Salts
Monday, January 22, 2007
Overall Rating: Sick Meals (86 out of 100)
798 Main Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
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Phone: 617-877-8444
Just a few miles across the Charles River near Central Square, Salts features French culinary delights in a tranquil fine dining environment. Creative dishes and pleasing aesthetics make for an evening of serious sick meal exploration.
Our Salts History
Our first visit to Salts was on a Friday night at 8:15pm.
Appetizers
Seven appetizers ranged from $9 to $15 with an average price of $13. Our eyes gravitated to risotto and Spanish chorizo dishes, but neither selection was available. As substitutes, Salts cooked up a whole rabbit with gnocchi and big eye tuna with black truffle caviar. We jumped at these delicacies.
The rabbit and gnocchi resembled a stew. Imagine assembling your favorite white and dark meats in a light mushroom broth, adding a bit of cubed bacon, and blending it with soft, savory gnocchi. The dish was small but delivered big on taste, offering a variety of flavors and textures in bite-sized chunks.
Salts beautifully presented the big eye tuna. Rare tuna cubes looked like quivering gelatin lined up in rows. However, for $15, style edged substance.
Other appetizers included pear and mache salad as well as a beet salad.
We savored the warm, oven-fresh buns and whipped butter. Complimentary pureed truffle and potato soup added a nice touch.
Rating: 8.6
Main Dishes
Six main courses ranged from $28 to $34 with an average price of $31. We chose poached monkfish and coq au vin en ballotine.
The monkfish tasted rubbery and proved to be the lone disappointment of the evening. Soft, delicious potato croquettes somewhat offset our lackluster monkfish experience. The dish also included bitter Chinese mustard greens.
On the other hand, the coq au vin en ballotine soared to the heights of sickness. Coq au vin en ballotine consists of chicken that is boned, stuffed, rolled, and tied for roasting. The resulting cylindrical dish melded a crispy covering with pureed white chicken that surrounded small pieces of dark chicken. The mouth-watering ballotine was served on top of potato mousseline, maitake mushrooms, and baby-soft pearl onions and carrots.
Other entrees included pan roasted sea bass, agnolotti with fontina cheese, and a whole roasted boneless duck for two, carved tableside.
Rating: 8.5
Drinks
Salts offered a few affordable wines amidst a sea of ultra-expensive options. Our waiter recommended Jose Pariente's Verdejo (2004), Spain's answer to Sauvignon Blanc. This fragrant and vibrant bottle offered good value for $36.
Beer is also available. Salts does not serve hard booze.
Rating: 8.6
Service
The "Front of the House Manager" was welcoming, engaging, and sincere. Our waiter was patient in answering many questions. Such patience was important as the French-laden menu is barely discernable to the average diner.
Rating: 8.9
Ambiance
Salts is a rare Boston-area restaurant that took decided care in designing an entrance and dining room that shields guests from the harsh New England winter. Two sets of doors divide the entrance from the restaurant. The second door opens to a side-area where no tables are located.
Walking into Salts was like walking into a Pottery Barn-decorated dining room. Oversized mirrors, candlelit chandeliers, red velvet curtains, and a dark wooden table with an enveloping bouquet complemented soft music and regular chatter. The elegant silverware was notable.
We were seated at the worst table of the house - a table for two near the hallway that leads to the kitchen and bathroom.
There was a slight pretension in the air, albeit it had little to do with the staff. Fine wine and fine French food sometimes have a way of bringing out a self-important crowd. Sick meals are always most enjoyable when rubbing elbows with people who do not take themselves too seriously. In this case, the preponderance of our fellow guests somewhat detracted from the experience.
Rating: 8.3
Et Cetera
Trivia: Salts is co-owned by chef Gabriel Bremer and his wife, Analia Verolo.
Menu: Check out the menu here
Reservations: Reservations are recommended.
Parking: Salts offers free parking in a lot located behind the restaurant.
Dress: You may dress casually at Salts, but given the fine dining environment, we recommend getting a bit dressed up.
Hours: Salts is open Tuesday through Saturday from 6:00pm to 10:30pm.
Labels: Cambridge, French, Salts, Sick-Meals
