Move over, Eastern Standard, I have a new favorite restaurant. I'd like to introduce you to Blue Inc.
Blue Inc. is the creation of chef Jason Santos, best known here in Boston as the former executive chef at Gargoyles on the Square in Somerville (see my review here of their super fun Sunday disco brunch) and also recognizable as a contestant on Gordon Ramsey's "Hell's Kitchen" which airs on FOX.
Blue Inc. is named for Jason's signature look, his blue hair. Yes, you read that correctly. He dyes his hair cobalt blue.
The restaurant is located at 131 Broad Street, just down the street from my office. The restaurant opened a few weeks ago and I had been dying to go. Yesterday I had a friend in town from New York City and we had been planning for weeks to meet for lunch. She has worked for the past five years in food & beverage PR, so I knew I had to pick a place to impress her.
We met at my office at 12:45pm and walked to Blue Inc. As we approached the restaurant, we saw that the outdoor patio was already completely packed. I love the blue patio gate and the blue placemats. It suits the name without being gimmicky.
Upon stepping inside the hostess let us know there was one more high top table in the window, or we could receive full lunch service at the bar. We decided to sit at the bar which receives beautiful sunlight and punctuates the blue room with it's bright, orange bar stools.
As soon as I sat down, a noticed a guest on the wall. The restaurant has a Chinese fighter fish named Ella Fitzgerald. She has blue rocks in her bowl, of course. How cute!
Once seated, I took a full look around the restaurant and absolutely fell in love with the decor. I think the light fixtures are stunning, the furniture choices are sophisticated and I am completely enamored with this blue and white photography of supermodel Twiggy!
We were greeted by the friendly and high energy bartender. She handed us lunch menus and we couldn't make a decision! Everything sounded incredible.
My lunch date decided on the Hell's Kitchen wedge salad and added blackened chicken. The salad comes with red grapes, candied walnuts, crumbled goat cheese and black truffle vinaigrette. She loved the dressing and thought the dish was a perfect portion size.
She also ordered the rosemary and parmesan french fries which I kept snatching because they were so incredible! The right amount of crisp and seasoned perfectly.
I decided on the Blue Inc. burger which comes topped with blue cheese, tomato jam and fresh basil leaves. It normally comes with a beef burger, but you can substitute a falafel burger. I can't say enough about restaurants that accommodate vegetarians. Ten million bonus points!
The falafel burger was huge and delicious and the burger toppings all together created one superb bite! I was in heaven.
For my side dish I selected the black truffle, gouda stuffed tater tots. I pretty much order tater tots anytime they are on a menu, but these were on a whole other level. The truffle and the ooey gooey cheese in the center were the true definition of decadence. I will dream about these tater tots.
Though we were already quite full, I told my lunch date I had read that Blue Inc. serves liquid nitrogen milkshakes and I insisted that we at least try one, even if we couldn't finish it. The milkshakes come in four flavors: rootbeer and toasted marshmallow, blueberry cheesecake, strawberry and honey dipped donut and butterscotch and black truffle. We went for the rootbeer and toasted marshmallow which arriving doing this:
The milkshake tasted like the treats I used to order offer the ice cream truck at Nantasket Beach as a kid. I couldn't quite put my finger on the exact taste, but I loved it and it immediately transported me back to those happy, summer time memories. We sucked down every last drop!
When our check arrived, it was rolled up in a shot glass and garnished with two, custom, Blue Inc. lollipops! The personal accents here are included at every single step of the dining experience.
I cannot say enough about our flawless experience at Blue Inc. The restaurant is beautiful and every single touch of the design is purposeful and personal. I learned after poking around the website that the space was designed by HGTV's Taniya Nayak, who actually lives here in Milton, MA.
Blue Inc.'s food was daring and delicious and our bartender was such a delight and someone I will look forward to going back and seeing on a regular basis.
Thank you, Blue Inc., for an absolutely fantastic experience and welcome to the neighborhood! I hope that blue hair is ready to sparkle and wear the crown of Pop.Bop.Shop.'s favorite restaurant.
P.S. - If you're wondering if chef Jason is ever actually on the premises, we saw him twice during our meal. That blue hair is hard to miss! Both times we spotted him he was running from the kitchen, through the bar area, out the front door.
