Will Gilson's Bridgestreet to Become “Puritan & Co.”

As Will Gilson has learned, things can change when you’re “with” restaurant. (Photo courtesy of Gilson).

Bridgestreet, chef Will Gilson’s anticipated new Inman Square restaurant (heading into the former Bosphorous space), will now be known as Puritan & Co., Gilson told me late last week. The new name reflects a slight thematic change of the restaurant, as well as hints to the space’s former life as the Puritan Cake Company in the early 1900s.

“At first we wanted Bridgestreet to represent the way people would refer to Cambridge Street [in Inman], and nobody got it,” Gilson says. “It was like having to tell a story over and over again.” The historically-inspired name also represents a slight shift in concept. “We are putting more of a focus on New England heritage and doing it in a fun way, whether that be hardtack crackers or New England dishes like Indian pudding,” Gilson says. “We wanted our name to embody the change.” He should know a thing or two about that type of fare, since he’s a 13th-generation New Englander.

Certain elements we previously told you about, like the oyster and charcuterie bar and housemade vermouth, will still remain. Puritan & Co. is aiming for an October opening.

In the meantime, enjoy the above photo—”The joke is that this is my first child,” Gilson says of opening a restaurant from scratch. “We are at month 7; it was going to be a girl, and now it’s a boy.”

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