BISq - Wine & Spirits Magazine

BISq


photo by Isabel Roeder

Morcilla

New from the team that runs Bergamot in Somerville, BISq offers many reasons to make the trip to Inman Square, in Cambridge’s northeast reaches. The first might be the restaurant’s charcuterie. Chef Dan Bazzinotti (previously the sous chef at Bergamot) shows off his skills on the “bazz hook-up board,” with delicacies like burnished-pink chicken livers whipped silky smooth and accented by magenta rose petals, or velvety lardo with a side of pickled strawberries. Then there’s his talent with produce: This summer, sweet grilled peaches arrived with housemade ricotta, crisp Hakurei turnips and crunchy pistachios, and spaghetti squash came braised in crushed tomatoes. Just as compelling are the drinks, whether it’s the microbrews, Rare Tea Company teas or Kai Gagnon’s wine list, which culls high-acid, sausage-ready wines from France’s coolest wine areas. The Loire selection is particularly rich, with bottles from Thierry Puzelat and Clos Rougeard; the representation from the Jura and Savoie is also unusually robust, with older vintages of Louis Magnin and Puffeney. He departs from his cool-climate focus only for aged Madeira (d’Oliveira) and Sherry (Valdespino and El Maestro Sierra), fuel for another round of mazzafegati, a delicious Umbrian pork liver sausage topped with roasted peppers.

1071 Cambridge St., Cambridge, Massachusetts

New American

617-714-3693

Caitlin Griffith knew her future career would entail food and drink when, at the age of six, she munched an anchovy from her father’s Caesar salad thinking it as a small strip of bacon—and was more than pleasantly surprised. While enrolled in New York University’s Food Studies program, she learned the secrets of affinage in the caves of Murray’s Cheese.


This story appears in the print issue of October 2015.
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