South End spot dresses up the classics
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The 40-seat Delux Cafe is an unusual place. Papered with record jackets, this tiny quirky room is essentially a bar with food, so ordinary regulations about smoking don't apply here. Anyone can smoke, which sends some people scurrying for the door. And if you hit Delux in the middle of the evening, you can hardly hear yourself think because the music is turned way up. I watched two groups leave right away, and I have no reason to doubt that the smoke and noise were contributing factors.
The place is usually packed, though there seems to be no pattern to when it is fullest. One Friday night we walked in and sat down at one of several tables. An other visit, mid-week that time, we waited the better part of an hour. One waitress works the whole floor, taking reservations (in her head, it seems). The job must be exhausting since two or three parties occupy each table every night (that adds up to about 100 diners). It made me wonder how she keeps it up all evening; the running to and fro and the mental reservation list.
If you brave all this, you'll be surprised. Beverly-born chef Beth Berkeley is a terrific cook who makes old-fashioned (mostly) American food that is wonderfully reassuring, nicely seasoned, and restrained. Nothing goes into her cooking that doesn't seem to belong there. She doesn't believe in making her dishes "needlessly complicated," she explained to me. And one reason it's easy to keep to her philosophy is that she's cooking in a space the size of a closet and orders are coming at her very fast.
As a result, much of the food is prepared in advance, even quite ambitious dishes. Berkeley explained to me that she likes to be the one to "prep" the food because that's the moment when decisions are made about what goes into a dish.
Two weeks ago, for instance, she had some Cajun ham left over, and decided to use it in a pot of split pea soup. When a large bowlful ($4) arrived at the table, it wasn't very thick, but each spoon was laced with good, smoky flavor.
She roasts a herb-crusted loin of pork every night, but doesn't cook it through. As orders come in, she roasts thick slices to a moist rosiness ($9.50), adds a rich spoonful of mashed sweet potato, some roasted beets, and an orange butter sauce to top it off.
One of her best dishes is the grilled cheese sandwich ($5.95), which is made with Swiss cheese on Pain D'Avignon's sourdough bread. The remarkable part is a sweet date spread and arugula pesto, offering sweet and peppery tastes for the crusty bread and melting cheese. A creamy jicama, carrot, and cabbage slaw gave some crunch.
Salmon and potato cakes (at $9.95 the most expensive item) were airy, studded with peas, and served with sauteed spinach and a rich, mayonnaise-based remoulade sauce seasoned with roasted red pepper. Vegetable pie ($8.50), a take-off on calzone, was fashioned from light puff pastry squares layered with a potato and celery root puree, carrots, broccoli, and peas. The square, golden-brown pie was cut diagonally, and arranged on the plate with one side propped up against the other. Then it was garnished with deep-fried parsley (it turns wonderfully crisp in the hot fat) and a roasted red pepper sauce.
Delux detox is available (for a price) at the end of the next block. Enter the luxurious and celebrated Hamersley's Bistro and you'll rid your head of all that music and smoke. Try a glass of champagne, like I did, and listen to the warm hum from the dining room. All you'll remember from Delux at the end of the evening is cuisine, not clamor.
