Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/121906
THIS ISSUE: SAVORING THE SUBURBS BELOW: The space may be small but the flavors are big at Sycamore. RIGHT: The restaurant's menu changes with the seasons. punched up HELMED BY CHEF DAVID PUNCH, NEWTON CENTRE'S CULINARY NEWCOMER, SYCAMORE, SERVES A SIDE OF CITY CHIC WITH ITS INVENTIVE BISTRO FARE. BY VICTORIA ABBOTT RICCARDI PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDY RYAN D avid Punch, co-chef and co-owner of Sycamore in Newton Centre, has a knack for producing big things from small spaces. We're talking food, of course. The Natick native has been cranking out immensely flavorful fare from teensy kitchens all over the city—at Ten Tables in Jamaica Plain, then as co-owner of Ten Tables in Cambridge, and now at Sycamore. This 48-seat American bistro with a seasonal menu, in the former space of John Dewar & Co., joins a burgeoning list of restaurants offering downtown-quality cuisine in suburbia. "I'd been looking for a place in Newton Centre for a long time because so many guests at Ten Tables, in both Jamaica Plain and Cambridge, were coming from Newton and Wellesley," Punch says. "I was tired of the rat race in Cambridge and felt the city was becoming saturated with restaurants. Plus, I knew people [in Newton] were dying for a place that was hip, cool, and good." Indeed. Sycamore has drawn crowds almost every night since it opened last December, including folks from Boston. Young professionals, older couples, and downtown hipsters flock to the bar for artisanal cocktails, 72 ABOVE: Try lusty local beers, and wines by the glass or carafe off a list fare like Catalanpeppered with bottles from small producers. Candles style garlic soup with pimentón glow against the brick walls, creating a cozy atmocroutons and a sphere for enjoying Punch's insanely delicious food, soft-boiled egg. whether it's the crock of garlicky octopus cuddling fat white beans that he served shortly after opening; the slab of salt-cured foie gras he often puts on the menu paired with grilled bread and quince paste; or entrées like juicy boudin blanc and lusty seafood stew. His roast chicken? Yum. His —DAVID PUNCH steak frites with marrow butter? Double yum. "I've always written menus based on what I like to eat," says Punch, who's quick to give culinary credit to his co-chef, Lydia Reichert, who was previously Tony Maws's sous chef at Craigie on Main. "We use the same continued on page 74 "We use the same ingredients as No. 9 Park, apply the same cooking techniques, but our food is heartier and more rustic." BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM 072-074_BC_SC_SMD_LATESPRING_13.indd 72 4/10/13 2:48 PM