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Ames Street Deli opens to the public today in Kendall Square, courtesy of the team behind Journeyman and Backbar. An earlier press release promised "delicious, irreverent sandwiches, filled with things and combinations of things rarely seen between two slices of bread." Indeed, diners will find creative items like the char sandwich, made with nori-dusted country bread, blackening spice, lemon, and kelp. (Here's an Instagram shot of that one from last week's family & friends openings.) There's also a rabbit sandwich, appropriately served on carrot bread (see also: Comedor's rabbit empanadas with carrot salsa); a fruity foie gras sandwich (coconut brioche, green curry, mango, pineapple); and lots more.
Those who sit at the bar will find a short list of fun snacks, like crispy pig ears and lamb head terrine, but there's one sandwich to potentially end all other sandwiches: an open-face poutine sandwich, made on potato bread and comprised of cheese curds, chicken confit, and gravy. One family & friends attendee tweeted that "it might be the best thing [she's] ever eaten."
The cocktail menu is particularly interesting, in format as well as content. (And yes, it has evolved far beyond the hilarious filler menu that once graced the restaurant's under-construction website.) It's a chart with descriptors like "taaaht and tangy" and "adventurous and weird" running down the left and ingredients like vodka, juniper, and sugar running along the top. For example, the Honey I Choked the Kids (cynar, passion fruit, honey, salt) is found at the intersection of "adventurous and weird" and juniper. There are a few mocktails and house-made sodas available as well, not to mention beer and wine.
Ames Street Deli is open from 7 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. on Saturdays, and closed on Sundays. Breakfast is served until 11 a.m., lunch from 11 to 2:30 p.m., dinner from 4 p.m. to close, cocktails from 11 a.m. to close, and coffee from open until 5 p.m. Ames Street Deli's sister and neighbor restaurant, Study, will open early next month.
Ames Street Deli
73 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA 02142
617-374-0701
