Brain Candy

The Green Street Grill

Green street Grill in Cambridge lays claim to the longest standing liquor license in the city, so what better place to stop for a much needed cocktail after a hard day's work? This was the mentality that food buddy John and I walked in with when our plans for an elaborate home cooked meal were derailed by a sudden emergency at John's office. What was supposed to be an early evening of steamed crab legs and angel hair primavera at my apartment had suddenly turned into a late evening of me looking over John's shoulder as he plugged information into his computer (none of which I understood) and he and his cube mate and I shared cheese and champagne while they worked. As far as late nights at the office go, this one definitely wins, but by the time we made our way out of the office and into the crisp air of Central Square around 10:30, we were ready for a real meal and some cocktails.

Green Street Grill did not disappoint. At John's recommendation I ordered the Sugar Daddy, a kind of deconstructed dark and stormy, with ginger beer and mint, and a snifter of rum served on the side. I was instructed by our wonderfully laid back and spunky waitress not to mix them. I'm normally not one to sip rum straight, but when she tells me it would be a waste of the lovely rum she's served me to mix the two together, I believe her and obey, and am rewarded with the beautiful velvety caramel of the rum, and the shocking bite of the ginger beer that chases it down my throat.

We decided we were feeling a little crazy and ordered offal to split as an appetizer, since neither of us had ever tried fried cow's brains before. Now I can say I've had them, and I would certainly order them again, but perhaps not here. The texture of the meat itself was delicate almost like a scallop, but the niceness of the texture was ruined when all I got for flavor was the slightly burnt oil it had been fried in. The whole dish was saved by the details however. The salad of baby arugula the offal was served on, with its bright, acidic dressing, and the swirl of funky aioli underneath kept my mouth happy and distracted.

My entree of fresh homemade pasta with Wellfleet littleneck clams was a great example of why fresh pasta is worth bothering with, (you can absolutely tell the difference, both in the texture and the flavor) and the light citrus-y sauce was so yummy that John continued to reach over and sop up what was left in the bottom of my bowl with his bread long after his own entree was gone. Even against the sunny sauce, the flavor of the clams shone in every bite, which is why it was such a shame that the clams themselves were slightly rubbery. That being said, John's lobster gnocchi was the clear winner for the entree round. The lobster's flavor could easily have been overwhelmed by the chorizo it was served with, and almost was, but then somehow it sneaks back into your mouth after the spiciness of the sausage has died down for a little fresh kick of seafood to balance out the richness of the rest of the dish. We both had to scrape our jaws off the table after the first bite.

Everything up until this point had been very nice, save for a few technical snafus. But dessert won the entire evening, hands down. We ordered the ricotta fritter, and received a tidy pile of chocolate pastries in the shape of pretty little eggs, sitting in a pool of liquid chocolate. When you cut into them they reveal themselves to be light and airy, not the dense heavy bricks of cheese and chocolate I had been expecting at all. And biting into them...pure heaven. The slightly crisp exterior melts into the sweet, slightly tangy cloud of ricotta and pastry inside, managing to be both shockingly light, and unbelievably rich. We were literally stunned into silence by our dessert. Finally I got my brain together long enough to say what we were both thinking: "It's like an evil doughnut!" John was still chewing, and so could only nod his approval and make yummy noises, in what I could only assume was his agreement with my (slightly unsophisticated) assessment.

All in all, a lovely dinner, a friendly and unpretentious server, and the discovery of a restaurant in my neck of the woods that's not afraid to put brain on the menu kept my Gastro-brain humming, and my mouth happy.