Last weekend, we decided to branch out and try a new restaurant. Cook, located on Washington Street in Newtonville, opened its doors this past September. This New American Bistro serves a wide variety of dishes, including snacks such as bacon-caramel popcorn, wood-fired flatbreads, appetizers like shrimp tacos, and a number of entrees for vegetarians and omnivores alike.
We went to Cook on the early side, as we had gleaned from the numerous Yelp reviews that the restaurant can get very busy very quickly. When we arrived, we were surprised to see a number of television cameras and bright lights – Chronicle, Boston’s daily TV news journal, was shooting there! We saw Anthony Everett, the host of the show, talking with the head chef, and the cameramen were taking footage of the restaurant patrons, too. You might just see us on that episode of Chronicle, so keep an eye out!
While there were a number of items on the menu that looked delicious, Joanne ended up going the rather unadventurous route of having the roasted chicken. It came with a parmesan polenta cake and sautéed broccoli rabe. The chicken was juicy and tender, the polenta cake was creamy and delicious, and the broccoli rabe was cooked to perfection. Jonah got the grilled cheese sandwich which was accompanied by a small side salad. We decided to also share an order of French fries that came with three dipping sauces: a sriracha ketchup, a curry honey mustard, and a creamy bacon dip. The grilled cheese was excellent, right up there with Rox Diner. We both enjoyed the French fries with the various dips, although at the end of the meal, we felt like we could have skipped them because we had no room for dessert.
There are a number of dishes we would like to try upon our return, including some of the sumptuous- looking desserts, so we will definitely be going back to Cook sometime in the near future!