brand new restaurant coming to the square!

[one-skill.livejournal.com]

Hi all,

In case you're wondering what all of the construction hub-bub is about where the old Sauce used to be, I can fill you in.... it's being revamped into:

400 Highland

...you probably saw the new sign posted

Anyway, its grand opening is on Monday, April 3rd. You can check up on it on their website 400highland.com

I know the guys running the place, and it's going to be great. The new chef is imported to Boston from California, and is amazing.

Hope you see you there on opening night!

Comments

[crs.livejournal.com]

If it's got an imported chef it sounds hoity enough that it'd be a place I'd only go a couple times a year for celebrations, if that.

Is there a market for gourmet cuisine around here? I know Elephant Walk does all right...

[dominika-kretek.livejournal.com]

Who even knows? I guess Gargoyle's stays in business too. But I am sad that it sounds hoity.

[siderea]

And Marino's does OK.

[ron_newman]

But Marino's is going to be torn down soon, from what I've read in some local paper.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

What, really? Sucky.

[siderea]

!!! Which paper?

[ron_newman]

Looks like it wasn't in a newspaper -- it was in an e-mail newsletter I got from the Porter Square Neighbors Association:

From: shunziker@comcast.net (Susan Hunziker)

I went to the North Cambridge Stabilization meeting tonight, and I'm passing along a couple items of interest.

Re: Final plans for the Hess Express [former Gas with a Smile][omitted here since it isn't relevant -- RN]

Re: Marino's

The site is about to be sold to the guy who is developing the former Buy-Rite liquor site at the corner of Cedar and Mass Ave. The current lease expires in August, and the restaurant will move outside Cambridge. The building will be demolished and replaced with housing. The site itself has some apparently unintentional spot zoning that would permit a larger building with a smaller setback than would the zoning on either side.

NCSC [North Cambridge Stabilization Committee] is trying to fix the zoning. The petition to do so will be heard by the ordinance committee next Wednesday night (March 15 at 6 PM). The city council will hear it on Monday, March 20. I won't be able to attend either meeting, but I encourage all of you who are interested the future of Mass Ave to turn up and be counted. Just showing up really helps. If you can't do that, contact some city councilors. (I know that two of them subscribe to this list.)

[siderea]

How horrible! It's such a beautiful building!

[siderea]

Hey, I don't suppose this PSNA (or, for that matter, NCSC) has RSS? How often do they post?

[ron_newman]

It's a mailing list. I don't think they post anything online. Here's the PSNA mailing list's web page, if you want to sign up.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

Will they get the clue that people don't want to pay $20 a plate and then have to have freakin' televisions around them when they eat?

Where I come from dinner is a place for conversation and the TVs are shut OFF while people are dining. I find a restaurant full of giant TVs completely ruins my appetite. That's a big part of why Sauce failed: at least no one I know would consider eating dinner there. I'll eat at Mike's where the TV is on over my $3 slice, but if I'm having a "real" (ie, real $$) meal, no way!

I'm hoping that since you're all so gung-ho about how great they're going to be, that this means you're associated with the owners in some way and can send them the word. When you "import" your chef, EXPORT the idiot-boxes!

[siderea]

*standing ovation*

[simonbillenness.livejournal.com]

Joins the standing ovation.

If I want a good meal out with friends, I choose a quiter restaurant without TVs or loud music.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

they have those? gosh. i should find one ;)

most of the places i've been to in the last year all have overly loud thumpy music, bad BAD lighting, and/or tvs... i thought it was the industry trend.

oddly enough, mcdonald's isn't loud, badly lit, or has tvs. yet. just wait ;)

#

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

That's why Orleans is dead to me. I was having a reasonably nice dinner in there one night when the projection screen TV came down and they turned on a Bruins game. Totally schizophrenic restaurant. The funny thing is, knowing they had all sorts of TV viewing options, I went back into Orleans during the Red Sox/Yankees '04 playoff series. It was mid-afternoon and I was thinking it wouldn't be too crowded. It wasn't --there were about eight people, including me and my friends, sitting at the bar, all people who had left work early to watch the game. No one else in the restaurant. The game started and the bartender wouldn't turn the sound on. Apparently, she didn't want to ruin the carefully crafted ambiance. All eight customers paid their tabs and ran to the next bar. Baffling.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Except their website contains nothing but a pretty picture and a link to an email address.

[ron_newman]

I assume there will be more once we get closer to opening day.

I like the old picture, but you may notice that 400 Highland Avenue isn't anywhere in it.

[lena-a-mermaid.livejournal.com]

"importing a chef from California"? Did you need a special passport visa for that?

I'm wondering why everyone here seems to be attacking this restaurant without knowing what it is going to serve or how much it is going to charge or if it will or will not have big screen tvs. What is it about someone from California that leads you to believe it will be "hoity". Its not like the chef is "imported from Paris" people.

This post would be more useful if the URL for the restaurant led to an actual website rather than an email address.

[ron_newman]

Haven't seen anyone attacking it. Most of the posts here are either (a) requests that the new restaurant not have TVs, or (b) off-topic discussion about Marino's.

Give 400 Highland a shot

[beca42781.livejournal.com]

I will be part of the staff at the new 400 Highland. To give some inside info about the restaurant that is opening this evening: The chef is from California and has prepared a seasonal menu that is refreshingly different and does not leave you hungry. Entrees range from about $16-$26 and are excellent! My favorite in the tastings was the halibut dish. The Californian will be cooking appetizers in the open kitchen area (behind the old smaller bar, left side). The staff has identified reasons that Sauce failed and is looking to correct them. There will be no loud DJ music, and there will be more of a partition between the dining room and lounge, where the TVs will remain, but on Mute. One manager imported from a wine club in Boston (21 club- I think the name was) to design wine pairings that are exquisite yet inexpensive, most bottles are around $27. Give us a try, I also did not enjoy the old Sauce restaurant, but I believe 400 Highland to be worth a shot.