HARRY POTTER AND AN ORDER OF PIZZA

Sorry, I know I'm being goofy, but the last Harry Potter book comes out today at midnight. Anyhoo, last week we went and saw the fifth Harry Potter movie and after, we decided to grab dinner in the neighborhood. Leah had told me that Cambridge One had opened in her building (The Trilogy, right across the street from the movie theatre) just a week ago, so off we went to try it out.

I knew that the entrance was on the Boylston side of the building, so it wasn't hard to find, but for people who've never been there, is is a little hard to locate. You can only enter through one door on the far right of the restaurant. Here's a shot of the interior.

If the minimalist decor looks familiar to you, it's because Cambridge One is owned by the same guys who own Audubon, Middlesex and Miracle of Science. The large restaurant was virtually empty when we entered, a little surprising considering a Sox game was about to start. Clearly, the word isn't out yet that this place has opened, but I'm sure it'll fill up once people find out.

We were quickly seated at wooden booths with large slate tables, which oddly enough, are all set up on 6 inches of concrete. I don't know why it's necessary to do this. It doesn't making sitting any more comfortable, and it's pretty awkward when you're trying to sit or get up.

We were given menus and our drink orders were taken. What Cambridge One is known for is its grilled pizzas. As in, the pizzas are cooked on an open grill (I think Otto in NY does the same thing). While walking to the bathroom, you can see the grills in the open kitchen. There are 4 of them, each with their own little booth, and you can feel the heat radiating off. You could also see all the bored kitchen employees and servers, who had nothing to do.

You can order either a half or full pizza, but unlike most places, you really don't derive any benefit (cost-wise) of ordering a full pizza. The half pizzas are priced at 50% of the full sized pizza+$1. So we all decided to order our own half pizza, and share if we felt like it. There are also appetizers like salads on the menu, but we skipped those. So here's Tom's half lobster pizza. It was the most expensive one, coming in it $13. (not terrible for dinner).

I actually liked it more than the pizza I ordered. There was lobster, green onions and some cheese. The crust was pretty good when it was nice and crunchy (along the edges) but grilling the pizza means that the crust needs to be thin. Which means that they can't hold a lot of toppings, or wet toppings well. Towards the middle of the pizza, the crust got pretty soggy.

And here's my pizza.

It's got thin slices of potato and two types of cheese. It was pretty good, but Tom and I ended up trading. After eating the half pizza, I was still kinda hungry. Turns out the one half isn't really enough for dinner. So we opted to go to Star Market across the street to buy some ice cream. (The only dessert on the menu was Toscanini's Tiramisu ice cream, and at $5 a serving, it cost more than our 6 pack of Klondike bars). Overall, I welcome Cambridge One in the neighborhood. It's certainly a better alternative to any other pizza that we've got in the area (though that's not saying much). But I think Tom and I would still prefer a pie for Upper Crust (yes Leah, I know you hate it, but we do enjoy that place) or even better, a Brooklyn pizza.