Fast-fine dining seems to shine in Harvard Square. Take Saloniki Greek, Life Alive or Dig Inn, chains – two of them local – that earned their stripes on the curated quality of their ingredients, creative culinary combinations and promptness of service. You get the same pristine food experience, ambiance and service at each locale, be it Harvard Square, Boston, Providence or D.C.
Daily Provisions, founded by renowned New York restaurateur Danny Meyer, who started out slowly but surely back in the mid-1980s with the Union Square Cafe, is the latest fast fine to take up residence in Harvard Square at the first of several Provisions planned for the Boston area. It’s on the Mount Auburn end of Brattle Square in the space that had been a Chipotle and then the MIT robo-grain bowl incubator Spyce, which was bought out by D.C.-based greens-to-go chain Sweetgreen (which has a presence elsewhere in the Square).
The spare but utile space has a bar centrally situated, shared tabletops and a few cafe tables. It’s Starbucks meets Ikea, and there’s an inviting, sun-soaked patio for those with a desire for al fresco noshing. You can dine in with as seamlessly as you can grab-and-go – Provisions’ pickup process has nearly the efficiency of Tom Brady running a two-minute offense drill.
Daily Provisions has a bit more robustness to it than your typical upscale dine-and-dash, though. For starters, it serves all three meals all day long. Provisions offers beer and wine, too. Heck, you can get a whole roasted chicken or roasted salmon plate and sides (crispy potatoes, green bean salad and Brussels sprouts) to take home for the family.
Of those inspired sides, the best is the potato salad, delicious, lightly tossed wedges that, like everything at Provisions, are cooked consistently, with the essence of Dijon and a dusting of crispy shallots atop.
Eggs, salmon and crullers are Daily Provisions calling cards. During the soft opening invite we extolled the virtue of many of the above, but have come back to bite in more. The thing that amazes most is the consistency of food quality and detail of preparation.
On the breakfast sandwiches, the poppy seed buns are always fresh, airy and chewy with an over-easy fried egg that delivers a burst of warm yolk in your mouth – you can request it to be cooked firm, but don’t. It’s a hardy, quick start to your day or a light, protein-infused lunch. My choice is the chicken sausage with extra cheese and the housemade “wake up” sauce – a hot sauce that’s not that hot. You can add avocado, the same glorious green smash used for an avocado toast that you can trick out eight ways to Monday: Add an egg, salmon, hot sauce, etc. You can customize most any Provisions dish to your heart’s desire.
You can have salmon smoked for your avo toast or in your eggy bun, but there’s also a roasted salmon that’s something else: neat filet slices, perfectly browned and slightly crispy on top and flaky yet moist inside. It’s the centerpiece of a nicoise salad (instead of the usual tuna) that comes with verts, white beans, baby spinach, perfectly ripe tomatoes and a chunky balsamic dressing you don’t really need. Those beans (also in the side salad) are just a half notch under al dente, and thus full of dark green nutrition. There’s no crunch to them, but thankfully no mushy bites either.
Oh yeah, the salad also comes with a cold jammy egg, perfectly gooey in the center and nicely seasoned. Whoever the egg man (or person/people) is behind the scenes must have a Ph.D. in ova slinging.
Provisions has a slate of sandwiches that come mostly on a thick sourdough, wrapped expertly with hospital-corner precision. The headliner is the chicken Milanese, which comes on focaccia (there’s a salad that puts the crispy golden fried chicken atop it as well) with mozzarella and roasted red peppers. Others on the menu are a maple ham and cheese, chickpea and veggies, and BLT. My favorite handhelds were the melts, the patty (basically a cheeseburger on toast) and classic tuna. All the above is simple, perfectly assembled and satisfying to the bite in texture, grade of ingredients and flavor combinations.
The Harvard Square location marks the Daily Provisions’s 10th outpost. Meyer and his Union Square Hospitality Group (NYC, not to be confused with our nearby Somerville hub), are the same folks behind Shake Shack. Provisions has a vibe inviting you to sit and gab with friends over a fast feed, or get a coffee and read and write before grabbing lunch and getting on with your day. There’s free Wi-Fi, sterling service and a cozy communal din.
If I had one nit, it’s that there’s only one point of in-store ordering – a kiosk as you walk in where you order and get a number to take to your table. At peak hours, the line can back up mightily. Self-guided ordering tablets might be a plausible option, and one the newly opened eatery might consider given the crush of students and parents on the horizon. No matter, Provisions is certain to be a lot to many. The food and service speak for themselves.
The one must-have on your maiden journey to Provisions is the maple cruller, a dense doughnut coated in creamy Vermont richness. If you’re having a bad day, it’s a certain way to sweeten it.
Daily Provisions, 1 Brattle Square, Harvard 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.
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.
