AMBROSIA: The spare ribs were yummy, with a sauce that hints at sesame and anise. |
| Persephone | 617.695.2257 | 283 Summer Street, Boston | Open Mon–Sat, 5:30–10 pm | AE, DI, MC, VI | Full bar | No valet parking | Access up several steps to main level | Sidewalk entrance at 281 Summer Street |
I don’t know what it is with restaurants in high-end clothing stores, but Persephone is the best restaurant I’ve reviewed since . . . well, the opening of the lamented Pava, located in another haute fashion place. You get to Persephone by walking through the Achilles part of the Achilles Project, which is the kind of boutique where there’s only one of each garment on the racks, and that garment is a size zero (for women) or an extra-small (for men). I suppose that reduces inventory shrinkage, since most people — including anyone who likes food enough to be on their way to eat at Persephone — will have to request that a much larger size be brought out from storage.Once past the Scylla of designer clothing and the Charybdis of plasma TVs, situated high up in the middle of the room and set up to display sports and video games, you have a choice of lounge seating and dining tables, both in an airy room designed for industrial chic (and din). (Okay, I know: Achilles is in the Iliad and Scylla and Charybdis are in the Odyssey. But Achilles and Persephone don’t go together, either.) The menu, unlike the store, has various sizes: small, which are tapas or bar bites; medium, which are appetizers in the familiar sense; large, which are entrées, though they sometimes need a steak-house-like side vegetable; and extra-large, which are protein slabs for two (or perhaps one XXL athlete).
We kept to the middle, and were perhaps knocked out most by the soup of the day ($8), asparagus purée. Every time I try to make asparagus soup, it’s overpowered by concentrated asparagus flavor, but this soup had a mellower, almost nut-like quality. Fresh bread with a thick crumb worked as well as a spoon. A seared scallop ($9) was impeccable, and the underlying fresh peas and finely diced carrots were beyond that. Arugula salad ($9) was, in every sense, just slightly better than the usual, from the delicious greens to the shaved cheese and the surprise of a few green fava beans. Spareribs ($9) — usually not a food associated with fine clothing — were very nicely baked with a barbecue sauce that hinted at sesame and anise. It was too yummy to spill a drop on our clothes.
The winning large plate was roast chicken ($19). If a simple roast chicken is the test of a chef, Michael Leviton, who’s also chef/owner of Newton’s Lumière, goes to the top of the heap. This was super, juicy chicken, served on top of arugula, pine nuts, raisins, and a toast or two. About as good was “Niman Ranch bavette steak” ($25). I associate Niman with pork, but their beef must be even more amazing, because this potentially stringy cut (bavette is French for flap steak) was here fork-tender and exquisite. The accompanying lightly seasoned French fries are the frites of the year.
Halibut ($28) was a light and tasty slab of fish with a perfect glaze, served on wild mushrooms, mostly shiitake and oysters. We also had a side of those wild mushrooms ($8), which was small but excellent. A side of macaroni and cheese ($9), served in a cast-iron mini-skillet, was large but only average. Asparagus ($6) were from vegetable heaven, and served with a parsley-garlic sauce that could be applied profitably to almost anything else on the table. Peas ($8) were the fresh English kind, a vegetable you don’t see much anymore. Back before sugar snaps became the norm, my children, these were an incredible seasonal delicacy.
Bouillabaisse ($26) had the classic anise-seafood-garlic aroma of French fisherman’s stew, this one without any fish (usually the best morsels) or shrimp (usually a pointless addition). The protein here was littleneck clams, mussels, scallops, and a few bites of squid; I’ve seldom had a richer broth in a seafood stew, and used every bit of toast and an empty mussel shell to get it all.
The wine list is organized by style and listed to emphasize grapes. This could be misleading when, for instance, you have an entry for 2007 Boekenhoutskloof The Wolftrap ($8/glass; $30/bottle) that says “Syrah-Viognier.” That’s a red grape and a white grape; must be a rosé, right? No, it’s actually a South African answer to a red Rhône blend: about 60 percent syrah, 39 percent Mourvèdre (another red grape), and one percent viognier to add a little aroma and to soften it. There can be a few white grapes in a bottle of Chianti or Châteauneuf-du-Pape for the same reason. So what we had was a rather Californian-style syrah, a little drier but soft enough to drink now with all kinds of food. On the bar side, there are some efforts to employ pomegranate liqueur, in honor of Persephone’s fatal snack. French-press coffee and decaf ($6) are also available, and are your best guarantee of fresh coffee.
