Food Nation was smaller Saturday, providing tastes of five Davis Square restaurants rather than the 20 featured a year ago, and provided a different kind of experience: It gave a sense of what kind of surprises can be found in even the most staple eateries in the area.
Among the five – American Flatbread, The Burren, Elm Street Taproom, Five Horses Tavern and Redbones – the youngest (The Taproom) has already been serving for seven years and the oldest (Redbones) for 39, and all cook within a fairly narrow range compared with last year’s expanded offerings with Mexican, Greek, Korean, Vietnamese and Japanese food, as well as more Italian. With this year featuring a pub, a barbecue joint, two taverns and a pizzeria, it was easy to assume an entire menu without really digging in.
Most of the eateries serving in Davis Square Plaza, in an annual event led by The Somerville Foundation, overturned expectations.
Elm Street Taproom’s chicken wings
Somehow I never made it into The Joshua Tree in the 21 years it was open in the square, and I haven’t been to the business that replaced it in 2019. What could the Elm Street Taproom possibly have for me? Wings, it turns out – big, meaty, honest, healthy ones. Not stingily starved bird hidden beneath breading that’s fried and sauced a toxic bright orange, but flavorfully baked wings and legs that can be enjoyed bare. I skipped the nuclear-powered mango habanero sauce for the Buffalo ranch, but used it sparingly. And now I have a reason to visit the brick-and-mortar location. Elm Street Taproom, 256 Elm St.
American Flatbread’s baked potato pizza and farmer’s market salad
There are 10 standard flatbreads and a basically infinite number of variations from among the toppings at this restaurant opened in 2010 (inside a candlepin bowling alley open since 1939), but the lesson from Food Nation is not to sleep on the potato. It was chosen for Saturday because it’s vegetarian – “There’s a lot of meat here,” an American Flatbread server noted – with oven-roasted fingerling potatoes, spinach, mozzarella, Parmesan, garlic oil, herb blend and topping of fresh scallions and lime-infused sour cream. It made for a pizza with distinctive scent and flavors even when cold, and staff hunted us down to deliver hot slices when they arrived. The slice manages the trick of having every flavor standing out while working together; the same is true for the days’ farmer’s market salad, which was, if anything, even better than the pizza with baby lettuce as a base for thinly sliced apple, cranberries and walnuts with goat cheese and a pomegranate vinaigrette. American Flatbread, 45 Day St.
Five Horses Tavern’s chili
The tavern chili at this restaurant, which opened in 2011, is a shredded blend of beef and carnitas and seems so basic it shouldn’t have been as good as it was. And it usually comes in a bread bowl! Even without that it was a treat, yet also almost overshadowed by its side: not the housemade tortilla chips, which were fine, but the minimuffin version of Five Horses’ skillet cornbread, a sweetened version akin to a fritter, with a consistency a little like a pudding and benefiting from the roasted corn that goes into it. Five Horses Tavern, 400 Highland Ave.
The Burren’s vegan pumpkin chili
The reputation for this Irish pub opened in 1996 is solidly traditionalist, underlined by the worn-wood look of the place and it regular seisiúns of sit-in musicians. So it’s always a little surprising to be reminded of the vegetarian-friendly nature of the place. In the case of Food Nation, the offering leaned into the season with a vegan pumpkin chili with beans, peppers, sweet potato, jalapeños and onion, served with rice and garnished with cilantro. It was mild but filled with substantial chunks of pumpkin, good and hearty. The Burren, 247 Elm St.
Redbones’ pulled pork and pulled chicken sandwiches
There were no surprises from Redbones, a venerable square establishment (it opened in 1987) with a menu that changes slowly. These pulled pork and pulled chicken sandwiches are standard fare – but it was good to be reminded of the quality of the meats, which were highlighted by the simplicity of the offerings: bread, meat, sauces. The pork has a terrific smoky quality and texture, and the chicken is exactly what you come looking for. Redbones, 55 Chester St.
