Harvard2 Cambridge, Boston, and beyond
12B Extracurriculars Events on and off campus into the fall
12F Strings, Sax, and a Dash of Sass A Far Cry at the Gardner
12J Portsmouth, N.H. A day trip offers festivals, history, and art by the sea
12L Staging Magic Finding Neverland’s dynamic world premiere
12H A Park of One’s Own Where Frederick Law Olmsted lived his last good years 12M Attention, Please Asta’s primal focus is on food Jim Harrison
Harvard Magazine 12A Harvard Squared
f nstitute o I l History avik/ j atura eyk f N ery, R ery, ll a usuem o ork, and i8 G
The Farmers’ Market at Harvard man/Harvard M ew Y Extracurriculars www.dining.harvard.edu/flp/ag_market.html ll Shop for fresh produce, breads, herbs, sea- Events on and off campus during September and October food, pasta, chocolates, jams, cheeses— ugustine, N ring A
and much more. (Tuesdays in Cambridge h Seasonal ers, ice dancers, and Harvard’s own figure and Fridays in Allston through October) useum; and drew Fe t M An Evening with Champions skating club, along with enduring, new, and f e artist, Lu h www.aneveningwithchampions.org aspiring Olympians. All event proceeds music er Cra f t ll The forty-fourth annual ice-skating exhibi- benefit the Jimmy Fund of Dana-Farber Sanders Theatre tion features champion synchronized skat- Cancer Institute. (September 19-20) www.boxoffice.harvard.edu Fu rt;
The annual Montage Concert celebrates Courtesy o t: (From left) From Ragnar Kjartansson’s The Visitors, at the ICA; detail of the cotton and wire f Time of Ten Suns (2013) by Carol Eckert, from Game Changers at the Fuller Craft Museum; the ninety-fifth anniversary of the Harvard From Le primatologist Patricia Chapple Wright appears at the Harvard Museum of Natural History Wind Ensemble, Monday Jazz Band, and the Contemporary A © lizlinder.com PHOTO:
WEDDING CELEBRATIONS • CORPORATE EVENTS • SOCIAL GATHERINGS
Harvard Square . Cambridge, MA . 800.882.1818 . www.charleshotel.com
12B September - October 2014
140316_LuxBondGreen.indd 1 1/27/14 11:02 AM Harvard Squared Harvard Squared
Harvard University Band. (October 10) Bands of the Beanpot Spotlight
The Harvard Wind Ensemble joins fellow ery ll musicians from Boston College and Boston a
and Northeastern Universities for this an- osen G & an entire campus to explore nual talent showcase. (October 19) Your own home ndrea R f A exhibitions & events Harvard Museum of Natural History www.hmnh.harvard.edu
Saving Lemurs from Extinction: Conser- rewer/Courtesy o e B vation in Action. Stony Brook University c professor and primatologist Patricia Chapple Wright, who won this year’s Indianapolis Lanh by Prize (from the eponymous zoo) for her otograp work in Madagascar, shares her work and h experiences. (October 2) L INCOLN’ S N EWEST 62+ COMMUNITY iwara/p j
DeCordova Sculpture Park and imon Fu S Museum © www.decordova.org Simon Fujiwara: Three Easy Pieces, a Roberley Bell: The Shape of The After- show of multimedia installations at the noon challenges what’s “natural” and “ar- Carpenter Center, offers stark but ab- tificial” by transforming the museum’s roof sorbing theatrical narratives. Studio Pietá ith visiting professors, fine dining, clubs, classes, and maintenance- terrace into a “garden” of fake flowers and (King Kong Komplex), detailed above, is an Wfree living, The Commons welcomes you to celebrate lifelong learning plastic or resin-molded bulbous objects in attempt to re-stage a lost photo of Fuji- neon colors. (Through October 6) wara’s blonde, bikini-clad mother and her and luxury living. Lebanese boyfriend on a beach near Beirut The Institute for Contemporary Art where, it seems, she was a cabaret dancer. www.icaboston.org “Simon’s work, while generally departing Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson’s The from facets of his biography,” says James Visitors is a nine-channel video installation Voorhies, the center’s new director, “beau- ModelCall Home 781-728-5721 Tours Daily based on a musical performance by the art- tifully interweaves fact and fiction to con- ist’s friends at the once-grand Rokeby front larger questions” about the nature of Farm—now a bohemian meeting ground— identity, creativity, sexuality, and politics. and a perfect “backdrop to the film’s elo- Rehearsal for a Reunion (with the Father of Pot- quent homage to love, loss, and friendship.” tery) explores Fujiwara’s tenuous tie to his (Through November 2) Japanese father, while Letters From Mexico points to the gross complexities of global
The Fuller Craft Museum interdependence and heritage. A Benchmark Signature Living Community
www.fullercraft.org Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts One Harvest Circle • Lincoln, MA 01773 • 781-728-5721
Game Changers: Fiber Art Masters and www.ves.fas.harvard.edu www.TheCommonsInLincoln.com
Innovators. Contemporary artists work October 23 – December 21 8 8 Live wonderfully today. Preserve your tomorrow. 8 8 wonders with wire, yarn, ropes, cord, fab- ric, hydrangea petals, birds’ nests, nylon,
oston silicone, melon rind, waxed linen, cedar COMING NEXT ISSUE... bark, ostrich-shell beads, granite, sweet esign, B grass, and twines of 18-karat gold. to Our Valued Advertising Partners TrappiSTine
y and D olida (Through November 23) qualiTy candy AGMcEvoy Realty/Anne McEvoy The Commons in Lincoln McLean Hospital h H Boston Ballet Fiduciary Trust - Boston Minot DeBlois Advisors, LLC
otograp Nature and science Brookhaven at Lexington Fresh Pond Ballet Rebekah Brooks Studio Gift Guide The Arnold Arboretum Cadbury Commons Carol & Myra/Hammond Remax Destiny/Lisa Johnson Our Holiday Gift Guide showcases special www.arboretum.harvard.edu Canyon Ranch Brattle Office/Hammond Sandrine’s Bistro ements Ph l offers, products, and services for Harvard C The Charles Hotel Highland Meadows Weston Settebello (Women’s Boutique) A magnificent link in Boston’s Emerald Magazine readers. To advertise, contact Gail Roberts/Coldwell Banker International School of Boston Thompson Island OBP An orange “garden planter” on display in Necklace, the arboretum is a trove of native Roberley Bell: The Shape of the Afternoon at Gretchen Bostrom or Abby Shepard at Barbara Currier/Coldwell Banker Lux, Bond & Green Fine Jewelry Welch & Forbes, LLC The perfect gift for the deCordova Sculpture Park and plants, old-growth trees, flowers, rare spec- Holiday Season! 617.496.6686. For more information, visit: Support from these advertisers helps us produce the independent, high-quality publication k Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts imens, and walking trails. Guided weekend trappistinecandy.com www.harvardmagazine.com/giftguide Harvard alumni rely on for information about the University and each other. 1.866.549.8929
12D September - October 2014 Harvard Magazine 12E R R R Harvard Squared ond eosinddo ndes idesid m m men en en t t t m m m i i i a a a a a a l l l H H H tours are offered through October, or visit
the website for special events, classes, and
Staff Pick:
Strings, Sax, and a Dash of Sass
YEARS YEARYEARS S
art shows.
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33 1 33 1 33 1 9 9 1 9 1 1 Aiming to “mix up genres and provoke the audience,” says A Far Cry violinist Alex 81 - 20181 -8 210 -1 201 Lectures Fortes ’07, the chamber orchestra performs Béla Bartók’s Divertimento for strings, then The Radcliffe Institute for joins saxophonist Harry Allen to explore the 1961 musical work Focus. Composed by Ed- Advanced Study die Sauter for Stan Getz, the tenor saxophonist www.radcliffe.harvard.edu improvises against a score for strings. Why the Kemper professor of American his- pairing? Bartók’s piece “broke new ground in tory and New Yorker staff writer Jill form and craft,” Fortes says. Bartók also cham- Lepore reveals “How Wonder pioned Sauter, whose lead movement in Focus, Woman Got into Harvard.” “I’m Late, I’m Late,” echoes Concert music (October 30) soars at the Bartok’s Music for Strings, Per- Gardner cussion, and Celesta. The self- Film Museum’s conducted A Far Cry has 17 Calderwood Harvard Film Archive Hall young musicians (including Sar- www.hcl.harvard.edu/hfa ah Darling ’02 and Miki-Sophia A retrospective on the Chinese-born Cloud ’04) all intent, Fortes says, on “inspiring Old Belmont Hill...Beautifully sited, this Belmont...1885 Italianate farmhouse residence. Cambridge...Free-standing west Cambridge single director Hou Hsiao-Hsien, a progeni- and enlivening an audience through performance ardner musuem tastefully updated property, reminiscent of an High ceilings. Period details. Filled with sunlight. with open entertaining spaces. 4 bedrooms. Ready English country cottage, is distinguished by its Four bedrooms; 2 bathrooms; 2-car garage. for buyer updates. Garden. Parking. tor of Taiwan’s New Wave cinema, high- of classical music—broadly defined.” The group elegance, charm, and private setting. 5 bedrooms. Convenient location. Price available soon. Price available upon request. lights the nuanced sophistication of City has released five albums, performed with Yo- 3½ baths. 2-car garage. $2,375,000 a stewart G of Sadness, The Green, Green Grass of Yo Ma ’76, D. Mus. ’91, among others, and is in ll sabe Home, and A Time to Live, A Time to Die. residence at the Gardner Museum. I (October 2 - November 3) oux 2013/ October 2, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston h c Le i
Also visit www.harvardmag- www.gardnermuseum.org N azine.com for event listings. ©
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140906_Hammond_v4.indd 1 7/25/14 11:54 AM Harvard Squared explorations of playful exploration, of grand mystery in Boston project, the Back Bay Fens. There, the “natural” world, that imbue New York’s he helped solve an engineering and public- Central and Prospect Parks, Boston’s Emer- health problem caused by chronic flood- ald Necklace, and his other public projects. ing and excess sewage. “He recreated a salt At 61, Olmsted was famous when he and marsh that had been there, but enhanced A Park of One’s Own his wife, Mary Cleveland Perkins Olmsted, it with a variety of new plants,” Swartz ex- bought the farmhouse, naming it “Fairst- plained, building a more scenic testament to ed.” He was so intent on having the place, the original landscape. Pathways were add- Where Frederick Law Olmsted lived his last good years • by Nell Porter Brown which sat on nearly two lush and hilly ed around the marsh, as was a carriageway, acres, that he cut a purchase deal with the which became known as the Fenway, and elderly sisters who owned it: they moved two bridges, one designed by Richardson. into a cottage his son designed at the edge Gardner’s manse and other early es- of the property, to live rent-free for the rest tates still stand along the winding road of their lives. to Fairsted. The Frederick Law Olmsted Still recovering from his final political National Historic Site opened to the pub- battles over Central Park, Olmsted was lic in 1981, having been purchased the pre- lured to Boston as much by what would vious year directly from Olmsted’s firm, become the Emerald Necklace as by his which was still there. The site now in- friends and collaborators, the architect H.H. cludes seven acres (five were bought from Richardson, A.B. 1859, and botanist Charles the Gardner estate and are conserved to Sprague Sargent, the first director of Har- protect the viewshed) and the original vard’s Arnold Arboretum. They both lived residence. Also open is the two-story ad- nearby, and Isabella Stewart Gardner soon dition that was built in stages, mostly af- moved in next door. She was already collect- ter Olmsted retired in 1895, to house the ing the art that would later fill her Boston landscape-architecture firm he founded Rustic rock steps museum, adjacent and others continued to foster. lead to a shady dell. to Olmsted’s earliest A new permanent exhibit, Designing
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alk through the front archway Knowing wealth. Knowing you for 175 years at the Frederick W Law Olmsted Na- tional Historic Site, and note how the dirt carriageway gently hugs an island grown wild with ferns, winged euonymous, and native barberry. In the middle, ivy runs up the architect (with two honorary rough and reddish trunk of a 90-foot East- degrees from Harvard) “believed ern hemlock. “Olmsted planted that soon the natural world was a power- after he bought the property in 1883,” park ful medicine,” Swartz added, “an ranger Mark D. Swartz explained during a antidote to the adverse effects tour of the Brookline, Massachusetts, site. of the manmade urban environ- Jay Emmons, CFA, Adrienne Silbermann, CFA, Charlie Haydock, CFA, A.B. 1974 “He envisioned that it would eventually be a ment that was rapidly expanding during his Olmsted’s vision is alive and well at the President Director of Research Chief Investment Officer, towering centerpiece that would command lifetime.” Here, the eye, first caught by the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Why has Welch & Forbes thrived for 175 years? Site. Clockwise from top left: meandering Relationships. attention as people walked in.” tree, follows the curving drive as it disap- paths; the age-old hemlock on the carriage Some 131 years later, it does. Patient and pears behind the hemlock. Though small, way; his home, as of 1883; and the arched Relationships built on accessibility, trust and stability. For us it’s the only way. persistent, Olmsted, A.M. 1864, LL.D. ’93, the landscape Olmsted sculpted around entrance to it all. If you value an enduring relationship with a firm expert in comprehensive portfolio management and tax, trust and estate planning, call Charlie Haydock ‘74 at 617-557-9800. angled the archway toward the tree, not his home holds pathways lined with moun- his house, and likely knew that in time the tain laurel and local pudding stone, a soli- shady hollow rich with vines, rhododen- structure would be hidden by boughs and tary American elm set on the rolling lawn, drons, cotoneasters, yews, and a shagbark www.welchforbes.com | 45 School Street, Old City Hall, Boston, MA 02108 | 617.523.1635 foliage. America’s most famous landscape rock stairs patchy with moss that lead to a hickory tree. All encouraged the same sense
12H September - October 2014 Photographs by Jim Harrison Harvard Magazine 12I Harvard Squared Harvard Squared
for the Future: The Olmsteds and the American own, into the future—in particular, Ol- July-August 2007, page 38.) Also pivotal was Landscape, fills most of the first floor of the msted’s sons, John Charles Olmsted and Charles Eliot, A.B. 1882, the son of Harvard house and reflects the monumental impact Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., A.B. 1894. They president Charles William Eliot, whose of Olmsted’s philosophy and work, em- worked with their father, then took over cousin Charles Eliot Norton, Harvard pro- phasizing the collaborative nature of his the firm when dementia forced his retire- fessor of art history, was a good friend of legacy. “It was not just Olmsted’s vision,” ment. (He spent the last five years of his life Olmsted’s. The younger Eliot apprenticed Swartz says, “that made a major contribu- at McLean Hospital, whose Belmont, Mas- with Olmsted in 1883, then returned as a tion to American landscape architecture.” sachusetts, site he had helped choose years leading partner of the renamed Olmsted, Others took his ideas, as well as their before; see Vita, “Frederick Law Olmsted,” Olmsted and Eliot, in 1893. The nation’s first landscape architecture program was established in Eliot’s honor at Harvard. The family presence is only lightly felt All in a Day: Portsmouth, New Hampshire at Fairsted. Olmsted married Mary, his brother’s widow, in 1859, and adopted Sections of this seacoast city, where restau- her three children, including John, who rants, shops, and architecture today charm herds was already 31 and a landscape architect of visitors, were once largely derelict. Residents when the family moved to Brookline. (The resisted plans to bulldoze part of the downtown couple’s own son, Frederick Law Olmsted area in the 1950s, and instead helped turn 10 Jr., was about 13.) Vintage photographs acres into the living history museum Strawbery Banke. There, costumed reenactors explain the past while showing off buildings that date from about 1695 through World War II. “Mrs. Good- win, wife of a Civil War-era governor of New Hampshire, is in her garden,” reports market- ing director Stephanie Seacord, “Mrs. Stavers is at the Revolutionary War-era Pitt Tavern, and Mrs. Abbott minds her 1944-ish store, talking about rations and making do.” All are present, along with kids’ games, cooking tips, and traditional artisans— blacksmiths, barrel-makers, weavers, coopers, and spinners—for the museum’s seventh annual New Hampshire Fall Festival on October 11. But any off-season visit, when summer crowds are gone, reveals the core vibrancy of this com- Spinning demonstration at ery ll munity. Local art appears in Enormous Tiny Art at Strawbery Banke; water’s a edge at the Fort Stark State the Nahcotta Gallery through September 28. New Conservators cleaned, repaired, and Historic Site; lively gathering G otta
hc archived thousands of landscape plans films migrate from Colorado to the Telluride by at the Nahcotta Gallery a found at the Olmsted firm. the Sea festival, at The Music Hall September 19- downtown. 21. Live music, from college bands to folk and jazz N ubert; of the former interiors are hung on walls, y st. A y st.
Fall program starts September 8. ensembles, is played almost nightly at clubs, such as The Blue Mermaid and The l and visitors can flip through photo albums mi Sign up before August 30 Dolphin Striker (a classic surf and turf restaurant). The Portsmouth Athenaeum in the Olmsted-designed, pebbledash to waive $25 registration fee. hosts maritime lectures, on October 15 and November 19, and a chamber music trio anke; E stucco-walled plant room. But the addi- on October 19. And the historic John Paul Jones House is open through October. tion, where the firm was headquartered, Age 3, youth, teen-adult-pointe Portsmouth’s easy walk- and bike-ability is also a plus. Cyclists can take the Route has been restored and recreated circa Grace–energy–harmony 1B causeway to neighboring New Castle. The beach and park at Great Island Com- 1930, when F.L. Olmsted Jr. was chiefly in mon are open year-round, as is the charge and business at its peak, requiring
Visit us at: lesser-trod Fort Stark State Historic From top: strawberry B about 70 employees. The sparsely decorat- www.freshpondballet.com Site. Take a picnic and see the rem- ed rooms—where bare bulbs on cords and nants of harbor defenses, which, like on swinging metal arms light wooden ta- Atlifecare Brookhaven living is as good as it looks. Or on Facebook at: outspoken residents, proved integral bles and simple tools—capture the pains- Brookhaven at Lexington offers an abundance of opportunities for facebook.com/FreshPondBallet to this coastal region’s survival. taking artistry of nineteenth-century de- intellectual growth, artistic expression and personal wellness. Our residents sign work: pen nubs and inkwells; a can of share your commitment to live a vibrant lifestyle in a lovely community. Pounce (powder used to blot ink); colored Strawbery Banke Call today to set up an appointment for a tour! Nina Alonso, Director, FPB pencils and the sandpaper used to sharpen 1798a Mass Ave, Cambridge www.strawberybanke.org www.portsmouthnh.com/thingstodo them; a velvet case for compasses and a A Full-Service Lifecare Retirement Community 617.491.5865 www.brookhavenatlexington.org metal canteen, both taken on field visits. (781) 863-9660 • (800) 283-1114
12J September - October 2014 Harvard Magazine 12K Harvard Squared Tastes & Tables Pinholes on the tables mark where The enduring, simple thousands of landscape plans were la- beauty of Olmsted’s landscapes is echoed in bored over, and where lead drafting the rustic wooden interior “whales” weighted the wooden arcs of the restored drafting formed to draw Olmsted’s meandering room at Fairsted. Attention, Please paths. Employees serving as “copiers” sat at a “light table,” tracing fine lines of a de- may work there by ap- Asta’s diners stop, taste, and get excited. sign on paper uplit, through glass, by met- pointment. al lamps on the floor. The tracings became The restoration work blueprints: drawings were placed atop pa- outside was and is just as per treated with cyanide salts and rolled carefully considered. The close look at Asta’s sign reveals through windows onto hollow to the right of the the name of the storefront’s old racks outside to de- hemlock and carriageway occupant, Café 47 Pizza and Pas- Visit harvardmag.com/ velop in the sun. Later, in front of the house, for ta. “We realized that we could extras to see images A the 1904 Wagenhorst example, is maintained as just spray paint over the rest of the sign and from the Olmsted Electric Blue Printer, “wild,” Swartz says. Olm- keep the ’asta,’” explains Shish Parsigian, archives. also on display, brought sted eschewed flower gardens, preferring pretations and practical realities (efforts who co-owns and runs the restaurant with that process indoors. the picturesque landscape and a palate of to propagate cuttings from the original her partner, chef Alex Crabb. “Our contrac- By the time the federal government took greens. Here, visitors descend rock steps elm failed) led to replacing it in 2013 with tor was horrified.” over the site, business had dwindled for into the hollow to find his differentiated a new, disease-resistant variety, the Jef- Inside, this “design by subtraction” con- years and the firm had consolidated opera- shades, textures, shapes, and sizes cool ferson elm. The young specimen stands tinued. They tore down the black drop tions on the first floor. Some 139,000 paper to the eye, and more soothing to walk alone on the lawn, cordoned off by ropes. ceiling, patching and painting the original plans were found in a storage vault, Swartz through. “We’re protecting it,” says Swartz. The tin panels gold, then used the same paint reports, most of them “dirty, stained, brittle, Fairsted is ultimately a manmade envi- hope is that half a century from now, Olm- to touch up a picture of Zeus found behind and torn,” he adds, “a few with mold grow- ronment. “He cut down all the elms out sted’s visionary design will again offer the Chef/owner Alex Crabb shares the open ing on them.” It took paper conservators here,” Swartz explains, “except the one he sense that nothing was placed here, that kitchen with fellow cooks Tyson Wardwell
nearly 15 years to inventory and repair them. wanted, in the middle of the South Lawn.” everything simply evolved. and Nathan “Lazer” Phinisee. ikeda tatsu Altogether, more than a million archival That tree survived until 2011. Much dis- documents are stored on site; researchers cussion of historic and scholarly inter-
Thousands of Curiosities: Staging Magic swatches were Leadership & Team Building Programs sourced to find just In designing 106 costumes from scratch for the musical Finding the right Italian lace designed for your organization! Neverland, Suttirat Larlarb was challenged to depict Edwardian- used in this gown for actress Jeanna de era history with a fresh visual edge—and convey the explosive Waal (Mary Barrie). magic of the imagination. “You don’t want a museum piece set to music,” notes Larlarb, who was educated at Stanford and Yale. too stiff to shimmy “OBP“OBP should should be applauded be applauded for their forexceptional surpassing skill in She has worked on numerous films (e.g., Slumdog Millionaire and when she walks. (It over-achievingevery expectation every expectation I set for this I set two-day for this event.two-day Trance), and co-designed the 2012 Summer Olympics opening was inspired by a 1901 I event.have alreadyI have already seen seen a renewed a renewed sense sense of of purpose purpose ceremony: recall the splendid “white-dove” cyclists? The ART’s dress at the Kyoto andand shared shared leadership across in every every team team member.member.” ll world-premiere musical, based on the 2004 movie, has its own Costume Institute and ” ch e wings (for bumblebees), dancing servants, dogs, one mermaid, a more recent design - Todd- Todd Gustafson, Gustafson, ViceVice President, Hewlett-Packard Hewlett-Packard in M it in and a crew of sexy pirates. All contribute to the play’s modern in Vogue Italia.) Even l ata
K meditation on the roots of creativity and the nature of youth, as Mary’s satin evening evidenced in J.M. Barrie’s relationship gown is an “urban,” with the Llewelyn Davies family as he orderly, navy blue, Larlarb says, whereas her husband’s muse, conjures up Peter Pan. Backed by Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, is a softer creature first seen playing in a Hollywood producer Harvey Wein- park with her boys. She wears drapey, gauzy blouses and long e rhythm of Harvard vgenia El iseeva vgenia stein, Neverland is a sumptuous pro- skirts of pale oranges, pinks, and lavender—just “the right degree E Square returns in autumn: duction that is likely headed to Lon- of bohemian hyperfemininity,” says Larlarb—and a peach-toned don or Broadway. Like the fantastical frock with an airy, flowery print at dinner. No matter how beau- Let fi ne French cuisine be the melody. sets, Larlarb’s creations intensify the tiful, the designer adds, costumes should not be signature artistic drama. Barrie’s society-minded wife, “concepts,” a word she dis- Come try our $42 Finding Neverland Suttirat Mary, strides around in a silky, lace likes. Instead, “they serve a prix-fi xe menu. Larlarb American Repertory Theater dress with a proper high neck, curve- larger ambition—the intended Through September 28 THOMPSON ISLAND (617) 328-3900 ext. 114 loving bodice, and layers of ruffles journey of the play.” http://americanrepertorytheater.org 8 Holyoke St., Cambridge MA OUTWARD BOUND PROFESSIONAL [email protected] (617) 497-5300 Boston HarborEVERY DAIslandsY A DIFFERENCNational ParkE area www.thompsonisland.org
12L September - October 2014 Harvard Magazine 12M Harvard Squared Harvard Squared
givings can ensue, Parsigian says, with a it forces people to slow down, take small laugh: “ ‘What’s this crazy restaurant?’ But bites, and enjoy the adventure of figuring we are about making and plating this food out what’s what. “We think that’s fun,” P P and not about all the other trappings.” says Parsigian, a former manager at Hi- LIVE ON BRATTLE! BELMONT Make no mistake: Asta is an original. Rise Bread Company in Cambridge. “Then, Each night Crabb offers three tasting when they are curious and excited, they menus—three-course ($45), five-course call us over to find out what all the ele- ($70), and eight-course ($95), to which ments are.” wine pairings may be added. One night, And the onion dish is deceptively com- a meal began with a shallow bowl of plicated. Crabb starts with a sweet roast- blanched and buttered peas with goat ed spring Vidalia for drama, then adds the cheese. Not chèvre, this cheese is made in- “green unctuousness” of a poached scal- house and is unrefined, so it has a clean, lion, with its “slimy chewiness.” Petals custardy texture. It comes with shavings of pickled pearl onions are placed on the Even of fermented rutabaga and diced preserved plate with tweezers, then splashed with onion dishes are lemon; a purple chive blossom adds a hot balsamic vinegar; another yellow dol- Enjoy living in Old Cambridge surrounded by Historic residence on Somerset Street. Five artfully composed nip. The turnip dish features the vegetable lop turns out to be “onion that has been rich history and steps from Harvard Sq. and the bedrooms, 2 full, and 2 half-bathrooms. at Asta. tatsu ikeda tatsu quartered and roasted, poached, and even cooked down with buttermilk whey and Charles River. This spacious Colonial offers 13 Large living and entertaining spaces with a demolished wall—the logo for an even Before opening Asta in early 2013, the raw (in moon-shaped discs), with a salted- a little champagne vinegar,” he reports. rooms including 5 bedrooms, and 2 master suites, beautiful interior woodwork and high 4 ½ baths, and an in-law apartment with private ceilings. Three floors have views of Boston older incarnation, Despina’s pizzeria. They L’Espalier veteran spent two months ap- plum vinaigrette, rolled-up, pickled green The black drizzles are burnt-onion oil—a entry. Hard-to-find, 4-car parking, including a skyline! Lush gardens on 22,194-square- also left the crooked, raw-plaster edging prenticing at Copenhagen’s Noma, soak- radish leaves, a cèpe foam, flecks of miso bitter contrast to the dish’s last touch: a heated, attached garage and large, landscaped, foot lot. Newly renovated carriage house where the drop ceiling had been, and a ing up its spare Nordic style and almost shortbread, and a baby nasturtium flower. luxurious spoonful of beer-and-cheddar very private garden with southern exposure. containing a spacious apartment. 138brattlestreet.com. Price available upon request. Price available upon request. swath of exposed bricks. “The contractor primal focus on food. At Asta, diners sit The food may appear fussy, but Crabb, purée. said, ‘I’ve got a guy who can get it straight at wooden tables with no apparent place who started working in kitchens as a teen- Among the onions is a nest of twiggy, Lisa Johnson Anne McEvoy 617-905-4576 AGMcEvoy Realty and smooth—it’s going to look primo,’ ” re- settings (tip: open the drawers under- ager, lacks pretension. There is enough to crispy beef—because Crabb often treats [email protected] Owner/Broker | 508-740-3226 ports Crabb. “And we were like, ‘No, we’re neath). Dishes are vaguely titled “turnip,” eat, but diners leave truly sated because protein as a condiment. In this case, the fi- www.between2rivers.com To view online video and info: RE/MAX Destiny from Detroit. We like it. A lot.’ ” “beef,” “fiddleheads,” and “onion.” Mis- Asta’s inventive aesthetic is so stimulating: bers of a rib-eye steak cooked with wine are www.AGMcEvoyRealty.com pulled apart, slow-fried, then seasoned. “It’s 907 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 not a beef dish,” Parsigian tells patrons, “it’s Hammond Residential HARVARD SQUARE, CAMBRIDGE an onion dish.” Almost every dish is just as Real Estate carefully composed, although Crabb says the inspiration for the onion plate’s “look” came one day when he saw wasted bits of fresh greens lying “in a nice circular pattern”
around the sink drain. Rogers Dodge rey ©Je When served, the ingredients form a crescent shape along the side of the plate. “And we will get the jokesters who say, ‘Where’s the rest of the food? Why is it all HARVARD SQUARE Classic, 2BR condo. Hardwood floors, spacious over there?’ ” reports Crabb. For him, it’s LR with wood-burning fireplace and crown Cambridge ... Rare opportunity to own a side molding. Dining room with built-in, renovated obvious: “Because the negative space on by side Greek Revival two-unit residence in kitchen with stainless appliances, granite the plate helps you focus on what’s there.” the heart of Harvard Square. Unit one includes counters, and oak cabinetry. 2BRs with double three bedrooms and three full bathrooms. That also explains why he cooks. Grow- wide closets. Common patio, renovated bath, The kitchen of this unit has been beautifully live-in super, close to Harvard Square, Charles ing up in Michigan, he struggled with renovated and a family room has been added. River, restaurants, shops and transportation. attention-deficit issues, and still does. Unit two is a similar mirror image layout with Exclusively Offered - $519,000 But in the extreme chaos of commercial three bedrooms and two full bathrooms. The unfi nished basement houses the laundry, BARBARA CURRIER kitchens, Crabb found solace. His seem- storage and utilities for each unit. There are THE CURRIER TEAM | FINE PROPERTIES ingly opposite traits—a sharp, kinetic multiple off-street parking spaces, private Phone: 617-593-7070CAMBRIDGE intensity and the ability to shift quickly patio and landscaped gardens. ... $3,400,000 Email: [email protected] among diverse tasks—enabled him to Web: www.BarbaraCurrier.com CAROL KELLY & MYRA VON TURKOVICH thrive. “When I was 16 or 17, I was making Vice Presidents, Hammond Residential Real Estate 171 Huron Avenue carolandmyra.com | hammondre.com Cambridge, Mass. omelets at a breakfast place,” he says, “and 617.835.5008 & 617.834.0838 02138 those two-and-a-half hours of service were the only time my teenage mind was quiet. And it was so nice.” vn.p.b. If you would like to list a property in our November-December issue, contact Abby Shepard: 617.496.4032 Asta 47 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston www.astaboston.com
12N September - October 2014 Harvard Magazine 12O 1730 Massachusetts Ave Cambridge, MA 02138 617 245-4044
CAMBRIDGE, MA CAMBRIDGE, MA $3,575,000 $2,595,000
AGASSIZ HARVARD SQUARE CAMBRIDGE, MA CAMBRIDGE, MA Price upon request Price upon request
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