Waypoint
An extraordinary wine list, hip and competent service, and the second in the trilogy of Chef Michael Scelfo’s culinary adventures, Waypoint delivers the unexpected. Sure, there are oysters on the half shell.
After all, it is located in New England (Harvard Square to be exact) where oysters are synonymous with seafood dining. However, Scelfo’s coastal creativity has shifted into gear to deliver some clever combinations that get the taste buds stimulated and leave them satisfied.
The menu opens with seasonally inspired crudos (think Bass with smoked cherry, burnt onion, and thai basil or Hiramass with white plum, lime, and chili), caviar service, and crab dusted French fries (often ordered on the way to the table as a starter before the starters). Some dishes that only a chef like Scelfo with his Elon Musk imagination would dare think up: the not-to-be-missed lobster cacio e pepe with whole wheat pasta, koji butter, and pecorino, or the perfectly-charred and tender octopus polpetti with spaccatelli, mint, chilies, garum, and ricotta salata have cemented Scelfo’s reputation as one of America’s best chefs. The perennial favorite and on the menu since Waypoint laid down roots in Cambridge, Maine lobster tail with black rice, brown butter aioli, and chili garlic oil may (dare we say?) just be the best lobster dish in Boston. Just when you thought you couldn’t eat any more, the dessert menu arrives. Somehow, everyone is in agreement to share the hearth-baked crostata—This week’s rhubarb served with house-made basil ice cream is so good that the table requests another.
