Craigie on Main

Last weekend, Ben and I went to Craigie on Main in Central Square, Cambridge after seeing an evening of comedy put on by the graduating students of the American Repertory Theater institute (or something like that). The show was hilarious and entertaining (and a great follow-up to the AmRep's production of "Romance" by David Mamet, which we saw the previous weekend).

We've been dying to go to Craigie ever since Cochon 555, a fundraiser we attended which showcased the talents of 5 local chefs as they each prepared a heritage breed of pig. Tony Maws, Craigie's chef-owner, was one of the chefs participating and he had made some amazing pork preparations that made me want to visit his restaurant.

So, after the show concluded, we rushed to Craigie to make their final seating on Saturday night, which was 10:30pm. Boy, am I glad we made it. I had wanted to try a cocktail from the bar, since I've heard really good things about the talent there. I had the Blinker, which is rye whiskey, grapefruit juice, and grenadine topped with a little grapefruit rind. The drink was pink, light and went down easily.

For our meal, we chose the "Chef's Farm Menu" which is composed of your choice of an amuse bouche, appetizer, entree, and dessert (paired with a dessert wine). Everything was great! Ben started off with the house cured pork belly, and I had the house cured Greek style sardines. For the appetizer, I had a ragout of sweetbreads, wild mushrooms, and baby turnips, topped with a poached farm egg. Ben had the tempura-style soft shell crab. For entrees, I had the Vermont pork two ways: confit and pork belly. Ben had the halibut on top of a parsnip puree. The best part of eating out with Ben is that when we try new restauarants, we end up splitting our plates so that we get to try each other's food. I loved the ragout and pork the best - you can't really go wrong with dishes that have mushrooms or pork, if you ask me. Ben enjoyed the sweetbreads a lot, and I was satisfied by them, but I don't know if I'm a huge fan. It was our first time eating sweetbreads, and I don't know why they have such a scary reputation!

For dessert, Ben opted for Craigie's three fruit sorbets (pineapple, mango, blood orange) paired with sparkling wine, and I chose the vanilla panna cotta with strawberry coulis, paired with a very sweet white dessert wine. Panna cotta was the perfect way to end a rich meal, and we also got two mini madeleines to finish off the evening. It was a really perfect meal, with great service, and we are definitely going back! I was also impressed to see Tony Maws, the chef-owner, in the open kitchen as we walked in, slicing a tempura-fried soft shell crab in half with a HUGE knife and plating it. He was in the kitchen until the very end, and as I went to the bathroom at the end of the meal I saw Chef Maws sitting in the dining room at a table with one of the employees, having their dinner. It's very cool to see chefs working in their restaurants; granted, this is his only restaurant, so he doesn't need to spend his time shuttling between multiple locations, but I still appreciate it when a chef is in his kitchen supervising and cooking.

Unfortunately, we forgot to bring our camera, so I promise to take pictures of our NEXT meal at Craigie.