Don’t try to cheap out with the Kobe beef burger ($23). It’s a swell half-pound burger, but the clean, simple flavor of Japanese premium beef is kind of wasted inside a bun with onions, lettuce, tomato, and your choice of ketchup, mustard, or homemade mayonnaise. The real fun of this dish is the accompanying six-story pile of steak fries the size of Lincoln Logs, but much better tasting. To complete the vertical theme, pickles are served standing in a wine glass full of ice.
Sautéed halibut ($27) is a super piece of fish, served on some rather good tofu in a bowl of soy-based broth with baby bok choy. Glazed wild king salmon ($27) was also superb with Japanese-style lightly pickled carrot shreds. The side vegetables ($5.95) are not to be missed. U choy are mustardy greens with lots of garlic and a little soy sauce. Whipped potatoes were as good as can be.
The wine list is mostly from California; they’re really fine examples, fairly priced but expensive to begin with. Our glass of 2004 Clos LaChance “Violet-Crowned” merlot ($10/glass) had such a spicy, complex nose that I’d build a dinner around a bottle of it. A 2004 Edmeades “Perli Vineyard” zinfandel ($18/glass; $48/bottle) was the old-fashioned, Bordeaux-like zin you can hardly find. For those with the money for Oregon pinot noirs, the list has two of the best I tasted from that state: Penner Ash and Patricia Green. These are wines that are hard to find even in a store in Oregon. Decaf coffee ($4) was exquisite, and chamomile tea ($6) was pretty close to that.
Only three desserts were available the night of our visit, but each was a knockout. Chocolate panna cotta ($8) was the perfect balance of bitter and sweet, in the lighter body of a gelled pudding. The whipped cream that it comes with was subtly soured, perhaps with crème frâiche. “Boston cheesecake” ($8) was almost as light as the panna cotta, with a clear cheese flavor, the thinnest possible graham-cracker crust, and slices of orange as a garnish. Raspberry cobbler ($8) was served in an oversize wine glass with lots of whipped cream and a crunchy cake, like a deconstructed crisp.
Service at Boston Public was as forthcoming as its price point dictates, with waiters offering tastes of wines when a particular glass wasn’t available. A number of things were in flux our night: we had to switch menus to accommodate a late shipment of oysters; the first two glasses of wine we ordered were both out; and we couldn’t get mashed parsnips as a side dish. The menu is somewhat simpler than the one the restaurant originally opened with — one hopes that Maffeo’s transition from chef to chef/co-owner hasn’t put him in a financial squeeze.
The room is dark and simple, and background music ranges from old soul tracks to Astor Piazzolla, the Argentine tango master — it’s basic enough that an atmosphere doesn’t really form. Interestingly, as Maffeo has taken over the reins at Boston Public, he has reined in some of his creativity. But it does feel more independent of the attached clothing store, and the food, regardless of format, is superior.
Robert Nadeau can be reached at RobtNadeau@aol.com.
