review: that difficult work-to-no-work transition (upstairs on the square)

i'm somewhat at a loss because i've gone from such a high level of production (final review) to nothing. well, if "nothing" means "eventual packing." i feel as though i should be relaxing, but am finding it difficult to do because i'm still coming off the mad dash that is my mental state during finals. it's like trying to brake when driving a freight train full of lead weights.

well, at any rate, jessica and i are determined to hit up some restaurants before she leaves for california and then oxford, so we began our culinary trek today with brunch at upstairs on the square.

first of all, the entrance is on the side, not at the top of the stairs like one would surmise upon glancing at the front of the restaurant. the inside of the restaurant strikes a balance between being designed by women, and being feminine - and luckily, it's the right balance. the room is green with gold accents, with every trendy lighting fixture you can think of, and random details everywhere, like a tiny balcony to the left of the bar, an alice-in-wonderland type of mantel and mirror on the south wall, and "go red sox" painted onto the mirrors above the bar (plus a huge wide-screen TV perched on top of the back of a banquette, ostensibly for red sox games). as i look around, i spot what is the best table i've ever seen in a restaurant, ever - a tiny table tucked into an oddly-shaped nook under a window, big enough for two people. so, if you go there on a date, that is where you should sit. it's on the side of the room opposite from the mantel, closer to the kitchen side.

and of course, there's the food. we went there for brunch, so i think the food was a little less imaginative overal than dinner tends to be - it had the typical french toast, salmon, bagels, omelettes, etc. the attention to detail was probably what made the food so good. i would say that i wasn't totally knocked out, but i was more than pleased and would go back. dinner is probably even better. what also made the food good was flawless preparation - which is also what makes craigie street bistrot (my favorite restaurant in boston and cambridge) so good. while jessica and i waited for shaunna, we were brought a basket with little breakfast-y tidbits - the breakfast version of the breadbasket. everything was, of course, in miniature, and was quite good. there was a tiny chive-cheese scone, banana-chocolate chip muffins (but the banana was very subtle...it took me a few minutes to realize that it was banana. or, rather, jessica said "banana!" and i suddenly realized that that was the flavor i couldn't place), a couple slices of pound cake, and a couple slices of spice cake (very molasses-y). as for first courses, i started with the muesli, which was bits of granola (house-made, of course), assorted nuts (cashews and..macadamias?), and some raspberries. wow, those raspberries were good. the yogurt was also fabulous. anyway, i don't usually like muesli but i did like this one. i have rarely had fried potatoes that good - and you would think that they're a very simple thing to do, but i've had the whole range of fried potatoes, from grim to transcendent. i would say that these were fairly close to transcendent - crispy on the outside, and somehow perfectly balanced, herbs-wise. maybe my palate is too undiscerning, but the steak (oh, so i had the steak and eggs) was good but not particularly spectacular. it was cooked perfectly, though (rare, as all red meat should be), and had some sort of relish/mayonnaise-consistency type thing on it which was spicy and a nice counterpoint to the steak. the eggs? eh. i don't think i'm such a fan of steak and eggs together. in general, though, i don't really go for typical breakfast foods at breakfast. i would much rather have cold pizza than cereal, for example.

the high point, as it always seems to be for me, was dessert. we were all full, but couldn't resist the dessert menu. i do believe the dessert menu was the most creative part of the menu, with things like a coocnut panna cotta (ok, not so exciting), lemon custard cake with rhubarb (rhubarb! i love rhubarb!), cornmeal upside down plum cake (oh, plum cake...), and a couple other things. but shaunna and i eyed the butterscotch pudding and went with it. jessica got the panna cotta despite the gelatin. let me just say that that pudding is the best pudding i have ever had in my life. or, at least, the best butterscotch pudding i have ever had in my life. my other pudding high points: the best recipe's double chocolate pudding recipe is the best pudding recipe in the world; and the joy of cooking milk-and-cornstarch vanilla pudding is just fantastic. but this butterscotch pudding was pretty out-of-this-world - silky, creamy, dense but not too desne...oh, i want more just thinking about it. i think the one thing it may have been lacking (and this is a very contentious "may") was some salty counterpoint - in the same way that caramel is a thousand times better if it's slightly salty, a burst of salty something in the pudding would have been fabulous.

all in all, though, upstairs on the square is a fabulous place, and definitely belongs on your to-do-list. i would like to go there for dinner sometime, to see if there's a big difference in the experience. don't forget the dessert!