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    Home » US Travel » Boston » Cambridge » Harvard Square

    Craigie Street Bistrot (now Craigie on Main)

    Published: Oct 11, 2007 · Modified: Oct 29, 2014 by Jennifer Che

    We went to Craigie Street Bistrot for our anniversary dinner.

    Craigie Street Bistrot is tucked away in a residential area about a 5-10 minute walk outside of Harvard Square. The chef, Tony Maws, has won countless awards, including America's top 10 new chefs by Food and Wine Magazine and also Best of Boston 2007 for General Excellence.

    The food is French by cuisine, but the ingredients are all local, New England, fresh produce - at least for most of the year (winter is sometimes a bit tough). Every morning Tony collaborates with local farmers and picks out the best organic produce and meat for that day. He then designs the menus based on his picks. The menu changes every day, and is usually printed out right before the restaurant opens at 5 PM.

    We decided to try the Chef's Tasting Menu for our anniversary. This is essentially a chef's whim type of tasting. "Tony will cook whatever he wants for you!" It's a 7-course meal plus another 3 courses of desserts. There's basically a regular version and a vegetarian version. We both ordered the regular version (both people at the table have to order the same tasting menu).

    The food was absolutely fabulous. Tony Maws is an excellent cook. I won't go into detail describing each dish, because that would take forever (see below for the menu of what we ate). Suffice it to say - it's definitely worth trying the tasting at least once. This is a chance to try the best of what a chef can do - he is truly at the peak of his creativity. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Even though French cuisine is not my favorite, Craigie Street Bistrot is probably one of my favorite restaurants in Boston.

    The Chef's Tasting Menu is not cheap. Ours was $115 a person plus the cost of wine. If you want to experience Tony's creativity for a little less money, you can try the Chef's Whim, which is available Wednesday and Sunday evenings after 9 PM. For either $39.99 (4 courses) or $55 (6 courses) a person, Tony Maws will cook a spontaneous meal for you. I've never personally tried this, but it sounds like a lot of fun and I definitely want to try it in the future!

    There's also the prix fixe deal, which is $36 for a three course meal. It is available Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday; and after 9:00 pm Friday and Saturday. Bryan and I have tried this once. Although it was fine, it did not compare to the complexity and flavor of the other dishes that he makes.

    CHEF'S TASTING MENU

    Assiette of Kona Kampachi Sashimi
    melon, peanuts, green olives, salmon roe, ginger-chile vinaigrette

    Salad of Farm Fresh Tomatoes and House Cured Anchovies
    lovage vinaigrette, mizuna, salt-cured foie gras

    Squid and Vegetable noodles
    squid ink-dash sauce, trout roe

    Slow-Cooked Farm Fresh Egg
    summer succotash, Spanish octopus, chorizo sauce

    Roasted Red Chile-Marinated Kampachi Kama

    Roasted Beef Bone Marrow
    smoked beef tongue confit

    CSB Boudin Noir Stuffed Vermont Organic Quail
    summer vegetables, smoked farro, black trumpet mushroom puree

    Tea-infused Panna Cottas
    rooibos, jasmine

    Warm Sweet White Corn Grits
    local blackberries, poached peach puree, anise hyssop ice cream

    Market Fruits Crisp
    walnut topping, buttermilk ice cream

    Chille Mariposa Plum Soup
    yogurt sorbet

    Craigie On Main on Urbanspoon

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    All Rights Reserved

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    Trackbacks

    1. Craigie on Main - Pig's Head for Two - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      December 17, 2016 at 9:36 pm

      […] and garbanzo beans. I have loved Chef Maws’s corn soup ever since I first tried it at Craigie Street Bistrot years ago, and this was no exception. His method of preparation is painstaking, involving scraping […]

      Log in to Reply
    2. Happy 20th Anniversary! A look back . . . - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      September 1, 2021 at 4:18 am

      […] This blog was born in 2007, and in the early days, it had no photos (!). My write-up of our 6th anniversary meal (one of the earliest blog posts at Tiny Urban Kitchen), is here at Craigie Street Bistrot. […]

      Log in to Reply
    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen

    Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am an expat who moved from Boston to Hong Kong 5 years ago. Born and raised in Ohio to Taiwanese immigrant parents, I am a chemistry nerd, patent attorney by day, blogger by night, church musician on weekends, and food enthusiast always. Feel free to explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!

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