says the Garden's chef, Will Gilson. "Our thought was 'Why can't you get a Guinness with a local seafood stew instead?' " That's the hallmark of a gastropub: adventurous twists on familiar food made from scratch with honest ingredients. The Garden does serve some familiar pub food, like burgers and fries. However, its burgers come on brioche, and fries are spiked with rosemary and truffle oil. Guinness is certainly a beverage of choice, but customers can also sip, say, a sparkling prosecco.
Nearby, at River Gods in Central Square, chef Luke Park serves up his own take on gastropub eats, actually cooked rather than zapped. They had a microwave, says Park, "but I was using it as a filing cabinet for the last six months, so we got rid of it." He prefers a straightforward bill of fare that leaves room for experimentation. "I like to think of the menu as having a world beat. It's as adventurous as you want to be." This means that Korean hand-rolls with house-made kimchee coexist with hand-packed hamburgers, their top seller. The decor at River Gods is also bold, with seasonal installations such as Barbie dolls dressed in electrical tape for Halloween and a large cupid over the bar for Valentine's Day. At night, a rotating crew of DJs spin in a raised booth that overlooks the dining area.
Matt Murphy's Pub in Brookline Village complements its food with live jazz, reggae, and practically any style of music in between. This free music fest accompanies Irish fare with flair, like house-brined half duckling with plum sauce and roasted vegetable colcannon. The Biltmore in Newton Upper Falls was the first spot in the area to define itself as a gastropub, when it opened in early 2007. It serves accessible food in an unpretentious setting equally inviting to regulars who belly up to the mahogany bar and hungry young families with strollers in tow. Gastropubs are not "see and be seen" venues but more "come as you are" places.
Mark Romano, chef-owner of Somerville's Highland Kitchen, realized after traveling in Europe that atmosphere is as crucial to a gastropub as the food. "I wanted something that was more like what they have over there. It's a matter of having a place for young families to hang out. It's OK for mom and dad to have a beer and listen to cool music and have a good meal while the kids are doing their thing. It doesn't always have to be Chuck E. Cheese for the kids." Highland Kitchen has a brightly lit jukebox that keeps children (and adults) occupied; the establishment has started to feature live music as well. Romano thought long and hard before he dubbed his place "a neighborhood gastropub, Somerville style." "We threw in 'Somerville style' because we didn't want it to sound snooty," he says. "We did want the 'gastro' in there because we are doing dishes with black forest mushrooms." The menu also features fare such as pan-seared sea scallops and smoked-bluefish cakes with mango sauce alongside macaroni and cheese and hamburgers.
Fancy or simple, the dishes are all reasonably priced, another key for a gastropub. "We do things like cut our own french fries, because a case of potatoes is a lot cheaper than a bag of fries," says Romano. River Gods keeps portion sizes manageable to minimize waste. Garden at the Cellar makes sure every ingredient can be "cross-utilized," Gilson says. "We throw nothing away: Our stocks and soups are made from scraps, and half of our menu uses every part of the chicken."
As with any restaurant, the bottom line is having reliably good food to draw diners. "God isn't making new ingredients," says Park, "so it's a matter of taking what you have and making something tasty and consistent with it."
