Chef Matthew Gaudet Returns to Cambridge Tonight
Marinated olives & pepper, bacon roasted nuts and a Manhattan at Freepoint Kitchen and Cocktails. / Photos by Brian Samuels
When Matthew Gaudet first introduced his cooking style to the city of Cambridge, it was just a bit… precious. At West Bridge, the chef was known for slightly fussy, French-inspired dishes, notably the egg-in-a-jar. But eventually, he just got sick of cooking that way.
“[West Bridge] was who I wanted to be five years ago, and it’s not necessarily who I want to be today,” the chef told Boston last year, ahead of opening his North Shore restaurant, SuperFine Food. “What I really appreciate is everything having the best products, without the pomp and circumstance.”
Now, he’s back in Cambridge with that ethos: Gaudet starts cooking at Freepoint Kitchen & Cocktails today, a breakfast-and-dinner spot inside a new boutique hotel in North Cambridge. With global flavors, the casual cuisine is comprised of sustaining breakfast options, like a miso, spring vegetable breakfast bowl topped with a poached egg; and a decadent raspberry vanilla buttermilk Dutch Baby. For dinner, toast and warm whipped herbed ricotta with honey and horseradish; a bourbon-bacon apple and cheddar grilled cheese; and Irish whiskey-cured salmon with sambal date sauce are globally inspired plates to share at the crimson-colored bar.
Former West Bridge bar manager Alex Howell (also formerly of Menton) consulted on the beverage program at Freepoint, which centers on the classic Manhattan. A make-your-own menu has nearly two dozen rye and bourbon options, plus a selection of sweet and dry vermouths and bitters, as well as nine house variations. There are other craft cocktails, eight wines by-the-glass, and a solid, small selection of craft drafts, too.
Check out the debut menus below.
Freepoint Kitchen and Cocktails serves breakfast daily from 7-11 a.m., and dinner from 5 p.m.-midnight.
Freepoint Hotel, 220 Alewife Brook Parkway, West Cambridge, 617-491-8000, freepointhotel.com.
Raspberry vanilla buttermilk Dutch baby at Freepoint Kitchen & Cocktails. / Photo by Nina Gallant for “Small Bite“
Spicy broccoli with garlic, pepita, and apple at Freepoint Kitchen & Cocktails. / Photos by Brian Samuels
BBQ chicken wings at Freepoint Kitchen and Cocktails. / Photos by Brian Samuels
Irish whiskey-cured salmon at Freepoint Kitchen and Cocktails. / Photos by Brian Samuels
