Garden at the Cellar

I’ve been to Garden at the Cellar many times. You can even say it is my favorite bar and why wouldn’t it be? The drinks are cheap, Quentin the bartender is a riot, and their bar bites are the most gourmet the city has to offer. I had never been to their upstairs restaurant until now.

When I first arrived at the restaurant there was a 45 minutes wait, so I headed downstairs to the bar to have a few drinks. I started my meal with a $2.50 PBR because I am a classy broad and accompanied it with crispy potatoes. These were cubed and fried to a crisp topped with a rosemary dijon aioli. Both the rosemary and the dijon were very subtle, but the aioli sauce was loaded with garlic and the best thing besides a potato is a garlicky potato. The greasy potatoes paired very well with my Blue Ribbon.

My first course was a potato leek soup with sliced black truffles. As soon as the plate was set on the table the smell of truffles filled the space around me. I was surprised (and excited) to see the sliced truffles. Most dishes I’ve eaten contain either a pinch truffle shavings or a drizzle of truffle infused olive oil. The Chef was very generous with his truffles, which provided a delectable flavor and great texture to the creamy potato.

For my second course I had a glazed short rib served with a side of quinoa, which is similar to a couscous. I am not a huge fan of quinoa or couscous simply because their texture doesn’t sit well with me; however, I cannot overlook that fact the Chef Will’s quinoa was very flavorful. The gravy-like consistency and its flavor lead me to believe that the quinoa was cooked in a thick, hearty broth. Seared brussel sprouts adorned my plate. These were perfectly caramelized on the outside and very soft on the inside. The short rib was bathed in a sweet glaze and it was very, very tender.

Scott and I shared the bacon wrapped dates, filled with goat cheese and served on a bed of apple hash. The dates were sweet, the cheese was salty, and the bacon was smoky. The combination of these three flavors was an amazing one. Neither one was stronger than the other, creating an explosion of flavor in every bite. The apple hash was very unusual and I loved every bit of it! The apples were shredded and cooked al dente in a curry sauce. They were sweet, salty, and slightly spicy. The apple hash could have stood alone as its own appetizer, but Chef Will’s decision to pair it with the dates was an excellent one. This is one dish that I recommend you try at least once in your life.

Scott ordered the steak frites. A generous portion of skirt steak was served with French fries, parsnip puree and garlicky spinach. He ordered the steak medium rare because he knows that there is no other way to eat red meat. Needless to say, the steak was very juicy and flavorful. I’ve had the French fries in the pub many times before. They were topped with black truffle olive oil and rosemary. I’ve eaten a large plate of these by myself before. I recommend you do the same! The spinach was cooked very well. I have my reservations with cooked spinach because it is very easy to over cook, resulting in a pile of wilted green goo. This was not the case at The Cellar. The spinach was not wilted, but it was not raw either. Chef Will achieved a good medium between these two textures providing us with a plate of warm, crisp, and very garlicky spinach. I am saving the best for last: the parsnip puree. Its creamy texture and slightly piquant flavor were absolutely flawless. My only complaint about the parsnip is that there wasn’t more of it, but that is just the glutton in me speaking!

I opted out of ordering an entrée because I really wanted to try all of the above plus the Spanish Mussels. Even the glutton in me knows its limits at times. For the past year or so I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect mussels and I think I have come very close to finding perfection at The Cellar. I’ve had my fair share of overcooked and bland mussels. I can safely say that the mussels at The Cellar didn’t exhibit any of these traits. They were drowned in a tomato saffron sauce. The saffron wasn’t overbearing, but it was still a prominent flavor in the dish. The Spanish chorizo was a great addition to the dish. Large chunks of them made their way into the shells and paired exquisitely with the mussels. Long after the mussels were gone, I was searching for tiny bits of the chorizo in the sauce. I hope I found all of them because it would have been a shame to let such a flavorful chorizo go to waste.

I washed all my food down with a Rose Martini: gin, raspberry and rose water, garnished with a maraschino cherry. I had my back to the bar so I was not able to see the bartender prepare my drink. Scott had a great view of the bar and told me they sprayed the martini glass with the rose water instead of mixing it with the other ingredients. This makes perfect sense because the rose was very subtle. I personally don’t like maraschino cherries and I thought their addition to the drink added very little value. I would have preferred a different garnish, like rose buds or raspberries. I have to focus on the flavor of the drink, not on what’s floating in it. Overall, the drink was very light and paired well with my food. Scott ordered a Dark and Stormy, which was served in a pint glass and was very delicious; the perfect example of quantity and quality.

Garden at the Cellar does not have a dessert menu, which I found rather interesting. Instead they offer a complementary plate of Taza chocolate. Taza chocolate is a locally owned chocolatier based out of Somerville, MA. I would love to further investigate the methods they use for making the chocolate because its texture was slightly ashy, not creamy. I don’t want you to interpret this in a negative way. The flavor of the chocolate was delicious and I became an instant fan of Taza.

When I got the bill, I nearly fell out of my chair. All of the above, plus drinks, set us back $75. For a meal of this caliber, I expected nearly twice as much. Good eats at good prices. Garden at the Cellar just became my favorite restaurant.

Bon Appetit!