Phantom Gourmet: BISq In Cambridge
CAMBRIDGE - For as long as he can remember, Dan Bazzinotti has wanted to cook. After years and years of perfecting his skills, he's passing on all of his know-how to his team, and you can taste it all at BISq.
Located in Inman Square, Cambridge, BISq is a small, stylish spot with a cozy bar in the back for cocktails and a bustling dining room out front that overlooks a busy open kitchen.
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At the bar, you can observe chefs as they slice and plate boards of house made charcuterie and shuck the freshest oysters around. But the one dish you'll want to watch and then devour is the New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp Toast.
"It's kind of my baby here," Dan said. "It's something that will never come off the menu, we'll always have it."
After spending time cooking in New Orleans, Dan developed the dish which combines thinly sliced sourdough bread with shrimp and a zippy BBQ sauce.
"We make a shrimp farce and spread it onto sourdough bread, and griddle it nice and crispy, and top it with that New Orleans barbecue sauce and a little bit of sexy scallions on top," Dan described. "It's the most rich, buttery, delicious thing that you can probably have. I won't lie. It's one of the best bites."
The ever changing menu at BISq features housemade pastas, like delicate Parsnip Ravioli topped with Swiss chard, roasted chestnuts and a suckled pear mostarda, or an upscale version of Polish pierogis.
"The filling is just a straight forward pierogi with potato, cheddar, scallions and sour cream," Dan explained. "We sear the outside so you have that crispy dough and that soft supple inside. And then we top it with roasted apples, beer braised red cabbage, and underneath is a little horseradish crème fraiche to give it that little bit of a kick."
Steak and potatoes are also on the menu at BISq, but the steak is topped with Cipollini onions and a Jonah crab fondue; and the potatoes are far from ordinary.
"We have these beautiful marble potatoes; they're all different colors. They're a perfect cute little size, and we roast them with whole cloves of garlic, and onion, and thyme, and we serve it with a little Aleppo pepper chili oil as well as a Kalamata Olive Aioli," Dan listed. "A little bit of arugula and we put a poached egg right in the middle. It's awesome."
The Pomegranate Glazed Lamb Ribs will make your mouth water. That's because they're braised for five hours and then quickly deep fried so the outside is crisp, and the meat in the middle is tender.
"When you bite into it, it's got that little fattiness. You get some of that lamb flavor, but it's not overpowering. We've had people come in here and say, 'I don't like lamb.' Then they have the lamb ribs and it's the best thing they've ever had."
If you miss the charcuterie at the start of your meal, don't worry, because there's a dessert version offered as well.
"We do four or five different desert items, and mainly they're based on stuff that I like to snack on," Dan explained. "Currently we have a little bit of a lemon bar; we make a little honey comb and drizzle some white chocolate on it; pistachio macaroons. We also have our quirky and funny item which is the Muddy Buddies and literally, it's Chex cereal tossed in peanut butter and chocolate. I tell people the recipe's on the box. That's the one we use."
To round out the dish, there's the so-called chocolate salami.
"It's a ganache-like chocolate, where we fold in cream and eggs and then just put a ton of random garnish - just like a regular salami. There's no meat in it. People ask though."
Whether you pop in for a quick bite, or make a full night out of it, fun is something you'll always find at Bisq.
"I mean it's a fun place to work. It's a fun place to eat. It's a fun place to drink wine," Dan said. "We want to convey that fun and that passion and that's what we're about."
You can find Bisq at 1071 Cambridge Street in Cambridge, and online at bisqcambridge.com.
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