Sweet Dixie

After closing their Bay Village café Rachel’s Kitchen last fall (since reopened under new management), owners Alon Munzer, Rachel Miller Munzer, and John Kessen and chef-owner Barry Maiden posted an online plea, requesting donations for their next venture. The result, thanks to 350 generous benefactors—their names are printed on a wall in the bar—is Hungry Mother in Kendall Square.

The menu takes its inspiration from below the Mason-Dixon (Maiden is a Virginia native), typified by offerings like shrimp and grits, and barbecued quail resting on a fried green tomato. But the comforts here aren’t strictly southern. Local vegetables and beef from Northeast Family Farms get star billing, while Maiden’s classical training (picked up at L’Espalier and Lumière) shines in dishes like tender gnocchi with mushrooms and pea tendrils. The bar serves regional and craft-brewed beers; teetotalers can down glasses of sweet tea. For dessert, the bourbon-pecan sticky bun will have you whistling Dixie as you contemplate your next visit to this welcome addition to Tech Town.

233 Cardinal Medeiros Ave., Cambridge, 617-499-0090, hungrymothercambridge.com.