Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act
that should not be indulged in lightly.
- M.F.K. Fisher
If you're a lover of fine food and a lover, you're aware of
the romantic catalysts a restaurant can offer: close seating, pleasing
ambiance, and the up-close pleasures of sharing delectable food. But the
restaurant path to love is studded with landmines. Will your date be
comfortable with the cuisine? (Pig-ear terrine isn't for everyone.) Is it quiet
enough to talk? (Murmured intimacies can lose their luster when shouted.) What
else might your choice reveal about you? (P.F. Chang's can say, "I'm
unpretentious," or "I'm afraid of real Chinese food.") And in the flirtation stage,
choosing somewhere too extravagant can be like lunging for that soul kiss too
soon.
Consider UpStairs on the Square (91 Winthrop Street, Cambridge, 617.864.1933), the Harvard Square stalwart whose
New American food has served as backdrop for countless seductions. The
upper-floor Soirée Dining Room is over-the-top gorgeous, a fairyland of gilt,
jewel tones, and fantastical lighting, with food to match. But it's easy to
drop $150 on dinner for two, and twice that on chef Steven Brand's elaborate
tasting menus. It's great for an anniversary, but a third date? Slow down
there, wolfie. Less likely to overwater the fragile seedling of your amour is
the lower-level Monday Club Bar, which also has lovely, whimsical décor -
pinks, greens, golds, zebra prints, mirrors, and carved wood - plus the
flattering glow of firelight from two big hearths. A cozy curved bar serves
imaginative cocktails. The space is casual, relaxed; it breathes.
Chef Susan Regis's menu slouches comfortably with shareable
appetizers, creative thin-crust pizzas, and beautiful pastas, like delicate
potato gnocchi topped with an intense braise of beef cheeks ($14). Her food is
eclectic, attractive, and modest: no entree tops $27. Pastry chef Maria
Santos's desserts continue this motif with Zebra Cake ($8), chocolate cake
artfully crowned with ganache, layered with dulce de leche buttercream, and
flanked with phenomenal malted-chocolate ice cream. Like the Monday Club Bar
itself, this little plate of sweetness is everything you want your romantic
self to be: easy on the eyes but not extravagant, sophisticated yet fun - and
above all, not trying too hard. If you're aiming to ignite a spark (or keep an
old flame burning), that's a pretty fine place to start.
