We were big fans of Colette Wine Bistro when it opened in the Porter Square Hotel just before the pandemic upended everything. It had stellar French onion soup and performed little feats of magic with duck confit and eggs on a brunch menu, but Covid and changes in management and ownership led to an ebbing – that soup went sadly from fantastic to ordinary. When the tide rolls back, though, opportunity is revealed, and this fall Colette was taken over by new ownership and transformed gently from a French bistro into a Southern-comfort supper club with a French infusion, the Margeaux Supper Parlor.
The concept at Margeaux (that sneaky “e” in there reflective of its French Cajun influences) is food pairings, or gastro flights, if you will, that is fairly rare in the area. It’s a prix fixe, in a way: For $35, you can mix and match servings of the soups (French onion, gumbo and lobster or crab bisque) or salads (Roquefort wedge, endive and fig, and burrata and tomato confit). For the four bigger-fare flights listed as “tasting collections,” there’s a meaty Fork and Knife of beef Wellington, steaks tips and a rib-eye; a Comfort collection of lobster gnocchi, fried chicken and pumpkin ravioli; and a Farm and Field with duck, lamb and pork. My favorite is the Coastal, which has a pescatarian lean with rich shrimp and grits, crispy seared halibut and a savory swordfish steak.
Each collection costs a bit more than the salad and soup menu pairings, and you can get any tasting plate as an a la carte dish or full-size entree, so if you wanted a salad and a pork chop entree. you can do that – or you could get the deviled eggs with crispy oysters (there’s an appetizer menu that includes charcuterie and a tuna tartare), a bowl of bisque and a tasting-size portion of the beef Wellington. Each tasting collection has a recommended flight of wines to accompany them. That said, if you wanted to break out for a full-pour glass of wine, it’s a bit confusing, as you have to scour the paired menu to find your Sancerre, cabernet, albariño or whatever your want of the moment is; it’s not broken out into reds, whites and blush as is conventional.
Much of the interior remains the same as from the Colette days. (Thankfully, there are new, sturdier barstools.) The vibe was, and still is, festive warmth. The big addition is the giant Southern gothic doors in the middle of the spacious, wraparound dining area that evokes a sense of wonderment and possibility of what’s beyond.
On my Coastal flight, the halibut was moist and flaky atop a cauliflower purée and my swordfish was hearty and juicy, with nice accents of capers and lemon atop a rice pilaf. But the winner was the shrimp and grits, creamy comfort made with Boursin and kicked up a notch with chili pepper flakes. It, with a lobster gnocchi that comes with generous amount of meat and a pouffy shaved-cheese pompadour, put their arms around and make for belly-warming eats on these frigid New England nights. If I had one nit, it would be that the gnocchi be a tad more al dente.
As part of its hotel occupancy, Margeaux runs a breakfast service that features eggs Benedict, croissant French toast, avocado smash and your classic quiche lorraine. On the weekend, for brunch, that menu expands to include steak and eggs, chicken and waffles, and those soul-warming grits.
As far as that onion soup goes, it’s back on, sweet, smooth and savory with a perfectly melted Gruyère crown – another satiating delight just right for these cold nights.
Margeaux Supper Parlor, 1924 Massachusetts Ave., Porter Square, Cambridge
Cambridge writer Tom Meek’s reviews, essays, short stories and articles have appeared in WBUR’s The ARTery, The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Globe, The Rumpus, The Charleston City Paper and SLAB literary journal. Tom is also a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and rides his bike everywhere.
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