The pandemic did in many restaurants, including old-school staples The Thirsty Scholar and R.F. O’Sullivan & Son on the town line Beacon Street. During Covid, both locales were bought as part of a real estate deal and the eateries relaunched under their old flags with new management. Those were just reprieves, as each shuttered soon after their reboots and subsequently became something new under yet different ownerships. R.F. O’Sullivan became the Hawaiian-infused Cornerstone, which closed when the new team decided to take the opportunity to run Charlie’s Kitchen in Harvard Square and will become the South American-inspired Bonanza Bites & Cocktails in the coming weeks.
Now the Scholar rises again as Tall Order, a gastropub in the mold of its predecessor (which lives forever in the 2010 film by David Fincher, “The Social Network”).
As far as the ambiance goes, not much has changed. The dark woodiness that welcomed and embraced you is the same. There’s still a small patio out back. What has changed is the menu, a tick up on the “fine” label: Sure, there’s a burger and a fried chicken sandwich. But that chicken is done Japanese style (karaage) with miso honey mustard.
Snacks include pickled mushrooms – an overflowing bowl of plump ’shrooms bursting with the tangy pucker of their pickled brine – and bluefish pate, duck confit sliders and pork sausage in a croissant blanket with dijonnaise. All are above-the-bar bar-top finger fare.
The real stars of the menu, however, are the iceberg lettuce salad and roasted cod. Both are very different than what you’d expect.
Iceberg or wedge salads are all the rage. The Chopped at Source and Olive, Egg and Iceberg at Josephine make for rich, crisp cut-intos, but the Baby Iceberg Salad at Tall Order is a bit of a changeup. The lush green bowl comes with plenty of ripe avocado slices, pumpkins seeds, salted cucumbers and one of the best green goddess dressings I’ve had. It packs a subtly zesty punch, and along with all that silky green guac in the raw are those pumpkins seeds, not the dried Halloween kind with the husk on, but soft, fleshy green kernels akin to a pistachio (and not a nut, so causing no allergy problems). The “baby” label also means the salad is not really a wedge, but something more leafy and in the realm of Little Gem lettuce.
The roasted cod is presented spectacularly, and there’s much about it that surprises. The cod steak, browned perfectly and slightly crisped on the top, comes on a bed of saffron rice done with lemon butter that is near porridgelike in consistency – not like any rice you’ve had. The fish is perfectly flaky and moist, and the ’slawlike ball of shaved escarole that comes atop is infused with a citric essence and a slight, vinegary tang.
For dessert there is flan that comes nicely accented with a croissant crumble and some of those green pumpkin seeds. Tall Order also boasts no- and low-alcoholic drinks. On the “low” side I’m a fan of the Little Panda, a light and refreshing blend of Rhum J.M. (akin to rum), vermouth and fino sherry. On the “no” side, I’d roll with the Blue Shroom, with nonalcoholic rosé, cardamom, blueberry and mushrooms.
Tall Order, 70 Beacon St., Ward 2, Somerville
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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