A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

My new years resolution was to be less addicted to groupon, buywithme etc. It lasted about a day. I bought a groupon to The Savant Project in Mission Hill and went on a Monday night with a friend of mine. We made a reservation for 6:30pm. I walked in and it was pretty empty. She was over an hour late, we lost our table, so we had to wait because it was SUPER crowded at 7:45pm. I happened to luck out and find a spot on Wigglesworth Street, just past the restaurant, but parking can be limited (especially considering how much snow we have). Try taking public transportation, it couldn’t be more convenient-it’s about a block from the T.

So you walk into The Savant Project and you feel like you have been transported to a place that is a mix between a speakeasy and the library from Clue. There are dark walls, tin tiling, a barge chandelier and dark heavy velvet curtains at the door. Despite the curtains at the door, the front area of the the restaurant is chilly…just pretend that it adds to the ambiance.

So we wait at the small bar for a table-the crowd is pretty chill-people are working on laptops and meeting up with friends. We make our way through a sea of vintage outfits, and try to repress our gag reflex from the B.O that is wafting through the crowd, to order a beer. There isn’t much room to stand at the bar and we are constantly trying to get out of the server’s way. There is a cute private area just past the bar, that is much quieter than the front room-it’s a little library nook of sorts.

We finally get seated and glance over the menu. A lot of good looking options, with some vegan options scattered throughout. I order the parmesan polenta “lasagna” ($15) which is whipped ricotta cheese, spinach, and plum tomato ragout. Polenta and I have a love hate relationship-when it is cooked right, I love it…when it isn’t…the consistency can make my stomach turn. This dish was EXCELLENT-you didn’t even miss the noodles in the lasagna. The ricotta was light as were the ‘slabs’ of polenta. The tomato ragout was on the dish, as opposed to inside the layers, and added some really nice flavor to the dish. The spinach on top was a nice garnish-adding just the right amount of saltines to the dish. My dining companion orders the buttermilk and cornflakes battered chicken ($14) with waffle fries, fig and balsamic glaze and broccoli. We love the sweetness of the glaze over the waffle fries, and surprisingly it still tastes good with a little ketchup on it. The chicken is really moist inside and has a great crunch on the outside.

We end the meal with the fried twinkie ($6) rolled in cinnamon panko with a caramel drizzle. Now, I’ve had fried desserts before, the frosting inside the twinkie turns gooey and delicious, however, I wasn’t thrilled with the panko crust-it was weird for me, whether it’s the consistency or something else…we didn’t even finish it. Bummer. What do you think? Save the panko for the savory instead of the sweet?  But for two of us to eat and share dessert it was $43, and the groupon was for $40, so we thought that was a killer deal. I definitely think this place deserves a second trip-the food was excellent, they really do live up to their name, but I was just in a funk from having to wait for my friend that it was hard to enjoy the meal to its fullest potential.

The Savant Project

http://www.thesavantproject.com/

1625 Tremont St., Boston, Massachusetts
Phone: 617.566.5958 – Fax: 866.884.6469
Email: info@LuckySavageLounges.com

Sunday-Wednesday: 11:30am – 10pm
Thursday-Saturday: 11:30am – 1am
**Friday & Saturday Dinner now ’till 11pm!
Happy Hour: 7 days: 2:30 – 6 pm
**Brunch is open: Sat & Sun 11:00am-3:30pm!!

parking map:

http://www.thesavantproject.com/Parking.html