Prose Food advertises that they are “food for urban and suburban poets”. In reality, the frantic chef, who paces the room after each course, demanding to know how you like your dish, is the true poet, almost an artist who has uniquely woven flavors together that may not sound good but taste quite special.

Many moons ago, I had a gorgeous meal at Prose Food. This little spot is tucked into an old corner building on a busy Arlington, MA road. It glows at night and there’s a casual, friendly spirit that always draws us in.

I was surprised to discover that most people have never heard of Prose Food, but the “mad scientist” owner, who paced the restaurant and kitchen as if she was figuring out a new formula, prefers the good word to spread via friends and friends of friends. My great friend invited me and I quickly fell in love.

The menu changes daily - don’t you love those sorts of places - based on whatever the chef finds at local markets or from their natural food purveyors. The ingredients are almost always organic and local, and the details behind each dish are well-explained on the 8.5 x 11 white sheet of plain paper that hosts that day’s menu.

From the photos, you may think - hell, that doesn’t look so special, I can make that myself! I promise you - you do not have the palate nor the experience to assemble some of these glorious dishes. None of us do. I never new roasted cauliflower, fingerling potatoes, greens, truffle oil and unidentifiable spices could taste so good. Nor did I know that a splash of sherry vinegar on hunks of farmers cheese and local apples, cucumbers and onions could make me feel so complete.

I was so elated to see that Prose Food is closing on the evening of the presidential election for a very good reason - the elections. But they’re preparing a pile of luscious local food for take away for us nail biters, to help us stay full while we wait for the final word.

Because I believe everyone should know about Prose, here’s the Prose Election Day Catering Menu in detail. They request that you pre-order by Saturday, November 1, and pick up on Monday or Tuesday, November 3-4. Please call 781-648-2800 to order or find out more.

• Spiced pecans   $15 pound
• Wild Colorado elk (not moose) and bison pate with Black Forest bacon and porcini mushrooms - $20 lb.
• Lobster bisque with Armagnac and cream - $40 quart
• Vegetarian bisque of local autumn squash with porcini, sherry, cider and cream - $32 quart
• Split pea soup with smoked ham, parsnips and lotus root - $32 quart
• Vegetarian artichoke - swiss chard - leek dip with mustard seeds and Fontina (raw milk cheese) - $32 quart
• Prose vegetarian Mac and cheese baked with MA aged gouda*(raw milk cheese), gruyere*(raw milk cheese), MA aged cheddar (raw milk cheese), roasted garlic and smokey onions - $25 (serves 4 to 6); with house made wild Colorado elk and bison sausages - $35 (serves 4 to 6)
• Yucca crusted saffron - buttermilk oven fried chicken with aleppo pepper aioli - $35 (serves 4 to 6)
• Braised beef short ribs with kim chi and mashed potatoes - $40 (serves 4 to 6)
• Prose maple custard - $16 (serves 4 to 6)
• Chocolate-black patent malt roulade cake filled with white pepper whipped cream - $25 (1/2 log serves 6 to 8);    $50 (whole log serves 12 to 16)
• Traditional New England Election cake(recipe ca. 1834) with sour cream, caraway and Roxbury russet apples (first apple grown in the US) - $20 (serves 6 to 8 )

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4. Local Poet Cooks… Well!
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