You don’t need a life-changing event to go out for a special meal. Babies, marriage vows and birthdays are all good causes for celebration, but sometimes an overdue meetup with friends or the simple quest for a unique feast is more than reason enough. Regardless of the occasion, finding a special place can be a challenge.
Omakase and tasting tables are a good place to start looking, and we’ve extolled the virtues of omakase at Umami in the past. But tasting tables in the area are disappearing: The revered Tasting Counter in the Aeronaut Brewery Food Hall closed almost two years ago (replaced recently by Mimi’s Chūka Diner), as did the phenomenal table at Season to Taste early in the pandemic (though a tasting table concept opened at Season to Taste’s newer locale by Harvard). But one with novel, local dishes is back at the cozy and intimate chef’s counter at Erin Miller’s Urban Hearth. It’s best to sit at the counter, where you get to watch the kitchen team, led by Miller, assemble your meal. There are only four seats there, but it’s available five nights a week.
The five-course feast is varied in texture, flavors and combinations. The first small plate was marinated mackerel with confit kumquat, which caught me by surprise with its smooth and clean flavor – I was expecting something more pungent and fishy. The big surprise of the evening came next, in the winter salad with chamomile cider and ale-cooked barley. The grains had a meatiness and made your mouth pucker slightly from the ale and cider. A mushroom and caramelized onion crème brûlée followed. It was then back to the sea for an utterly delightful halibut steak filet in a verjus (unripe grape juice) reduction with a parsnip purée. The texture of the fish was consistent throughout, perfectly between flaky and rare. To finish off the mains was a tender New Hampshire wagyu served with a mole-XO sauce (a fusion on Mexican and Hong Kongese) that accented the meat nicely without overwhelming it. The dinner plates all came tasting size, but the dark chocolate delice – a complex and rich chocolate mousse – was a full-size portion, fronted by a pleasing assortment of curried pecans and miso marmalade dark chocolates.
Urban Hearth’s to-die-for butter biscuit comes with the meal, so tantalizing and infectiously savory. When it’s gone, you’ll want more.
Like most omakase or tasting table experiences I’ve tried, each dish and wine pouring comes with a story from the chef or server about where the ingredients come from and how they’re prepared. If you have a culinary question, you can just lean over and ask the team. It’s a transfixing experience for the counter view alone – and you may just learn a stovetop hack or two along the way, whether from watching your meal be assembled or something for those receiving the regular menu.
The cost of such a grand gourmand grub session is not as much as you might expect. The five courses – with the biscuit and dessert added to each end – total $140. If you opt for the very generous wine pairing or order other beverages à la carte it will obviously up your tab, but it is more than worth it. Most of the food is sourced locally (the farms are listed on the Urban Hearth website), and the menu changes over every three weeks or so. Some of the dishes are first tries of dishes to be added to the eatery’s rotating seasonal menu, which right now features celery root crème brûlée and marinated duck breast as well as that signature biscuit, which you cannot have too many of. You’d be wise to book ahead. If dining solo, email or call; Open Table won’t let you book a single spot.
Urban Hearth, 2263 Massachusetts Ave., North 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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