Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Persephone - Eat Where You Shop
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The new Persephone restaurant in the Achilles Project fashion boutique fits into a long history of cafés in retail stores, but its sensibility is more jazzy cocktails than tea sandwiches. That’s just the way co-owners Michael Krupp and Shaka Ramsay intended it.
“From conception, the Achilles Project was always envisioned to be a unique approach to traditional boutique retail,” says Krupp. “In our minds, the addition of the lounge and the restaurant was not simply a means to strengthen the retail, but rather a necessary piece to complete our overall concept. ”
Since their store focuses on limited edition designer apparel, they wanted a menu that could keep up. The entire space – a renovated warehouse with exposed brick walls, bare wood floors and clothes displayed in glass cubes – embodies urban chic. Intrigued by the concept, Michael Leviton signed on as the executive chef. Leviton, who continues as chef-owner at Lumière in West Newton, also welcomed the chance to branch out to the more urban Fort Point Channel neighborhood. He compares his use of specialty foods – locally grown and humanely raised, when possible – to a designer’s preference for quality materials.
“The fundamental, underlying aesthetic of the food and the clothes is one and the same,” says Leviton. “The idea of the food is simplicity with the best possible ingredients. The retail side is also doing the same thing with the best fabrics and designs.”
Gamely hobbling around on a foot he broke earlier this year while playing soccer, Leviton has spent the restaurant’s first weeks perfecting the menu. The small through extra-large portions reflect “how people are eating these days – they want to taste a lot of different things,” he says.
So far, customers seem partial to the oysters ($2.25 each), as well as the seared Stonington, Maine sea scallop with chestnut-celery root puree ($9), and the Chatham hooked cod with exotic mushrooms ($24). Meat-lovers can try the roasted Northeast Family Farms beef marrow bone with parsley and caper salad ($12) or the grilled skirt steak (also from Northeast Family Farms) with fries ($24). An extra large bone-in rib-eye steak goes for $68.
Leviton, who in 2000 was named one of America’s best new chefs by Food & Wine magazine, acknowledges that premium specialty ingredients like the beef can come at a high price. “It’s the same in the boutique when customers go for a well-made, perfectly fit pair of jeans that may cost $200 instead of a pair of Wranglers.”
Often, he notes, top quality food doesn’t need much tweaking. “I’m not trying to do anything flashy – I’m trying to highlight the flavors of the best ingredients I can find.”
The flash goes to the cocktails from Chris Graeff, beverage director for Persephone as well as Lumière. The bright colors and bold ingredients like jasmine tea and blueberry syrup extend the fashion theme to the bar. The drinks are also playful enough to stand up to the Wii games near the bar. “They are meant to amuse the palate at the beginning of the meal – not to go with the food the way wine does,” says Graeff, who also chooses the restaurant’s wines.
An immediate crowd-pleaser has been the translucent, celery green Gin & Jazz ($12), a refreshing mix of gin, dry vermouth, jasmine tea, cucumber and lime. The burgundy-hued Petal Punch ($12) improbably but lusciously pairs chamomile tea with tequila, peach and pomegranate liquors, and pomegranate juice. The cheekily titled Obligatory $15 Chowhound-Predicted Pomegranate Martini thumbs its nose at the jaded foodie bloggers, at only $9.
The Desperate Housewife ($12) is a good example of how Graeff developed the drinks for Persephone. It all started with a bottle of the specialty nigori sake. “It was so milky that nobody really enjoyed it on its own,” says Graeff, who tasted it with Leviton and Krupp. As they brainstormed about ways to “lighten it up,” Leviton brought out some blueberry syrup that he had made for a dessert. They mixed it in, shook it up and out came a bright purple mixture that looked something like a smoothie. “It just glowed – the color was off the charts,” says Graeff, who eventually added vodka, cranberry juice, ginger and lemon for a more balanced flavor, and now enjoys watching customers do a double-take when they see the bright purple concoction.
With the drinks go bar snacks, including a baked-to-order bacon and sea salt pretzel ($8), and Lucki 7 Farms pork ribs with a brown bean-hoisin barbecue sauce ($9).
The bar itself and a lounge furnished with leather hassocks divides the Achilles showroom from the Persephone dining room. Hours of shopping and dining only overlap from 4:30 to 7 p.m. After that, the retail cases are locked and rolled aside on specially-designed sliders to make way for customers awaiting tables. Dining tables on similar sliders make different seating configurations easy. Leviton hopes to set up an 18-seat communal chef’s table on Monday nights with a $45 prix fixe menu.
Krupp and Ramsay, both experienced in retail, have filled the store with top-of-the-line brands including Bing Bang, Maharishi, McQ and Rachel Roy. Official NBA jewelry designer Gabriel Urist also designs a custom line for the store.
“Like the great warrior Achilles, everyone has a weakness, and whether that weakness is clothes, art, food or drink, all can be indulged at the Achilles Project.,” says Krupp.
283 Summer St., Boston (Fort Point Channel), 617-423-2257
Petal Punch Cocktail
Serves 1
2 ounces tequila
1 ounce lemon chamomile tea (preferably MEM brand)
1 ounce orchid pomegranate liqueur
1 ounce Mathilde peach liqueur
Lime zest, to taste
Place all ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake. Strain into a glass. Garnish with a slice of lime.
Adapted from Chris Graeff
Seared Sea Scallops with Chestnut-Celery Root Puree,
Apple Cider Reduction and Candied Hazelnuts
Serves 4
3 1/4 cups apple cider
2 cups blanched and toasted hazelnuts
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly-ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
1 ounce simple syrup (see note)
8 ounces peeled chestnuts (use already-peeled frozen or canned if fresh are not available)
8 ounces peeled celery root (also called celeriac), cut into 1-inch chunks
Heavy cream, as needed
12 sea scallops (about 12 ounces total)
Canola oil, as needed
1 tablespoon butter
1. Place the cider in a stainless steel or enamel sauce pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and continue simmering over medium heat until 1/2 cup of liquid remains. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and lightly oil the top.
3. Combine the hazelnuts with the simple syrup, salt and pepper. Place the nuts on the sheet pan in a single layer and bake until the simple syrup is almost dry, about 5 minutes. The nuts will feel a little soft and sticky when you remove them from the oven. They will harden and crisp up as they cool. If they don’t seem crispy enough, return them to the oven for another few minutes.
4. Place the celery root and chestnuts in a saucepan and cover with equal parts cream and water. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until very tender, about 30 minutes. Drain, reserving both the vegetables and the cooking liquid. Purée the vegetables in a blender or food processor, slowly adding the reserved liquid until you reach the desired consistency (it needs to hold its shape on a plate). Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Keep the purée warm in a double boiler.
5. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Season the scallops with salt and pepper on both sides. When the pan begins to smoke, add about 1 tablespoon of canola oil and then the scallops. After about 30 seconds, carefully rotate the scallops about 90 degrees. This will give them a better, more even sear. Cook for another minute or so, until slightly darker than golden brown. Carefully flip the scallops and cook for another minute or two until they are evenly browned on the second side. Remove the pan from the heat. Add one tablespoon of butter and as it turns brown, quickly baste the scallops with the butter. Remove the scallops from the pan.
6. Place a heaping tablespoon of celery root purée in the center of each of four plates. Top each with three scallops. Drizzle a generous tablespoon of the cider reduction around the scallops and the purée. Garnish with a few hazelnuts.
Note: To make simple syrup, mix 2 parts sugar and 1 part water in a pot. Place over medium heat and gently cook (a bare simmer at most) until the sugar has completely dissolved. Cool completely before using.
Adapted from Michael Leviton
Photos by Maureen Ford Photography
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