BostonChefs.com - Boston restaurant guide to the best Boston restaurants
 
Cookbooks by Bosotn Chefs

The Basics: Ashmont Grill restaurant information

Ashmont Grill

555 Talbot Avenue
Dorchester, MA 02124
617-825-4300

Ashmont Grill restaurant information
Share Ashmont Grill share on LinkedIn share on Twitter share on Facebook

Brought to fruition by more than thirty local inventors and innovative municipal funding, Chris Douglass' Ashmont Grill, like its sister restaurant and neighbor Tavolo, is one of those rare neighborhood restaurants that attracts people from other neighborhoods. The casual, modern bistro, which boasts two outdoor patios in its speedily gentrifying section of Dorchester, serves upscale comfort food for dinner and weekend brunch.

In keeping with Douglass' long-standing commitment to sustainability, the seasonally changing menu at Ashmont Grill is chock full of the locally caught, raised or grown seafood, meats and produce.

News and Events at Ashmont Grill restaurant

A Tasty Night in Dorchester
Dorchester has got a lot to drool over.

25th Annual Beyond Shelter Benefit
The Friends of Boston's Homeless once again enlist the help of some of the city's best chefs to ...

Ashmont Grill Gets Springy at Weekly Wine Club
Chris Douglass and his right-hand man John Rush invite guests to drop in for dinner - and a drink or two ...

Chris Douglass

Chef at Ashmont Grill

Chef Chris Douglass at Ashmont Grill

A self-taught and unmentored chef who began washing dishes in a restaurant kitchen as a teenager, pioneering Chris Douglass credits the works of Julia Child and Alice Waters for his original and continuing culinary inspiration. His first job cooking was with Odette Bery at Another Season, a now-shuttered restaurant on Beacon Hill.

When Douglass was hired at Icarus in 1978, the restaurant was serving peasant food from a funky storefront in an un-gentrified section of the city. Today, Icarus serves elegant, celebratory food in a sophisticated dining room, and that same area - the South End - is now considered the hub of fine dining in Boston.

Douglass bought Icarus in 1999 (with a silent partner), and has since has honed his style to one that The Boston Globe refers to as "an intelligent way to approach food ... dishes and flavors with integrity." His imaginative and flawlessly executed American cuisine has won countless regional accolades and "best ofs." Nationally, the 2005 Zagat Survey rated Icarus twenty points out of thirty for food, putting it among the Top Ten in Boston.

In 2005, thanks to the enthusiasm of more than thirty local investors, and the help of innovative municipal funding, Douglass opened the Ashmont Grill, a casual breakfast-lunch-dinner spot in Dorchester, a transitional area of Boston.

When the topic of sustainable, local ingredients arises in Boston, Douglass' name is never far behind. His commitment to sustainability dates more than a decade, and his leadership of Chefs Collaborative, on both local and national levels, backs it up. He is also active in Share Our Strength, Seafood Choices Alliance, and several local organizations operating in the neighborhoods where he does business.

Douglass forges close bonds with the purveyors of his carefully chosen food; they range from Cape Cod hook-and-line fisherman and clammers, to local mushroom foragers, to exotic Asian green growers and inner-city gardeners. As a consequence, he is likely to donate his time and talent to support their causes as his own.

  • food
  • chef
  • info
 
 
Dictionary
 
Cassoulet
1. noun A slow-cooked marriage of white beans and assorted meats such as pork, duck or goose.
Champ
1. noun An Irish favorite of mashed potatoes, green onions and butter.
Chimichurri
1. noun A condiment made of olive oil, vinegar, parsley, oregano, onion, garlic, salt, cayenne and black pepper.
Confit
1. noun Meat (usually goose, duck or pork) that is slowly cooked in its own fat and preserved with the fat packed around it as a seal.
Crostini
1. noun The Italian word for "little toasts" (referring to bread, not grappa).
Frisée
1. noun A curly, mildly bitter member of the chicory family, eaten raw in salads.
Frisee
1. noun French for curly, but usually refers to curly endive, the bitter salad green of the chicory family.
Gremolata
1. noun Minced parsley, lemon peel and garlic.
Paillard
1. noun A thin slice of meat, grilled or sautéed.
Quesadilla
1. noun A flour tortilla filled, folded and then either toasted or fried. The filling usually consists of cheese, salsa, meat and refried beans.
Quinoa
1. noun These small, round, pale-brown grains look similar to millet and have a mild taste and a firm texture. Quinoa is considered a complete protein because it contains all eight essential amino acids.
Romesco
1. noun Catalonian sauce of finely ground tomatoes, red bell peppers, onion, garlic, almonds and olive oil.
Sorrel
1. noun A sour, buckwheat-related herb.
Tartare
1. noun Ground or finely chopped, seasoned raw meat (traditionally beef). May or may not come mounded, and with a raw egg.
Terrine
1. noun An earthenware container, or the dish cooked therein.