Chef/owner Doug Organ decided that his excellent Arbor restaurant had priced and classed its way out of the neighborhood business he needed for weeknights, so he closed for a while to retool, re-price, and rename. He went from strictly Mediterranean to some Mexican and Asian flavors and comfort food, with many entrées at a moderate price point of $12.50 to $14.50.
Paradoxically, this move downscale and to commercial accommodation, while keeping the best of the old bistro, has made it a much better restaurant.
Take one of the new, cheaper entrées: Baja fish tacos ($12.50; $6.50/one taco as an appetizer). Organ is from San Diego, and he must have grown up on fish tacos. But these are better, because he’s learned kitchen technique. The tortillas are thinner and fresher tasting — they might even be homemade. The pieces of fried fish are buttery fresh, and the frying is superb. The pico de gallo on the side ($1.50/add-on for other dishes) is freshly made and contains actual cilantro. The black beans ($3.50/side dish) are fully cooked and savory. And the “special sauce” is based on a homemade mayonnaise. The portion is two of everything and four tacos, so two light eaters could split the dish. I’ve eaten fish tacos at a famous stand in Baja, California, that weren’t even close to this good.
The same great frying technique makes something special out of semolina-fried calamari ($8.50), which is served with fried jalapeño slices. The dip is a lemon-caper mayonnaise with a garlic kick, but with frying this fine, you don’t actually need a dip.
Roasted-carrot and ginger soup ($7.50) gets all the richness out of the carrots (and a dab of yogurt), squeezes all the spice out of the fresh ginger, and offers just enough chives and hot pepper to emphasize without dominating the basic flavors. Tuna tartare ($9.50) is close enough to sushi quality, shredded into a tasty little heap with sesame oil and seeds, and it comes with pickled ginger and wasabi on the side if you really want the sushi flavor. Three fried wonton skins will turn you against potato chips forever. Moroccan Medjool date and orange salad ($8.50) is a holdover from Arbor that still runs on a whiff of cinnamon and some shreds of mint. Boston Bibb salad ($7) is a fine job, with thin-sliced radishes providing extra interest.
Among the main dishes, it’s hard to pass up the two or three daily fish specials, which have recently included tilefish, monkfish, and bluefish. We got the mahi-mahi on the prix fixe dinner ($24.50/three courses, all with choices, but you do have to start before 7 pm). It was outstanding for the species — nearly as richly flavored as grouper — on a platform of excellent whipped potatoes, with some crisp and bright green beans as well. (You can get about three times as many green beans as a side dish for $3.50, and you often should.)
