And this is good old Boston,
The home of the bean and the cod,
Where the Lowells talk only to Cabots,
And the Cabots talk only to God.
So goes the old rhyme of the Boston Brahmins, a select group of well-to-do aristocrats who ruled the city and (in their own minds at least) the world.
While the once awe-inspiring names Lowell and Cabot may now be relegated to industrial mill towns, amazing third basemen, creameries and ice cream shops, the style in which they once lived lives on in another new positive addition to Stanhope Street that is called, appropriately enough, Brahmin.
Entering the wooded foyer and passing a framed copy of the afore-quoted verse and some portraits of the famous members of the families named thereupon, guests are simultaneously transported back in time and into a totally new space where tufted leathers and deep woods mingle with contemporary cuisine and a DJ-fed nightlife that can push well into tomorrow.
With its cozy banquettes, sprawling seating spaces and even an underground speakeasy bar, its ostrich-clad menus and the hollowed-out tomes that serve as check holders when the evening finally winds to a close, Brahmin is varied without losing focus. From the burnished wood floors to the intentionally warped wooden, chandelier-dotted ceiling, Brahmin combines the feel of a gentlemen’s club and lady’s salon that offers equal opportunity and enjoyment for both. Even the drinks are well balanced – ranging from the financially-minded Forbes sidecar and a Boston-based Stanhope Bellini and the bourbon and berry blast called the Saltonstall to the femininely-friendly Sex and the City and the seductively apple-icious Appleton Family Secret. In addition to these, the Brahmin offers a solid selection of wines and a fully stocked bar that is often many mixes deep but long enough to find a place to drink or dine.
Among the imminently sharable meal options are such deliciously diverse offerings as a festival of flatbreads topped with everything from prosciutto to the traditional meat and potatoes, a selection of seafood that swims from prawns to scallops to twinned tuna preparations, salads that harvest the best of local produce and combine them with fresh cheeses such as mozzarella and goat, a selection of vegetable sides that includes grilled white asparagus, marinated olives and “all-righta” tater tots, and a mini meat market of chicken skewers, beef short ribs, meatballs and beef tartare. For those with larger appetites, Brahmin also offers Boston-sized burgers, an amazing grilled tuna sandwich, steak fries (for which the “fries” are thick hand-cut potato wedges with a trio of tasty condiments), salmon filet, scallop and pea risotto and pappardelle pasta with seasonal veggies. In addition to these savory sections, the menu has a section of “other things” that includes a famously filling potato and onion frittata (for $3.50!), truffled mac & cheese, and fun fried pickles. Like the venue, the menu is diverse but still able to maintain its theme of well prepared, pleasingly presented and fairly priced food for the real citizens of Boston.
So whether you are a Brahmin epicurean or a hardy New Englander, Brahmin has a flavor and a flair to bring you back to the days of the Lowells and the Cabot or right into today (and tonight).
PS Be sure to check out Brahmin on Friday, October 28 for its “Nightmare on Stanhope Street” Halloween soiree. Proceeds from admission will benefit Children’s Hospital.
Brahmin American Cuisine & Cocktails
33 Stanhope Street, Boston
617.723.3131