Celebrated Restaurant Oak and Rowan Has Closed Its Doors in Fort Point

Oak + Rowan, restaurateur Nancy Batista-Caswell’s hit Fort Point restaurant, served its final squid ink bucatini over the weekend.

The lauded restaurant, which closed its doors April 16, has been sold to new owners according to a statement Batista-Caswell emailed and posted to the restaurant’s Instagram account.

It is with great sadness that I announce the sale of Oak and Rowan. We all mourn when we lose one of our favorite restaurants because they provide us with so much more than food. They also nourish our soul, and when they are gone, part of the soul of the neighborhoods in which they resided is gone as well. We miss seeing our favorite bartender, who remembers what we drink. We miss catching up with our favorite server, and we miss sitting at that one table that makes us feel especially at home. We miss talking to the owner about life, about the serious moments and the simple things that put smiles on our faces and everything in between. We miss seeing the hardworking support staff take extra care to scoop up a dropped napkin or replace a missing fork. All of these small gestures that make us feel a special sense of togetherness in our neighborhood will be missed...

Oak + Rowan debuted in November 2016 with about 150 seats spread throughout a sunlight-splashed space with soaring ceilings, wood accents, and brick-lined walls. As Batista-Caswell’s first foray into Boston’s restaurant scene, the restaurant’s arrival was one of the most highly anticipated that year.

The seasonal menu celebrated “all things land and sea,” with the final menu filled with treats like house-fermented pickles dressed in mushroom vinaigrette; tangles of dark squid ink bucatini studded with shrimp and uni; earthy duck served with pistachio, sweet potato, and greens; and beets brightened with strawberry and salsa verde.

Batista-Caswell, who runs Caswell Restaurant Group, expanded popular oyster destination, Brine, in downtown Newburyport when Covid forced Boston’s restaurants into a hiatus. In 2020, she closed the decade-old Ceia kitchen and bar in Newburyport. With Oak and Rowan now closed, Brine remains the only open restaurant under the group’s umbrella.

Eater Boston has reached out to the Oak and Rowan team for comment and will update this story as necessary.