For Milton, which hadn’t seen a restaurant serving booze for many years, this is a sea change. In the weeks spanning the end of July and the beginning of August, both Abby Park and 88 Wharf opened their doors. (Ledge Kitchen + Drinks arrived on the scene, too, minutes away in Dorchester’s Lower Mills.)
Even if the food wasn’t that good, it was bound to be good. Sometimes showing up is 90 percent of the battle.
At Abby Park, in East Milton Square, Michael Pirini is the chef; the Johnson & Wales grad came from the Cape, where he cooked at such restaurants as Wianno Grille and Abbicci. Co-owner Vance Welch has a history with the area. He owns Java Jo’s in Jamaica Plain, and there used to be another branch of the cafe a few doors down from Abby Park until it was destroyed by fire.
Many of Pirini’s appetizers would be right at home at a cocktail party - scallops and bacon, baked brie, and the “Park Board,’’ a wood platter with inset china trays bearing different nibbles. Feta and olives is an unimpeachable combination, but it’s followed by dates stuffed with bland, dense goat cheese and marcona almonds. Then comes smoked salmon with a retro lobster mousse, and prosciutto with an overly sweet, apple butter-esque chutney.
The words “slow-roasted pork cigars’’ are evocative and instantly hunger-inducing, but the dish itself is plebeian. Pork wrapped in dough and fried, these cigars are sloppy and wide rather than slender, and the filling lacks the concentrated flavor one expects from slow-roasted meat. Thai chili shrimp are coated with a gooey, sweet-hot sauce and served with cucumbers pickled in rice vinegar. Another shrimp or two would be nice (there are three in our order), but this dish is good for what it is. You’ve had a version of it at at least one wedding you’ve attended.
Here comes the fried: Fritto misto is a great rendition, perfectly battered shrimp, squid, and slices of red chilies for kicks. Somebody knows how to drive that Frialator; the skin-on french fries that come with a burger are also very good. The burger itself is Kobe beef, but when it’s topped with cheese, bacon, caramelized onions, mushrooms, or an egg ($1 each), mostly what you can tell is that the patty is overcooked.
