THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Vox Populi

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Vox Populi Restaurant Review:

At this upmarket after-work haunt in the Back Bay, cocktails, cocktails, cocktails take precedence over food in the echoing, ground-floor bar and out on its adjoining patio. But that's not for lack of effort on the part of the kitchen. Indeed, a number of up-and-coming chefs have taken a crack at the contemporary menu, with now winning, now iffy results. The best dishes, curiously, seem to be the compromises---those that neither represent the culinary LCD nor reach further than their grasp. For instance, we like the punchy farm salad of arugula with blue cheese, pine nuts and grilled onions, whose vinaigrette smartly substitutes blueberries for passé raspberries or cranberries; blackened swordfish with dirty rice and cornmeal-fried okra is a timely ’80s throwback. But enter territory strewn with items like overly heavy pecan-crusted shrimp with bourbon beurre blanc cautiously.