Green Street Grille was once one of our go-to restaurants. Big portions of Caribbean inspired food by chef/owner John Levins, it was always an experience for the taste buds. But John Levins sold the restaurant and we never went back.
Last week I was turned on to the website eater.com. If you’ve never heard of it and you love food, check it out. Every month they feature 38 essential restaurants and for the month of January Green Street was one of the 38, so that’s where we went last Saturday.
First, some history about the street. Green Street in Cambridge has a rock n’ roll history. Behind Mass Ave in Central Square it’s kind of seedy. It’s where Peter Wolf once lived with if you can believe it, Van Morrison. Yes, in case you didn’t know, Van Morrison once lived in Cambridge.
The restaurant Green Street, as it’s now known is in a very unassuming brick building. Inside, there’s a lot happening. A busy bar full of locals chowing down on some great food including an awesome looking burger; at the end of the bar you can watch what’s happening in the kitchen and on 8P on a Saturday night they’re jamming. Walk up the stairs into a dining room that runs the length of the restaurant. There’s nothing fancy about it but there is some original artwork on the walls. You don’t have to dress up, in fact dress down.
The food – we liked a lot. We didn’t know where to start because everything sounded so good. After a little discussion this is what was on our table:
Warm farro and kale salad with dried cranberries and goat cheese. Okay, it was delicious. The goat cheese all melted into the farro and the dried cranberries giving it some tart sweetness.
Bay scallops and squid ceviche with little slivers of fried taro and slices of avocado in a grapefruit and lime marinade; it hit the mark.
Potato leek soup – it was like eating a bowl of cream it was so good
Bon Chon chicken wings – crispy, salty, excellent
Duck fat fried potatoes – little gourmet potatoes sliced in half and served crispy. What can possibly be bad about potatoes in duck fat!
The only thing we weren’t impressed with was the dessert: a chocolate peanut butter brownie with vanilla ice cream and fudge sauce. The brownie was hard, the fudge sauce barely there. But we ate it anyway!
We loved the vibe, the art on the walls and the local Cambridge flavor. Will we go back? Definitely.
See you at the bar….
