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The look of Truc is entirely the work of its owners and their husbands. Photograph by Stu Rosner |
Boston's South End has several fine restaurants, but no place for nonresidents to park. One could travel to and from Truc on the subway; the cheerful establishment is only a short walk from the Back Bay stop. But sybaritic persons may not wish to bracket a mouth-watering meal with rides on a public conveyance. What to do? Drive--for, yes, there is valet parking. One does not know what the take-charge valets do with one's car when they drive it away (possibly keep it in constant motion while one feeds), but their fee is less than a cab ride from Cambridge.
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TRUC 560 Tremont Street, at Clarendon Boston 02118 (617) 338-8070 Dinner 6-10, Tuesday-Thursday; 6-10:30, Friday-Saturday; 6-9, Sunday. Sunday brunch, 11-2. Reservations accepted. |
Truc seats 45: in a narrow main room with bright green walls and a tin ceiling, and in a small conservatory at back. One looks out the glass front at the sidewalk a few steps up and, in the distance, at the Hancock tower mirroring clouds and cityscape. The staff is welcoming and down-home, the waiters and waitresses in blue jeans and aprons. Reservations are accepted, but at least half the seats are kept unbooked, for walk-ins, for neighborly accessibility. The place bustles and is noisy, but happy noisy, not annoying or disabling noisy.
Management says that Truc serves "rustic French country food...prepared simply, but with sophistication." The French rustics they have in mind dig into grub presenting an exquisite medley of flavors, chow spiced with mystery, eats artfully complementing one another. They have five appetizers to choose from, five entrées, a cheese course, four desserts (but why would they not pick lemon verbena crème brûlée?), and a long wine list. Perhaps they start with goat cheese en croûte with asparagus, mizuna (a bitterish Japanese green), and lemon-marinated pears ($7). A drizzle of what appears to them to be crankcase oil is reduced balsamic vinegar, subtly sweet. Or perhaps they decide against this, the mussels, the seared scallops, and the crispy duck confit and choose rillettes (a paté in shreds), served with garlic sausage, toast sprinkled with rosemary, and savory asides ($8).
Moving on, they could have seared halibut, pan-roasted salmon, a roast poussin (a small chicken) glazed with lavender and honey, a steak of delectability wearing a hint of green pepper, or grilled duck breast with a cherry sauce gastrique, these ranging in price from $19 to $23. The steak comes with a celery-root rémoulade and a heap of rustic french fries (perhaps too salty for some diets); the duck with a tasty mess of beet greens and endive, and a remarkably good potato gratin in its own little skillet. Thought and care are major ingredients of the vegetable accompaniments at Truc.
Truc is owned by chef Corinna Mozo and manager Karen Densmore. When these two young women ran Chez Henri in Cambridge (leaving in March 1997), the place was named one of the top restaurants in the country by both Esquire and Gourmet magazines. The word truc, they tell us, is French slang for "trick" or "knack," "thingamajig" or "whatchamacallit." This diner calls it delightful.
~ C.R.
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