Wines at Z Square are admirably inexpensive ($5 to $10 by the glass; all bottles under $30) and served in glasses big enough to bring up some aroma. The 2003 McWilliams shiraz ($7/glass; $28/bottle) was the best we tasted for this kind of food. A non-vintage wine, the Xplorador cabernet from Chile ($7/$28), and a 2004 Red Rock merlot ($7/$28) went to the spicy sides of their respective grapes, and are good picks for world food. Most impressive, you get a big cup of fair-trade coffee or decaf for only $1.50.
Desserts are mostly permutations of Toscanini’s ice cream. It’s some of the best, but only two flavors were in stock when we visited: vanilla and caramel. The “simple dessert” of the day ($5) was an apple crisp that was more like a corner-square piece of apple pie — mostly crust. It comes with Toscanini’s ice cream and caramel sauce, though. A cookie ($2.50) is the budget way to get a scoop of ice cream, which comes on top. Ice cream by itself ($4) gets you two scoops. For a really sweet tooth, the root-beer float ($5) features Stewart’s Root Beer, so you get two top brands.
Service at the new Z Square is good, despite a complicated system. Servers put your empty dishes into a large drawer beneath a serving station. At some point, they’re then picked up by a phantom busperson. Not all of our food was hot, we got an extra soup, and some wines were unavailable. But the staff smoothed things over and did well with what they got.
Despite a lot of windows, flagstone-look flooring, and wood tables, Z Square is not as loud as the old Harvard Square cafeterias that inspired owner David Zebny. I credit the cut-up floor plan and acoustic tile in the ceiling. I know that stuff looks cheap, but it does work. The atmosphere depends on where you’re seated, and sometimes there’s live music.
***
On my way to a Mexican vacation, I missed a plane and caught a meal at Todd English’s Bonfire, beyond the security checkpoint at Logan’s Terminal B. Long-time readers will remember that I think it’s never a good sign when the chef’s name comes before the name of the restaurant, and my review of the original Bonfire in Park Square was harsh. That restaurant opened at a time when English was overextended, and the food in the early months was astonishingly poorly cooked. But the new Bonfire was a chance to see how the concept has shaped up.
Well, the ego is still there. The TV at the entrance shows a looped video of English, handsome and vivacious, doing some cable-TV food activities. You also realize where you are when you order a steak and get a plastic knife. Airport steak houses have to compromise a little. Some other weaknesses: a draft beer with a spoiled aftertaste, crowded tables, a piece of salmon a day too old, mediocre desserts, and no bread basket. But many of the old Todd English values are honored: a heaped plate of fried calamari, a vast and excellent salad, a delicious flank steak tender enough to cut with a plastic knife, true roasted asparagus, and a top-shelf fresh chimichurri sauce. Given the difficulties of running a kitchen inside airport security, I think the Todd English machine is back in gear. I look forward to his opening new restaurants in the accessible world.
Robert Nadeau can be reached at RobtNadeau@aol.com.
