Foie Gras Poutine Award for Extraordinary Food in an Unlikely Setting (Tie): Grezzo And Benatti
Grezzo (69 Prince Street, Boston, 857.362.7288) gets a nod for establishing the city’s first raw-food restaurant in the land of vitello parmigiano, better known as the north end. Benatti (1128 Cambridge street, Cambridge, 617.492.6300) deserves its bravery citation for opening a swish, ultramodern Emilia-Romagnan restaurant in a bleak stretch of East Cambridge best known for modest Portuguese restaurants. Both are high-stakes bets that Bostonians will set aside neighborhood stereotypes in search of innovative cuisine. These two pioneers deserve to succeed.
Bonus Points for Humility Award: O Ya
O Ya (9 East Street, Boston, 617.654.9900) could’ve gotten uppity after The New York Times called it the best restaurant in America outside of Manhattan, yet it remains placid and unpretentious, still billing itself as an izakaya, a casual Japanese sake bar that serves food. That’s almost comically modest: O Ya brings impeccable seafood, rare luxury ingredients, and jaw-dropping creativity to its Japanese-inspired cuisine. It might’ve jacked up prices or started treating customers disrespectfully, but it hasn’t, befitting a place that strives to produce exquisite little moments of culinary satori, and often succeeds.
Highest Energy in the Lowest-key: Bill Poirier of Sonsie
Since everyone knows Sonsie (327 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.351.2500) as ground zero for Back Bay oglers, it’s odd how few know the man who made it so. Poirier’s profile may be low, but since day one, his penchant for breezy experimentalism has only heightened. After all, with windows like those, Sonsie could long ago have watched its quality control go right out them; if the menu were nothing but burgers and wings, the place would still be packed. Instead, Poirier consistently ups antes — adding apples and apple brandy to French onion soup; reinventing latkes with sour cream by topping celeriac pancakes with goat-cheese butter; slathering the lowly chicken sandwich with blue cheese–enhanced mayo. So go get a mouthful with your eyeful.
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