grezzo

When my friend Deb first asked me to try a new raw restaurant - Grezzo - that just opened in the North End, I thought sure, I'm not the biggest shellfish fan but I'll give it a go. Raw bar and raw restaurant are not the same thing, believe me. Luckily I informed myself of the differences before I arrived for 8pm reservations and was prepared for the raw food experience. Grezzo is 100% vegan and as organic as they can get. And, none of the food has been heated to more than 112F. So, the entire menu is, in essence, raw.

First, Grezzo has a lovely, warm feel as you enter. Colors were nice and the paintings of fruit and vegetables very appropriate. It's a small space with big thick-backed chairs. Squeezing into my close-to-the-wall chair was made more difficult by the patron behind my chair not acknowledging my presence and scootching in like she should have.

The later at night I begin my dinner, the less I eat. So I had just a soup and an appetizer. And I nibbled a bit off of others' plates. One of our party asked the waiter which soup she recommended, the parsnip or the Japanese pumpkin and butternut squash, and the waitress answered the parsnip was one of the most interesting soups she's tasted. I have a policy that if a dish is described as "interesting," I stay away from it. Now, remember, nothing is heated beyond 112F, so the soup was not a bowl of warm steamy goodness on what turned out to be a bone-chilling night. That said, the pumpkin butternut squash soup was pretty tasty. Jennifer had the parsnip soup, and that turned out to have an almost minty taste to it. Not sure that was in ingredient. and it was a good deal cooler than my pumpkin soup. I took a couple of nibbles of the "cheese" on Deb's salad. Their cheese is actually made from nuts - totally not sure how they do it. Deb's cheese was formed to look like a hunk of goat cheese. It has some nice flavors to it, and the texture, while not completely smooth, was acceptable. It's not cheese, so I'd pick another name for it.
I then had the gnocchi appetizer. Not sure what was actually in there, you can probably check out their menu online and read up on it. The plate consisted of about 20 little beige balls covered with a light drizzle of 'cream' sauce and some peas, I think wasabi peas but not so hot. They were mostly hard, whatever form of pea they were. Again, the plate was room temperature or cooler. I enjoyed the flavors. The portion, for me, was just perfect for my entree. The texture was slightly pasty. Meaning, when you chewed, your teeth separated as they would after biting into a peanut butter sandwich - like a prolonged sideways movement of the jaw. I don't know, it's something I noticed, maybe it wouldn't be a big thing for others. But I like the flavor, don't get me wrong. My plate also had a sprinkling of sprouts and gave the dish a nice needed crunch. Jennifer' ravioli was tasty, too. Again, not sure what was in it.
They had two dessert options - a chocolate cake and a cheesecake. Deb really liked her chocolate cake. I thought it had a texture too much like halavah and was a little dry. The cheesecake was not cheese but looked like cheesecake. Again, some sort of nut paste thing I'm sure. Not smooth but it was surprisingly tasty. And with fresh raspberries on top too. And the plate was drizzled with a lavender agave sauce. I definitely approved of that. Call it nut-paste cake.
The tea was the one exception to the not-heated rule, and was steaming hot and very delicious. I can see going here again in the spring or summer, when room temperature food would be welcome. Overall, it was a meal I'm glad I experienced.