Freepoint Kitchen & Cocktails Brings Matthew Gaudet’s Food Back to Cambridge

Have you been desperately missing Matthew Gaudet since he closed West Bridge in Cambridge at the end of 2015 and headed up to Manchester-by-the-Sea to open Superfine? Today’s the day to say hello to him again, Cantabrigians: His new restaurant, Freepoint Kitchen & Cocktails (a partnership with the Freepoint Hotel (220 Alewife Brook Pkwy.) in Cambridge’s Fresh Pond area), opens today.

The menu is mainly geared at sharing, offering small plates such as pistachio popcorn ($5), bacon roasted nuts ($5), and charcuterie assortments ($18 for three choices/$27 for five choices) and larger plates such as a soft giant pretzel with fondue and beer mustard ($12), barbecue chicken wings ($11), and a bourbon bacon apple and cheddar grilled cheese sandwich ($12). There’s also a small breakfast menu, which includes shakshuka, a raspberry vanilla buttermilk dutch baby, a miso green veggie breakfast bowl, and more.

For drinks, “beverage consigliere” Alex Howell (West Bridge, Menton) worked with Gaudet to pull together a drink menu with a focus on bourbon and brown liquors. There are a number of classic cocktails available, such as the Aviation and Blood & Sand, as well as a collection of eight different Manhattan variations.

Freepoint Kitchen & Cocktails spills out of the hotel lobby into a lounge space that includes a 13-seat bar, cozy couches, an assortment of low and high tables and chairs, a pool table, games (Jenga, Cards Against Humanity, and more), a chair that swings from the ceiling, and a sunny courtyard with a fire pit. There’s also a second adjoining room where breakfast is served (and dinner overflow can be accommodated there.)

Here’s a peek inside the space, which was designed by New York-based firm Dash Design.

The bar top is made from a locally sourced sugar maple, and the crimson bar stools are meant to give a “subtle nod” to Harvard University, which is about a mile and a half from the hotel.

Nestled in a glassed-in courtyard between the dining room and the lobby, there’s a “Secret Garden” al fresco dining space with a fire pit.

And adjoining Freepoint’s main lounge, there’s another dining room where breakfast is served. (You can eat dinner in there as well, if you’re looking for something with more traditional seating.) Keep an eye out for video art projected onto one of the walls, thanks to a partnership with Boston Cyberarts. This room also features a large set of oars in honor of Cambridge’s Head of the Charles regatta.