Dining Out Boston

The Quincy Posse is breaking up. We've known for a while that Feng was heading to Mountainview, CA in August to apply her surfing skills, but suddenly Genevieve too is moving to the Sunshine State to work in cosumer insight for a wine company.

On Saturday night, we gathered for a send-off dinner at Rendezvous in Central Square, a New American restaurant fittingly housed in a former Burger King. Rendezvous has received multiple accolades during its short tenure, and we were all eager to be impressed.

At first, I was, given that I was graciously seated at our table and offered water and wine, despite being ten minutes early for the reservation. Our freckled server in a pink polo shirt reminded me of the camp counselor I never had (sleeping away from home severely worried me as a child; ironic, now), and once everyone was seated she took our orders and brought a crock of soft delicious sour-dough bread to our table.

We so wrapped up in discussing fantastical trips to visit Genevieve in Napa Valley that no one noticed that twenty minutes went by without our appetizers. After 15 more, we were still chatty but very hungry and the crock of bread had been filled and emptied twice. Our waitress apologized the delay, citing a "back-up in the kitchen." She was appropriately contrite, but her strained tone of voice indicated to me that she was less than pleased about apologizing for some other person's mistake.

My Cucumber-Yogurt Soup ($9) was a cool, textured liquid of pureed cumber and radishes, with some hints of mint. The generous serving justified the price, and I happily sopped up the creamy remains with some sour-dough bread. Genevieve and Rachel's Spring Vegetable Antipasto ($11) was presented gorgeously, the delicate colors of baby carrots, onions, and radishes contrasting nicely with the stark white dish and the darker eggplant puree.

The entrees arrived quickly after that; so quickly that the server didn't even have time to clear our appetizer dishes, which made for some awkward shuffling with the main dishes. I was slightly disappointed with the Roast Leg of Lamb ($23), which though cooked a perfect medium rare, suffered from a dryness that was only barely alleviated by the dollop of harissa, a Tunisian sacue made from peppers and tomatoes. The bed of yellow couscous and grilled eggplant were divine and unfortunately just underscored the underwhelming lamb.

Rachel seemed more pleased with her Swiss Chard Dolmas ($18), drizzled with a pine nut sauce and accompanied with beets and baby carrots.

I give points to Rendezvous for not bothering us while we lingered nearly an hour after paying our bill and retold our favorite college tales. I also admire the general ingenuity of the place, with its electic local artwork, fresh, unpretentious menu, and silverware wrapped in dishclothes. The lamb needs to be refined and there's some issues with food-running, but there's no reason to think Rendezvous won't live up to its expectations.

The Info
Rendezvous in Central Square
502 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
www.rendezvouscentralsquare.com