Off the Bone

Diana has lived seven years in Boston, and I feel I’ve lived there almost as long, yet we are only now discovering huge tracts of the city previously unknown to us. The South End feels like one of the quieter stretches of Greenwich Village, not yet stretched into a hideous botoxed movie-set version of a street people used to live on. Flour Bakery strikes the same delicate balance, hip without being paralytically so, well thought out and well designed, but with an imperfection here and there, a bit of reassuring mess - but only in the decor - the food was deft and carefully crafted.

The sandwiches we ate here were better than we’ve had at Darwin’s, and if you’ve lived in Boston any length of time, you’re already running to the South End. On the right is a roast lamb sandwich, done perfectly rare, with that energetic texture lamb has, tender and slightly chewy, its flavour gentle yet distinct. The red is sweet pepper relish and the white, herbed chevre (read: boursin). On the left is the best tuna sandwich I’ve ever had, better even than the ones my mum used to make me, three inches of home-made bread and tuna and tomato and onion and pepper, the bread (and this is important) soaked with the liquid from the salad and still chewy. This one has tuna and chives, hardboiled eggs and a relatively mild tapenade, and a thick layer of spinach, and I never thought you could make a tuna sandwich so well planned and perfectly balanced. Both are made (Flour gives you no choice in this matter, and choice is unnecessary) on 3/4” thick slices of their house white, a beautiful bread with crumb as close and tender as brioche, baked just short of crusty for easier eating in a sandwich.

Raspberry seltzer was what soda should be, very raspberry, medium sweet and chiffon pink. I don’t know if they make the syrup themselves, but if they buy it, I’d like to buy some.

I was unable to resist the lure of a craquelin for dessert – it sounded like such a perfect breakfast – a fist of brioche wrapped around bitter marmalade, the top given a crust of sugar and almonds. I have no idea if this is an actual French pastry, but the prospect of getting these fresh from the oven each morning would make me pay the rents in the neighbourhood (if I could). Diana had an unreasonably large cup of “trifle” – lemon pound cake, chocolate mousse cake and berries, smashed with some whipped cream. This, while pretty good in and of itself (and a lovely use for leftover cake) left me feeling vaguely dissatisfied, on the grounds that goddamnit real trifle has custard, even if you make it with frozen berries, store-bought sponge and custard from a little plastic cup. When I said so, Diana bopped me on the head, which I thought was rather unjust, considering that I didn’t even mention this to the staff.

Flour is at 1595 Washington Street in the South End, at the corner of Washington and Rutland. The easiest way to reach it from Camberville is to take the #1 bus down Mass Ave and get off at Mass Ave and Washington, then walk the rest. The walk will make you happy – the neighbourhood has a graceful, moneyed reserve, and is dotted with places that made us wish we could eat several lunches in a day. And we came across a garage sale en route, at which we found an enameled cast iron skillet (from Belgium!). Carrying it around Harvard Square later, I got several requests to fry eggs for people.

So get on a bus – there’s a city out there! With superb bakeries in it! And to encourage you to do so (and because we’re doing so ourselves), we’re even starting a new category – the Dark Reaches of Boston.