Towne Stove Top & Spirits, Back Bay, BostoN (Now Closed)

Photo from Towne website

With three of Boston’s top Chefs, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect the first time I entered Towne.  I think I expected something a little more stuffy and what I found was quite the opposite.  The place is welcoming, spacious and entertaining – people watching value, and offers great food that will be enjoyable to anyone’s palate.  In fact the menu is a little bizarre and very interesting.  When you first walk in, you are in a large space with a huge bar in the center of the room surrounded by high top tables – a very casual feel.  Walking through to the downstairs restaurant, and where we eventually sat, you are greeted by friendly hosts and directed to the very cool bar and restaurant.  There is a huge, saucy mural across the back wall and floor to ceiling windows on one side. 

Towne seems to draw everyone from the Boston elite to local game watchers.  I haven’t sat in either of the dining rooms yet as everything I like is in one of the three bars.  The full menu and a bar menu is offered and a separate lobster menu.

Upon arrival we put our name in for a high top in the inside bar and made our way to Michael, an old British pal and long time Boston Bartender.  We thought we would have a little fun and start with cocktails instead of wine.  I went for the “Gypsy Dancer”… crop cucumber Vodka, aloe & honey shaken, served up with honey crystal rim.  It was so delicious and refreshing and perfect to start the evening.  I can only do one martini as I am likely to fall over if I continued with the martini drinking.

The bar was buzzing and made for excellent people watching.  It wasn’t long before we were seated at one of he high tops. In fact, our table was perfect for checking out the whole bar area.  Our waiter, another Michael, was super friendly, accommodating and very knowledgeable about the menu.  We, of course had to go with the lobster popovers so that Kathleen didn’t have a mini breakdown on us.  They were quite nice with large chunks of lobster… they definitely don’t scrimp on the lobster, which is great.  The only thing I didn’t like is that the popovers tasted like dessert because of the honey on them.  I would have liked them to be a bit more savory tasting. 

Next we had the “Vine Ripe Tomato ‘Peasant’ Salad” with Cucumber, lemon & mint.  Simple and tasty, and the “Wood Grilled Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza.” Perfectly made pizza crust that was soft in the middle and crusty around the edges.  I don’t normally eat pizza crust but I couldn’t get enough of this.  It was also large enough for three of us, perhaps even four to share.  The topping was a great balance of tomatoes and cheese with very salty pepperoni – which I love.

Still more to come!  We ordered the “Cape Scallops Provencal” on delicate rutabaga tart with crisped oxtails.  This dish didn’t look good at all, in fact, it looked bland and a bit messy, however, it tasted delicious and the teeny scallops just melted in your mouth. 

For some reason, still wanting more, we decided to look at the dessert menu and then we were in trouble.  We couldn’t decide on what to get, so ordered both the “Chocolate & Vanilla Cupcakes” with fluffy butter cream frosting and the “Maple Cotton Candy” atop Angel Food Cake.  Both were a little bit of heaven.  The cupcakes were huge and would have fed a table of six easily with a couple of bites each.  The cotton candy was hurt your teeth sweet and so fun to see coming to the table. 

I will definitely be back to Towne!