There was a brief vogue, in the early ’90s, for a conservative theory that history had come to an end. Had this been true, the entire world would have gradually become yuppies, and every restaurant would have been upgraded or downgraded into a bistro. The Union Oyster House, renamed " Oyster’s, " would’ve served cunning little seafood appetizers with Japanese trimmings to a throbbing techno beat. Burger King, renamed simply " BK, " would’ve featured linen tablecloths and chardonnay by the glass, and the servers would’ve replaced your knife and fork between the burger course and the refreshing sorbet intermezzo. In a reprise of Saturday Night Live’s " cheeseburger-Pepsi " sketch, the luncheonette would’ve served " duck breast–merlot; no chicken, duck breast; no cabernet, merlot. "
I recall this fantasy because someone has actually turned Harvard Square’s Crimson Sports Grille into Redline. If you walked in at an idle hour, noting the all-sports TV, the wooden floor and café tables, and the couple of steaks on the menu, you might think that the name refers to the red lines in hockey, the red line on the tachometer of racing cars, and other such testosterone-related stuff. But actually, the TV is rather small, and the long red lampshades (reflected in horizontal mirrors on the walls) are probably meant to evoke the Red Line of the MBTA, which passes through the square. From the menu at this Redline, I’d guess the idea is that of a moderately priced student bistro where pretty safe food can be fancied up for epicures-in-training.
Certainly things start impressively, with crusty, four-pointed rolls just like the ones at Troquet, and plenty of sweet butter. The best appetizer on my two visits was crab cakes ($9.95), two patties of well-flavored crab on some avocado salsa, and a dab of lemon-flavored crème fraîche. Tempura-fried tuna ($8.95) is pretty close. The idea is similar to the seared sashimi tuna in all the other bistros, only here the searing involves flash-frying. Somewhat more of the tuna is cooked, which compromises the effect, but it still has a fascinating meaty texture and flavor. The soy-sauced baby bok choy and seaweed salad underneath are complementary, although one does think about wasabi and ginger.
Soup of the day ($3.95) can be very good, if it’s potato-leek. Mine was mostly cream, with the potato just a thickening element, but some leek evident in the texture and flavor. Although potato-leek is a French-bistro concoction, I think the real inspiration here is an Irish soup. Traditional caesar salad ($5.95) is from the tradition that uses anchovies in the dressing. I like anchovies, so I like this tradition, although the croutons are pretty dull. Field-greens salad ($5.95) has some field greens, although a lot of the good stuff is from a garden salad, such as endive, spinach, and cucumbers. The only real mistake is winter plum tomatoes, which have even less ripeness than winter beefsteak tomatoes. Also, the blue-cheese sauce is just pasty, with no blue-cheese flavor.
The entrées are best at their most American, so the sports-bar holdovers won’t go wrong with steaks and chops. The " Grilled New Yorker " ($19.95) isn’t cut from actual Yankee fans — it’s a New York sirloin, and a very good one, done medium-rare to order, with a salty glaze. On top are some excellent caramelized onions, with salty, oven-fried red potatoes on one side and grilled asparagus on the other. That’s four basic flavors, all presented forthrightly. The obligatory seared duck breast ($16.95) is actually cooked medium-well, which I think has more flavor than the rare meat, with slices distributed around an excellent pile of ham-flavored rice pilaf and four sections of blood orange.
A special version of stuffed catfish ($14.95) shows more of the visual sense of this kitchen, as a long-boned but skin-on fillet is sandwiched around a layer of crabmeat and then leaned like a ladder on a large cylinder of mashed potatoes. The fish part kind of works, because the crabmeat adds back some flavor to the catfish, which has to be overcooked to be stiff enough to hold the shape. The potatoes are overly fluffed and thus lack flavor. Also leaning on the potatoes like skis are six more of the grilled asparagus.
Roasted haddock ($14.95) would be hard to tell from baked haddock. The dish features good but not exceptional fish, with better sautéed shallots, and very decent parsnip-mashed potatoes. Grilled chicken ($13.95) would be hard to tell from sautéed chicken, and even harder to tell from a pasta dish with limp artichoke slices, good Kalamata olives, and sautéed tomatoes on breaky fettuccini. Sometimes balance leaves a dish somewhat vague, whereas overemphasizing any one element (even the pasta) might have left more of an impression. Penne al arrabiata ($12.95) was a favorite of mine at the old Cambridge Il Panino. " Al arrabiata " means angry, and they did it with jalapeño rings at Il Panino. Here the dish is just a little prickly, although there was one nugget of pure hellfire on my plate that could not be reproduced. The penne are also a little breaky (there’s some reheating trick here that isn’t entirely helpful), but this lively tomato sauce (and some grated cheese) makes for an enjoyable pasta dish.
The wine list at Redline is obscure, but my glass of Chilean ’99 Dallas Conte merlot ($6 glass/$22 bottle) was not a find. It was a lot of red wine in too small a glass, and it tasted like " dusty fruit " without the fruit part. Can a wine be simultaneously too soft and too astringent? Yes, if there’s no fruit. An impressive row of beer taps is probably more promising. Tea ($2) is served as hot water in a china pot with a lid. If you scramble, you can get your choice of Bigelow (although my tray had no Constant Comment) into the water fast enough for it to brew. Decaf espresso ($2.25) proved once again why this is the hardest coffee item to serve well; it was thin, bitter, sour, and stale.
But desserts are rather good. Caramel bread pudding ($6.95) is a goodly pile of pudding over caramel sauce and under-whipped cream, with berries as a garnish. Triple-chocolate cake ($6.95) is a bitter chocolate lump, but with plenty of pastry cream to soften each bite, and a truffle on top. Vanilla crème brûlée ($6.95) is one flavor too many, but the sour contrast of the cranberry kissel cuts it nicely. My favorite was the lemon squares ($6.95) — triangles actually, but who’s counting? They’re bright little lemon pastries around a mound of whipped cream studded with tiny pieces of fresh mango.
On my two early visits, Redline was quiet and service was excellent. It seems a little quieter than many new restaurants, which is good when the background music is Van Morrison, bad when it’s a tape that sounds like 1994 pop hits. My guess is that it gets more of a pub feel when it’s more crowded, and that the heartier dishes are the ones that will stick.
Robert Nadeau can be reached at RobtNadeau@aol.com
