A new favorite restaurant

harrock (hah, I was wondering when "fearless" got purple hair, but that's because he's not fearless here...) and I went to Alden & Harlow last night (I cannot remember the name of this place to save my life. I have to keep looking it up). It's in Harvard Square, on the lower level surrounding the entrance to the Brattle Theater.

It's one of those "small plates" places that's become more common, with the "locally sourced produce" attribute that is also very common, but my goodness it was tasty, sufficient to really stand out. It reminded me a little bit of Gargoyles, in that there were some Very Odd Things (my first cocktail was chosen based on the fact that it had "salted radish" as an ingredient; a lamb plate came with "carrot mash" which was more or less a finely shredded-not-quite-pureed carrot cake), and a little bit of Spoke, in that everything came with interesting tasty sauces and veggie accoutrements which I had to protect from being cleared by the waitstaff. On a late Sunday evening, it wasn't full at all, and wasn't noisy, though the tables are close together so there could be conversation overlap. (It also had a very cream-filled burrata that I mention for mathhobbit, that Jerry regarded very suspiciously, as it looked kind of like a poached ostrich egg.)

I am already planning to go back and try all the dishes that I didn't have last time. Well, maybe not all of them at once.