Skip to main content

A Wood-Fire Experiment at Area Four

During a recent phone chat, restaurant owner Michael Krupp suddenly stops mid-conversation: “I’m sorry, hold on. There’s something very strange happening in my restaurant.” After a brief moment of muffled voices, Krupp returns to the line. “I just had a bunch of college kids walk in here carrying instruments. They were measuring the air quality.” This is bound to happen when a restaurant opens next door to MIT.

Krupp opened Area Four, a bakery/coffee house and bar/oven with chef Michael Leviton in 2011. The two had previously created Persephone/Achilles, a Boston waterfront restaurant and retail spot that opened to rave reviews but closed quickly due to a failing economy.

With Area Four, aptly named for its location in Area IV, Cambridge, Krupp and Leviton bring another innovative concept to life in the center of Cambridge’s technology hub. “It was really the perfect opportunity, because we were the first people to bring really great food with a laid-back atmosphere to Technology Square, which has so many office workers and scientists,” Krupp explains.

The restaurant does fit seamlessly into its tech-driven surroundings. Cement floors, aluminum chairs, and exposed ventilation and piping throughout give customers a no-frills, down-to-the-elements eatery. The restaurant’s mission, written on a large black chalkboard, states that all of the ingredients are gathered from local farms and businesses. Even the wine is on tap, bringing Boston’s first “sustainable wine program” to an area that thrives on research and bold experiments.

The menu takes on a similarly creative vibe, where almost everything is cooked in the two wood-fire ovens that Krupp calls the “cornerstone” of Area Four. Red onions, pecorino, and Brussels sprouts shredded to look like lettuce make for an interesting, bare-bones salad. The grass-fed beef meatballs with a side of giant, crispy croutons are a must, and could arguably work as a meal rather than an appetizer.

But whatever you do, don’t leave this place without trying the pizza. We went for the bacon and clam white pie, a briny, buttery, parmesan-coated thing of beauty. Still hungry? Area Four makes it’s own soft-serve vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate sauce.

Time will tell if the bakery/bar/oven is a successful experiment for Leviton and Krupp. For now, Krupp’s main goal goes beyond the pizza and brews: “We want every single person who comes in here to have a positive experience, that’s why we do this.” Even the kids carrying instruments.

Topics
Lindsay McCormack
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Lindsay McCormack is a contributing writer to TheManual.com. Previously, Lindsay studied book and magazine publishing at the…
Forget wine — Beer and cheese is an unbeatable combination
Put the corkscrew away and crack open a cold one
Beer and cheese

When one hears the term cheese pairings, wine is the beverage that most often comes to mind, we'd wager. Because, of course, it is. The pairing of wine and cheese is as classic a coupling as peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, or chocolate and strawberries. They're meant to be together. But that certainly doesn't mean that wine is the only adult beverage that can dance an alluring tango alongside everyone's favorite dairy product. Beer, as humble as its reputation can be, is also a beautiful balance to cheese's immense offering of flavors. While some may think of beer as not being as multi-dimensional and varied in its palate-pleasing capabilities as wine, this is not the case - especially now that we live in a world with so many exquisite craft beers, stouts, and lagers.
Of course, another classic accompaniment to cheese is bread or crackers. Why might that be, one might ask. Is it because we're simply in need of a starchy vessel to usher the cheese into our mouths? The answer is actually a bit deeper than that. Starches like bread and crackers are made from the same yeasty ingredients as beer, so their pairing makes perfect culinary sense.
This isn't to say, though, that one can simply pick up a hunk of cheddar and crack open a Budweiser and expect culinary artistry. The science is a bit more nuanced than that, so we're here to help you find the best pairings for your favorite beers and cheeses.

How to pair beer and cheese

Read more
Mijenta has a new cristalino tequila — here’s why bourbon fans will love it
Mijenta has a cristalino tequila perfect for bourbon drinkers
Mijenta Cristalino

If you’re new to tequila, you might not know all the terms. Even if you’re just a beginner, you probably know all about blanco, reposado, añejo, and maybe even joven. But chances are, you’re not familiar with Cristalino tequila. This reasonably contemporary style is simply añejo tequila that’s been charcoal filtered to remove its natural caramel color and various impurities.

The style is more than just a little popular. It’s actually the fastest growing style of tequila according to Nielsen data. The newest brand to get in on the Cristalino trend is Mijenta.

Read more
You may not dislike IPAs as much as you think — you’ve just tried the wrong type
There's much more to the IPA than bitter hop bombs
Beer

The IPA has been described as the cilantro of the beer world. It’s assumed by some novice drinkers that you either love it or hate it. On one hand, it’s one of the most popular beer styles in the American craft world. It’s loved by many drinkers for its liberal use of hops and fresh, crushable flavor profile.

But haters of the style dislike it because they have an assumption that all IPA beers are aggressively hopped and uncomfortably bitter. While there are IPAs that fit that criterion (and fans of that style can’t get enough of them), there are also a handful of other types of IPAs to fit any palate.
The IPA stigma

Read more