“This restaurant is for the neighborhood,” says David Flanagan, GM of Ken Kelly’s forthcoming Davis Square spot. “It’s going to be somewhere you can go any night of the week — though of course, we’d prefer you to come every night of the week!” Flanagan, whose resume includes stints at Temple Bar and Great Bay, tells Grub Street that the as-yet-unnamed restaurant’s menu will be “rather large” and will feature a raw bar. “We don’t want to be boring and say it will be local foods and seasonal products, but of course, it will be.”
One thing it won’t be is chef-driven: though they’re looking for someone seasoned, “it’s not our strategy to have someone who came out of Le Bernardin.” (Is that a dig at Bistro du Midi?) The bar menu will be extensive: 32 beers on tap, a 100 bottle wine list, and a constantly-changing cocktail list, for which Kelly and Flanagan are on the hunt for a mixologist, ideally one who makes their own ginger beer, to oversee.
The space, designed by Peter Niemitz, best known for his work with Legal Sea Foods, will actually combine three separate concepts. The first floor will house the main restaurant, and a speakeasy-esque lounge and theater will live downstairs. The speakeasy will have its own entrance. The theater will play home to a mix of music, comedy, and children’s theater. The restaurant will open this fall, with the speakeasy and theater following by next summer.
Previously: Ken Kelly Will Combine Brasserie with Tavern in Davis Square
