The Critics Ate Pork Pate and Pizza This Week

The Boston Globe’s Ted Weesner visits the storied Harvest in Harvard Square, where he finds the food “hits as squarely and creatively as ever.” He writes that the pork pate is “a tremendous start to dinner,” and the apple and fennel salad when eaten ahead of the farro risotto makes for a “satisfying one-two” punch. He praises the whole wheat pappardelle and notes that the venison “is perfect for the cold season.” For dessert, the apple entremet is delicious and caramelized.

Sheryl Julian weighs in on the new South End Area Four for the Globe, where she finds “one of the best pizzas in Boston, charred on the bottom and along its chewy edges, cooked through so there’s no mushy underlayer.” She samples the classic margherita and a “magnificent” pie with shiitake, fontina, and gremolata. Julian writes that the new restaurant is “more daring” than its older sibling in Kendall Square, with a shaved Brussels sprouts salad and cauliflower soup. She also praises the pork belly and the brasa chicken, and she notes that the fish and chips have an “incredibly airy and delicate crust.”

• Where Julia Child Favored the Burger and Meryl Streep Smiled [BG]
• Area Four: That Pizza Tastes Better Than Ever [BG]