ShoutOut: The Independent

Earlier this week, I had a very fine dinner at a cozy neighborhood joint called The Independent. Somerville’s Union Square has very much swanked up, but this place has been a solid pillar as the new establishments open, get too hip and disappear. I don’t get to hang in the area often, so I jumped at the chance to drink and dine with a dear friend.

Our requirements were simple: We needed time for girl chat, a few cocktails and old-fashioned comfort food. We also wanted a place that wouldn’t rush us out the door the moment our bill arrived. Lucky for us, The Independent met all our requirements, and then some!

I arrived a bit early after a somewhat long, drawn out, “meet-15-people-in-5-hours” job interview. I needed a cocktail. Hell, I deserved a cocktail. The Independent has two sides – one is fancy dive bar, the other is restaurant. I cozied up to the fancy dive bar and felt like I was back in mid-90s NYC, sitting at some relaxed, glam-bar on the Lower East Side. (All those cool places have since moved to Brooklyn, or so I hear.) The only difference was that the Irish energy was quite tangible; posters from the Galway Arts Festival on the brick walls, a few Irish gentleman speaking with delicious accents a few stools down, an Irish cook arriving for work, poking fun at his American colleagues.

I ordered a Rosemary-Mint Vodka Gimlet mainly because its main ingredient was an organic vodka called Rain. A little lime, and mint, and rosemary, and, man, it was the PERFECT vodka gimlet. I could have drank 10. That said, the bar didn’t look like the sort of place that served luscious, fancy cocktails. Sitting there, I felt like I should be drinking a tall Chimay ale, or perhaps an Irish Cider. I felt so at home, I didn’t want to move from that bar. But we did.

Once my friend arrived, we ventured into the restaurant and picked out a nice booth in the back. The appetizers were quite lovely – Fried Almonds, Deviled Eggs and Braised Greens. The almonds were fried in some olive oil and herbs until they were hot to the touch. The deviled eggs were so lady-like and yummy, served on cucumber rounds. And the braised greens were mostly kale and chard that had been braised in a rich broth. They were a touch bitter, but refreshingly so. Most restaurant greens come doused in loads of olive oil and garlic. These were quite simple and almost Southern in style.

Dinner was equally comforting. My girlfriend got a huge house burger with fries and a big salad. I opted for the night’s special of braised lamb shanks in a brown sauce over mashed potatoes. The meat fell off the bone, intoxicating me as much as the lovely glass of Saintsbury Pinot Noir, a wine my husband and I had drank daily out in Napa. It’s hard to find it by the glass out there, so I indulged with a lot of passion.

Our server was easy on us. He got our food out quickly, yet didn’t rush us out the door. We were bad customers, in the sense that we stayed and chatted for about an hour after our bill arrived. But there were many open 4-top tables, so I didn’t feel so bad.

All in all, my recommendation is not to go to this place. I’d like to keep it all to myself. Stay away. Please.

The Independent is located at 75 Union Square, Somerville, MA, 617-440-6022. All photos were taken from the their website.