Henrietta's Table, Cambridge MA

"In the five days I saw a dozen or more kudu cows and one young bull with a string of cows. The cows were big, gray, striped-flanked antelope with ridiculously small heads, big ears, and a soft, fast-rushing gait that moved them in big bellied panic through the streets." – Hemingway, Green Hills of Africa









The streets of Cambridge around Harvard Square are busy and the travelers in summer seem more tourists than students and professors.  At the great Bookstore, in back, a great bookmaking machine, something like a 3-d printer and we can see through glass sides the machinery of the printing process, one book at a time.  Children there run through the aisles unable to concentrate on the well selected books.  At a later time, near the bookstore, we walk into the bakery on the next block, I believe Cafe Tatta, where the chocolate mousse dollop is as large as the palm of my hand, each precisely rounded in their rows, something out of a French patisserie magazine spread. For lunch, we have reservations for a local iconic farm-to-table a ways down at the St. James Hotel, Henrietta's Table, the work of chef Peter Davis.

On the way there Cambridge back alleys open up in the same way as do so many of the great European cities – the old brick and cobblestone labyrinths have been transformed to open air decks away from the storming tourists.  We reach the St. James Hotel square, a wide open space, and walk up a few stairs into the shopping courtyard to get to Henriettas.

Here there is a feel, as we sit down at the courtyard outside table, that we are inside an upscale garden shack turned eatery.  Planting beds of fresh herbs and lettuces are lined in among the outdoor tables; inside, near the entrance, a large bronze statue of Henrietta the pig stands to greet walk in in customers. We learn by thumbing through the cookbooks available on the wall that Chef Davis is obsessive about buying only locally farmed produce and proteins -- a long list of wonderful farm connections such as Shy Brothers Farm and Pete's Greens are listed as long time friends to the restaurant.  We sit and order the Salt Cod Cake entree, vegetarian chili, a smoked ham and cheese

sandwich and salmon blt.  The entrees, each brimming with arugulas, sprouts, watercress, not only naturally match the proteins but here take center stage.  Farm to table can be an accurate catchphrase for those, like Henrietta's, that are truly committed to the idea of recruiting surrounding farms to supply your menu – the closer the connection, the more the seasons and local bioregion begin to flavor your plate.  As we walked back down the steps of the St. James Hotel Square, this we knew was such a place and we felt it necessary to secretly bow and wave.