Every once in a great while, I fall in love with a restaurant. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it can be kind of intense. I find myself thinking of it longingly when I’m hungry. I find myself wondering if I can re-create some of the dishes myself. I plan my triumphant return.
Though I haven’t yet dared to attempt any of the dishes I had at T.W. Food in Cambridge, I have a feeling I might do so soon. T.W. Food and I were pretty much destined for one another from the start. I love small restaurants, seasonally-rotating menus, and slightly out-of-the-way places. T.W. Food matches all of these criteria.
Tucked away in Huron Village, a quiet corner of Cambridge, T.W. Food contains perhaps ten tables. When I arrived one rainy, blustery February day, it felt warm, intimate, and welcoming. The menu is fairly small, but changes daily. I started with a gratin of winter greens, cabbage, taleggio, and cranberries. If there’s one dish I will try to make myself, this is it. Though I was dubious of the cranberries, they functioned sort of like a gremolata, providing a high acid note that sang above the basso profundo of the cabbage and cheese. It can be difficult to create a seasonal vegetable dish during the winter, but this was certainly a success. My friend’s appetizer, tuna confit with grapefruit and fennel, was decidedly less successful. It rather resembled canned tuna heaped on a plate, strewn with garnishes.
As an entrée, I had a Vermont beef pot au feu, with ribeye, brisket, and merguez sausage. The waitress presented the meat and poured over a steaming foie gras bouillon from a kettle. The broth was richly decadent, and the smell emanating from my plate was quite nearly intoxicating. My friend’s Swiss potato rösti with “braised pig” (yes, the menu strangely referred to it as pig rather than pork) was also reportedly a success. This dish even sent me to Google, as I had never heard of rösti before. Apparently it’s a potato pancake. Both dishes had clearly been finished with a sprinkling of sea salt that may have been applied just barely too-heavily.
The wine list is very small, but I like that each wine appears to have been chosen with care. We were in a celebratory mood, so ordered a bottle of Merlot/Tannat, which went very well with the food. The mini french press of coffee was also good.
I have heard others criticize T.W. Food as “precious,” or insult the chef as “in love with his own ideas,” but I found no evidence to support either of these claims. Everything about T.W. Food is attended to with great care, which perhaps turns some people off. I thought it was lovely to be surrounded by a restaurant staff who were clearly passionate about food. Nothing we ate was obnoxiously clever or even trying too hard. T.W. Food is so intimate that it almost feels as if you are dining in the home of a good friend. I left in such a warm glow that I did not mind stumbling a mile through the driving rain to the T, and cared very little that my umbrella flipped inside-out not once, but three times.
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