FOOD & DRINK
MASS.
APPEAL
BOSTON
34
PHOTOGRAPHS BY RICHARD LEONARDI
•
MAY 2013
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
AMayflower descendant puts a contemporary
twist on Olde New England
BY JOLYON HELTERMAN
BOSTON’SDININGSCENE
is lousywith eateries giving perfunctory nods
to the region’s history, yielding an endless buffet of pasty “chowdahs,”
saccharinebakedbeans andersatz, warmed-over clambakes. By contrast,
newcomer Puritan & Company forgoes the museum approach in favor
of a modern take on foodstuffs that Bay Staters actually ate—sword-
fish, bluefish, johnnycakes, Parker House potato rolls and even Moxie,
a beloved local brand of syrupy cola—in a modern space with exposed
ducts anddistressed-oakfloors inCambridge’s InmanSquare. Everymeal
ends with a gratis square of cake as a tribute to the PuritanCake Co., the
restaurant’s early-1900s namesake, which once occupied the premises.
“
Massachuse s cuisine is a style that doesn’t get the sort of respect it
deserves,” says chef-ownerWill Gilson, whose familyhas lived in the state
for 13 generations. “I had to put something down on paper, so I calledmy
food ‘urban farmhouse.’ But it’s really just
the dishes and ingredients I grewupwith,
seen through a modern prism.”
Sure enough, the swordfish here gets
cured as pastrami and plated with mus-
tard gelato. The Moxie becomes a glaze
slathered onto tender braised lamb belly.
To accompany rare Wagyu steak, Gilson
resurrects the veggies served in a tradi-
tional Yankee boiled dinner—rutabagas,
potatoes, carrots—with a clever riff that
might be called
not-boiling-them-to-
death
.
Then there’s hardtack, a simple
type of biscuit named as much for its
taste and texture as its
YANKEE INGENUITY
Puritan & Company’s
lamb belly with Moxie
glaze; below, confit
duck leg with black-eyed
peas and a duck egg
MELISSA OSTROW
