Dining Out: Juniper

Back in December I shared my first meal at Sweet Basil in Needham (I am still thinking about that pesto dip they serve with the bread). Last week I visited Sweet Basil's sister restaurant, Juniper in Wellesley. 

Juniper is on Central Street in Wellesley Center. Thanks to the wonderfully warm March we've been having, their outdoor patio is already set up. 

From the street it seems like Juniper would have a small dining room, but inside the space is surprisingly expansive with a long bar, a row of high top tables and a cozy room all the way in the back. 

We were seated at a high top table in the bar area. Seconds after settling in we were greeted by our jovial waiter who said, "I love food. I love to drink, so please ask me anything about either menu." My kind of guy!

We started by checking out the cocktail menu. 

My dinner date decided on the Das Quickness, which is vodka, pear, lime and green chartreuse. I went with the Bees Knees, a mix of gin, lemon, honey simple syrup and lavender bitters. 

We were both very happy with our drink choices (though we moved to wine for dinner). 

While we looked over the dinner menu, our waiter brought us some Mediterranean olives. Careful of the pits! 

Knowing we were planning to dine at Juniper, I had asked a friend who lives in the neighborhood for his recommendations. The first thing he said was, "You have to order the dips. That is the best part of eating at Juniper. Sometimes my wife and I just sit at the bar and eat the dips!"

When you consider sampling from the dip selection, the pricing is one dip for $6 dollars or three dips for $15 dollars. Of course we went for the trio. 

It was an agonizing decision (because we wanted all of them) but we finally decided on the muhummara, the tzatziki and the skordalia. The dips come with a generous bowl of pita strips. 

We loved all of the dips equally and made them disappear! The muhummara had a great red pepper taste. The tzatziki was the best I've ever had. It was so creamy and I honestly wanted to put it on everything. The skordalia, new to both of us, was a mix of almond and potato. The almond gave the dip a yummy texture and you tasted the potato on the way down. I highly recommend all three of these. Our one complaint was that the pita strips weren't really thick enough or toasted enough to serve as a strong vehicle for the dips. 

Rather than each select one entree, we opted to share four items from the mezze section of the menu. The first to arrive was the seared manchego cheese, served with allepo-spiced kimchi, tomato chutney, celery aioli and crostini. 

Weirdly, the cheese was so seared that it tasted more like a Cheez-It than a hunk of cheese. The crostini underneath was so toasted that it was really difficult to cut (to share) or to bite in to. We weren't sold on the manchego or crostini, so we dunked our spoons into the accompaniments below, but sadly, we weren't into those flavor combos either. 

Next up, the fatoosh salad (another recommendation from my friend who lives nearby). This salad was a mix of local greens, cucumber, radish, tomato, sheeps feta, pita croutons and oregano vinaigrette. 

Unfortunately, we weren't really impressed by the fatoosh. It honestly felt like a dish we could have easily made at home. 

Continuing with the veggies, we also selected the roaster cauliflower which came over a big bed of arugula, dressed with a curry vinaigrette and topped with spiced chickpeas, olives and toasted pine nuts. 

I really loved the curry vinaigrette, that was the best component of the dish, bringing everything together. 

The final dish we ordered based on our friend's recommendation was the charred octopus. The octopus is slow cooked in extra virgin olive oil and served over apple-jicama slaw and crispy quinoa. 

After a few bites my dinner date shared, "This is delicious. The octopus is cooked really well. I love the olive oil taste. I would definitely order this again."

At this point, we probably should have tapped out. However, our waiter asked, "Room for something sweet?" We fired back, "What do you have?" He said, "We have date cake and it's amazing." I lifted my brow and gave a very skeptical look. My friend jumped in and decoded the look for him, "She doesn't do non-chocolate desserts." Taking that as a challenge, he replied, "Oh, you will love this. I am bringing it, I am going to watch you take your first bite and then you'll have to admit it." 

While we waited for the date cake to arrive, he brought over two mini glasses of Moscato. He put them down and said, "This is to go with your cake. It helps cut through the decadence, especially toward the end."

The date cake arrived and sure enough, our waiter stood next to our table until I took a bite. I admit it, it was good! Though it is not a dessert I would ever choose, the cake had great flavor and was drenched in caramel. It tasted just like toffee. 

Though some of the mezze items we ordered were a bust, the dips were exceptional and I would come back just to order those again. And the cocktails. 

Juniper has such a warm and welcoming vibe and the staff are incredibly friendly (and genuinely seem like they are all friends and enjoy hanging out). Parking is super easy too, which is always a plus. 

Anyone who wants to join me for round two of dips, just give a shout!