Food lovers (and Food Network fans) all know that Jody Adams has long had a very popular little place in Cambridge called Rialto... one of my favorite places for small plates, a glass of Sancerre and a platter of oysters on a Monday night. Well, now she's got a new spot, right in my neighborhood and just off the Greenway, called Trade.
Lucky me, I was invited by a friend to join him at a tasting lunch there just last week for a very delicious preview. We tried a trio of small plates and love-loved the curried carrots with yogurt cheese and the chicken livers on sesame crackers (with kumquat jam!). I also tried one of the flatbreads, fired up right there in front of you in the brick oven behind the bar, a lamb sausage with eggplant puree, Manchego, peppers and garlic yogurt combo that was a perfect balance of sweet and savory. But my hands-down favorite thing was the dessert: a Taza chocolate budino with sea salt, rosemary and hazelnut wafer... nothing short of fantastic!
It gets even better: the space is lovely, too. Designed by (my master's thesis adviser) Maryann Thompson, the interiors are crisp & clean, with a warmed up relax-and-settle-in feeling and storefront windows looking out onto the Greenway. I'm looking forward to plenty of after work meet-ups there this winter with friends for drinks, a bite to eat, and that budino for dessert!
