Shepard
Julia Child’s legacy lives on in Cambridge, MA, and nowhere more beautifully than at Shepard, the light-filled bistro of sorts from chef Susan Regis (who actually counted Child as a friend). Here dishes read as “interesting” (e.g., grilled clams with cultured nasturtium butter) but eat with the simple gratification of a perfectly roasted chicken. Chopped liver has never felt so relevant. But this iteration of the French Chef also has a penchant for live fire, encouraged by the chef de cuisine, Peter McKenzie, who is known to dangle everything from mackerel to brandy-drowned quail over the open hearth, the centerpiece of the otherwise minimal space. McKenzie also wields a free hand when it comes to tradition: The pasta is made from toasted barley and topped with XO sauce. It’s all served in a warm environment decorated with typical New England restraint. Pull up a Windsor chair to one of the polished-wood tables, and you’ll feel like you’ve been invited to a dinner party of Harvard professors, albeit one where the host casually brings out greens with fermented black beans. At Shepard, even a special occasion is a comforting one.
PRO TIP: It’s worth a trip just to sit at the bar for the snacks, such as “grilled chicken bits” (exactly what it sounds like).
THE DETAILS: Serving dinner nightly, from 5:30 p.m. on.
