I’m grabbing this moment while I can to finally write about an extraordinary meal I had last week.  Amidst a hectic and lengthy week of moving into my new apartment in Boston and commencing in my junior year at Boston college, I can finally say I have a snippet of time to recapture a dining experience that may have been an obliterated memory if I kept it off paper for even just one more day.  That’s what’s funny about food- it’s so extremely based on the now, that even moments after a dish is completed or taken away from you place-setting, you can never fully replicate the sensations and emotions a taste can so powerfully generate in that particularly short amount of time.

I was thankful to have my dad help me out in the journey of moving into my first proper apartment.  However his birthday happened to land on the last day of his trip east, which meant we were scrambling from day’s start to day’s end with the exhausting tasks one endures in any move-in.  We had both read and heard great things about the tiny Cambridge restaurant, ‘Craigie on Main,’ and thought that this birthday celebration would not only provide as light at the end of a tunnel of a hard day, but also give us the chance to see what all the buzz on this recognized meat-haven bistro was about.

Sitting at the bar, early for our reservation, we found that not only was the wine list outstanding, but also the woman-bar tender was extremely knowledgeable about each of the ones listed.  She spoke about wine the way I feel about food.  She described one champagne as a child would explain their favorite candy– she proclaimed it gave her the warm chills just thinking about it’s fruitful yet rounded effervescence.  She indulged in the thought of this wine so much that she actually quivered in delight as she spoke.  I knew then that I was in good foodie company here at Carigie’s.

Pondering the pre-fix and à la carte menus, our sharp and witty waitress explained that the kitchen can also create ‘personalized’ 6-10 course meals according to diner preferences or simply what the chef feels like creating.  Being that it was my Dad’s birthday, we took this splurgeful daring dive and ordered up an 8-course chef’s choice menu.  We were blind to what was to come, however I put in one request– Bone marrow!  I had to try it, I had heard so much lustful commentary over the matter, and new I couldn’t go my life without gorging on this rumored delicacy.

1^st course:  trio of sea offerings.  Squid ‘noodles’ with garlic and a squirt of acid.  Poached lobster, so tender not from the addition of butter, but because it tasted and had the texture of a softened stick of yellow-tinted, sweet cream, European butter. The crustacean was topped with baby cilantro that had the most peppery yet sweet bite. You wouldn’t expect it.  The tertiary: sardine sashimi with a light balsamic glaze– a perfect yin-yang of salt and fresh sweetness.

2^nd course: House smoked trout with an unparalleled combination of tangy sweet onion, silky avocado, basil, and vinegar.  A touch of rounded, deep smoke, and this became my newest fish obsession.  At this point we joked with the waitress that each course scaled to the top of our favorite dishes of the evening.  (This though was secretly my very, very favorite).

We were also wondering at this time why we hadn’t yet seen a lick of red meat, when why, wasn’t this place famous for it’s pork and beef?  A pig is the restaurant’s logo for gosh sakes.  I didn’t really care though, this seafood was undeniably superb!  (…I was also secretly scared for the beef-bone marrow that was eventually to be served…)

3^rd course:  homemade tortellini with wild, local mushrooms served in a wide-lipped bowl and in a shallow bath of rich chicken broth.  Earthy and mellifluous to the tongue.

4^th course: Remembered by my voice memo application on my phone– Sable fish with burnt caramel vinaigrette, bathed in white miso.  Ok, I know that’s not a lot to remember, but by now the 2005 Daniel Bocquenet Vosne- Romanee Burgundy was starting to kick in, and well, I’m new to this food writing thing and I’m still figuring out how best to remember everything.  I do however, clearly remember thinking “screw M&Ms, this fish melllts in your mouth.”

Course 5: Oh..no, here it came…The Marrow!  Roasted sweet cherry tomatoes, a guzzling of jus, and a handy slice of Texas toast to soak up the abounding drippings.  With the texture of fatty pork belly, and the depth of red meat, this stuff was out of this universe.  Advice: just do not think about what you are actually eating.  I now understand though why it’s served still intact to the bone, and why the food critics suck the stuff out from the bone with straws– because you want to deter others away from it so that there’s more for you!

Course 6:  Juicy squab with crackling skin and braised celery.  A hit– the perfect following to the marrow and an appropriate prelude for the dessert to come.

Courses 7 & 8: Dessert.  The word has two S’s because you always want one more.  The first– a jasmine and rooibos bitter cream.  Like a panna cotta, this mingling of two tea flavors set a flowery and tart beginning to the sweet tooth portion of the meal.  Next, for Dad– a salad of macerated summer fruits served with a house made yogurt sorbet and a peach soda.  For me– a cornbread cake served with a plum puree and tarragon ice cream.  All great, but I must say the place’s specialties are in the savory courses.

Ok, I have to pry myself away from recounting delicious memories to get back to the homework I promised myself I would start a half hour ago, which actually somehow turned into an hour and a half ago.  But please, do myself and yourself a favor– when visiting Boston, do not miss out on going to Craigie on Main.  From the impeccable and flawless service to the refined yet unpretentious food, you’ll forget all about the notoriously horrible Boston traffic, the soggy rain, and in my case a stressful moving day.

http://www.craigieonmain.com/