You won't miss the red sauce
By KENJI ALT | July 25, 2007
A whole lot of restaurants in the North End specialize in dry pasta with red sauce, veal cutlets in 14 different flavors, and out-of-season Caprese salads. Couple this with the fact that the majority of the lobster eaten in the world is overcooked and rubbery and you understand my hesitation to order a lobster special in the North End. But La Brace is far from your typical North End restaurant, and their grilled lobster is far from your typical crustacean.
The dinner menu at La Brace not only has no dry pasta in sight, but has only one veal chop on offer (what? No saltimbocca? No piccata?): a massive, perfectly grilled double-cut chop of the highest quality ($29), which I’d enjoyed on a previous visit. This time, I took the waitress’s recommendation and ordered the grilled lobster. It’s a risk ordering lobster that’s been exposed to the intense heat of a grill — past experiences have left me nursing sore jaw muscles — but here the risk pays off.
A warm salad of paper-thin shaved fennel, arugula, cubes of salty sopressata, and pan-fried potatoes that stayed crisp even when dressed were the base beneath the large half lobster. Served in its shell, split down the middle with the claw meat removed lazy-man-style, the tender and buttery lobster was barely kissed by the smoky flavor of the grill. Though the accompaniments change seasonally, this time the richness of the lobster and the saltiness of the sopressata were perfectly offset by a purée of peaches, like summer in a sauce.
Available often for $19 to $24 (depending on lobster size) at La Brace, 76 Salem Street, in Boston. Call 617.523.8820.
Related:
Sorellina, Pepper Pot Restaurant, Uburger, More 
- Sorellina
Another week, another second or third restaurant by a famous chef (Jamie “Mistral” Mammano) focused on a single cuisine (Italian), with a more-junior chef (John Delpha) at the controls.
- Pepper Pot Restaurant
Roxbury restaurants seem largely overlooked by Boston food writers.
- Uburger
From a distance, it’s hard to tell if Uburger — the new hamburger joint in Kenmore Square — is even open yet.
- Gaslight Brasserie du Coin
This week I give four stars to Gaslight, where nothing costs more than $20.
- The Rhumbline
A nautical rhumb line is akin to the shortest distance between two points. The Rhumbline, on the other hand, has zigged and zagged over the past decade to its current captain, Ian McIntyre.
- El Cafetal
If nothing else, then come for the drinks.
- Smoken’ Joe’s Authentic Southern Barbeque
You wouldn’t have told Otis Redding to sing faster, so take a hint from him and slow down the cooking.
- Choukoun’s Bistro
When a restaurant names itself after a poem, it’s easy to assume the best.
- Tried and true
The greasy, informal meals of summer lead to lots of uncouth mouth-cramming and finger-licking. It is best not to look. For this reason, many purveyors of the quintessential summertime burger are set up for shoulder-to-shoulder eating.
- Real men eat quiche
This article originally appeared in the August 1 issue of Stuff@Night.
- Flat Patties
A fast-food cheeseburger is like a drunken assignation with a stranger met at a wedding reception: momentarily delectable but often leading to shame, nausea, and possibly even health issues.
- Less
Topics:
Hot Plate
, Culture and Lifestyle, Food and Cooking, Foods, More
, Culture and Lifestyle, Food and Cooking, Foods, Fruits and Vegetables, Ethnic Cuisines, Meat, Italian Food and Cooking, Less
