I recently had the great pleasure of dinning at Dante de Magistriss new restaurant at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge (across from the galleria). I am a native Italian who can count on one hand the number of Italian restaurants I have been to in 20 years in the US that have not disappointed, at the top of my short list is San Domenico in New York. After having tried the fare at Dantes I now have another addition to that short list.
After a crisp dry prosecco we opened the meal by sampling the Oysters, and the raw calamari, peppers over brioche, salad. The oysters were fresh and came with a very well balanced sea salt based seasoning mix, and the calamari were exquisite and oh so delicate (may have been med calamari as they tasted too delicate and sweet to be north Atlantic). The pairing of the calamari with a nice Trebbiano worked very well.
After a lovely little amuse bouche ( some type of fish sashimi drizzled with olive oil and topped by a very light cream based spuma, or foam) we moved on to a selection of cooked appetizers. Here too Dante hiit all the high notes and avoided the pitfalls of other chefs who fall prey to sensory dissonance when trying to play fusion with traditional Italian dishes. The New England clam bake take on traditional Italian zuppa di pesce worked very well indeed with the andouille mini corn dog adding a very flavorful accent to the dish. The other dishes we tried all showcased the refined sense of balance that Dante has in pairing foods and flavors, not over loading on any one particular flavor and in this way allowing the organic synergies to play out to perfection. This clever pairing of flavors was showcased again with the sweetness of the caramelized onion tart paired with the slightly tart goats cheese and the mildly acidic aged balsamic.
Search dante on the Boston Board at chowhound dot com for the whole review. Enjoy!
Pros: Innovative and delicious food
Cons: none
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