Cultivar Is Closing Its Doors After a Year and a Half

An award-winning restaurant is bidding farewell to Boston on January 9: Cultivar is closing its doors in the Ames Boston Hotel after a year and a half. Owners Mary Dumont and Emily French-Dumont announced the news today on the restaurant’s social media channels, writing:

Due to a series of unforeseen events that have created the perfect storm, it is with a heavy heart we announce that today Cultivar will be closing its doors. Emily and I created a dream one day over text and began down the path that grew Cultivar. A place we love, filled with people we love, staffed by an incredible family of wonderful people. We are so grateful for our loyal staff, the Ames Boston Hotel, and our guests, many of whom have become part of our extended family. Everyone who has contributed to the great success of Cultivar holds a special place in our hearts. We thank all those who chose to make memories with us, and rest assured we are not finished making memories with you.

Chef Mary Dumont — who earned acclaim for her years working at Harvest in Harvard Square before she moved on to open Cultivar — was Eater Boston’s Chef of the Year in 2017, getting both the editor’s choice award and the readers’ choice vote for her work bringing Cultivar to life.

At Cultivar, Dumont and French-Dumont (who served as the restaurant’s director of operations) created an oasis of nature in the heart of Boston’s Financial District. The decor was alive with greenery and a striking iron chandelier — made in Groton, a right-to-farm community where the duo lives — that French-Dumont interpreted as a swarm of bees, while Dumont saw it as hope emerging from chaos, as they told Eater last year. Keeping with the nature vibe, the team grew some produce in a hydroponic garden onsite, and many dishes were decorated with colorful flowers.

The restaurant’s cuisine was Dumont’s vision of New England, with seasonal produce, sustainable seafood, foraged ingredients, and the like — think seafood towers, foraged mushroom tartines, and venison sausage made in-house, as well as some spectacular pasta dishes, notable desserts, and a cocktail list that showcased gin.

Brian Young, who is currently competing on Top Chef, was the restaurant’s opening chef de cuisine, while Robert Gonzalez, an Eater Young Guns semifinalist from 2016, was pastry chef.

The restaurant opened in mid-2017 at the Ames Boston Hotel. Stay tuned for details on what will become of the space and what Dumont and French-Dumont intend to do next.

• Cultivar Coverage on Eater [EBOS]

Sarah Storrer/Eater