Tony Maws’ New Restaurant to Be Called Kirkland Tap and Trotter

At long last, the deets on his forthcoming Somerville restaurant.

TonyMaws1Get used to seeing this face in Somerville. Photo courtesy of Facebook.

Earlier this week, Craigie on Main tweeted that diners visiting the restaurant on Wednesday night would be able to vote on the new name for chef Tony Maws’ forthcoming Somerville restaurant. Yesterday, Maws confirmed with us that there’s a winner: Kirkland Tap and Trotter (pressing details on whether or not the “and” will be an ampersand is TBD, per Maws). The Kirkland part of the equation comes from the restaurant’s location: Kirkland Street, in the former Kirkland Cafe space. As for the Tap and Trotter portion? That’s also intuitive.  “There’s going to be wine on tap, a bigger beer selection on draft, and trotter is because that’s who we are. We’re about parts and pieces,” Maws explains.

Obviously, we were less curious about the name of the restaurant, and more about what’s actually in store when the place opens (which will be late summer, by the way). “Of course, there’s going to be ways you will look at it and know it is a Tony Maws restaurant. How could it not be? I will be deeply involved. But it will not be an extension of Craigie. It’s not Baby Craigie, it’s not Craigie Two,” Maws says. “The dots and the swooshes [on the plate] will stay at Craigie.”

Maws will be working with the same farms and purveyors that he does at his flagship, but says the food will be more rustic, neighborhood-friendly appetizers and entrees. “There will be big cuts [of meat], simply prepared but perfectly prepared, beautifully executed and seasoned,” he says. “It’s the stuff that you crave and want to eat more than once a week. It’s the food I like to cook for my friends, and Mondays at home.”

The biggest difference between Craigie and its new sibling, technique-wise, will be the large wood-fired grill that will anchor the kitchen, which means more large-format preparations and lots of live-fire cooking. This leads us to what you were all thinking: WHAT ABOUT THE BURGER?!?!?!? “The Craigie burger is going to stay at Craigie on Main,” Maws says. “But there will be a burger. And it might be a rotating burger. Maybe it will be a burger of the week. We will have some fun with it.” He’s also planning to give hot dogs the same star treatment that he’s given the burger at Craigie. Whether this means a suet, miso, and mace-laced frank remains to be seen: “We are about to start working on that as we speak,” Maws says.

More of the nitty gritty: Kirkland Tap and Trotter will be open seven days a week, have a full bar program (though cocktails won’t take “ten minutes to make,” per Maws), and serve brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. As for the rest? We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

Update 11:55 a.m.: Per an email blast from Maws’ PR, the restaurant indeed will have an ampersand, and will henceforth be known as The Kirkland Tap & Trotter. We knew the suspense was killing you, too.