I’d been meaning to try Scutra in Arlington Center for quite some time now, and never made it there when their lovely patio, which is right on the Minuteman bike path, was open for dinner. The occasion arose where I needed to meet someone at a location with parking for a quiet meal, and it lined up with Scutra’s limited days of dinner service. My friend and I were promptly seated in their comfortable quiet dining room, and started with the seasonal spritz cocktail. We shared an order of fried artichokes as an app, then I had scallops and she had shrimp as our main courses. I had a scoop of gelato and a decaf coffee for dessert, and she had the creme brulee. Everything was fine; nothing was outstanding. This was a classic example of a menu that needs editing. I felt many of the plates had one too many flavors on it, or things that clashed, such as a miso-glazed fish with tomato chutney. There also were an inordinate amount of sweetness to many of the plates, from the highly maple syrupy sauce with our artichokes to the extremely sweet spritz cocktails. The overarching theme seems to be “modern European,” but there are various Asian flavors sprinkled in as well. The scallops were perfectly cooked, but served in a condiment of very sweet eggplant caponata in their shells…which were then perched on top of the sweet potato in such a manner that the sweet potato had to be scraped off the bottom of the shells to be eaten. Service was excellent, and we had an enjoyable dinner. Maybe the combinations will be more to another Onion’s taste than mine, but I would probably only go back if the patio is open and the location and need for parking and good service are paramount.
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I hate it when chefs overwhelm their dishes with sweet ingredients. There was a chef in town here that would be So Very Creative, they added cocoa nibs to what had the potential to be wonderful dishes.
Nope.
