Editor’s note: Scott’s on a road trip to Massachusetts and Maine. He’ll share reviews of some of the restaurants along the way.
My New England road trip – technically boat and road trip because it will include a couple of ferry rides – began in Boston with a dinner with an old friend at Trade, a Mediterranean restaurant that leans heavily toward the Greek sides of the sea.
The chef is Jody Adams, a James Beard Award winner, whose previous restaurant, Rialto in Cambridge, closed in 2016. Trade, on the cusp of Boston’s burgeoning Seaport district, opened in 2011. The food is top notch, served, skillfully, in a modern decor that thrums with happy diners.
My guests and I started with a watermelon fattoush brought to the table by the restaurant’s gracious general manager, Harry Asimis. The salad had juicy chunks of watermelon and heirloom tomatoes and crumbles of manouri cheese, drizzled with a yuzu dressing with mint and sumac.
We also enjoyed the starters of crispy cauliflower, spanakopita flatbread and pomegranate glazed eggplant. The consensus of the table was that the cauliflower – indeed crispy and with cheese, olives and honey – was the winner with the flatbread, fresh and doughy, a very close second.
One of my companions had the oxtail pastitsio entree, with meaty hunks of tender tail stewed into a ragu with a fresh pasta layer and cheese sprinkles.
I chose the bulgar chickpea pilaf, with spiced carrot purée, tahini, and feta stuffed peppers. At first I thought I had chosen poorly – it all seemed bland – but then I stirred it all up and the garlic, dill and , garlicky greens, urfa chili pepper, and dill started to bloom.
The whole branzino was an impressive presentation, served on a troughed cutting board with smashed potato fingerlings, zucchini, olives and ladolemeno dressing, which gave it all a citrusy note.
For dessert, summer fruits with lemon cream, with rasp, black and blue berries and kiwi with a refreshing custard.
Service was a bit tentative at times and menu knowledge wasn’t what it should have been, but those are just niggles for an otherwise wonderful meal.
See restaurant details at the Trade restaurant website.
