Post 390 is busy trying to keep up with the crowds

December 02, 2009|Devra First, Globe Staff

Post 390 feels like it’s been here a long time. It’s two levels of wood, fireplaces, open kitchens, and warm lighting, with several bars and an army of employees, and so crowded it’s hard to take any of that in.

But the place opened only in October, part of Himmel Hospitality Group, the people behind Grill 23, Harvest, and the late Excelsior (and partners in the just-opened Excelsior replacement, Bistro du Midi). Post 390 is located at the Clarendon, a luxury condo development (yes, they still build them) on the site of the old Back Bay Post Office Annex. With stairs to climb, different areas in which to interact, and balconies to peek over, it feels like a jungle gym for adults. Who plays here: men in suits, more men in suits, and a coterie of youngish people in their play clothes. The tableau at a communal table one day looks like a stock photo a restaurant might put on its website. Where do all those American-handsome square-jaws come from? And who cuts their wavy, fantastic hair?

They’re here for drinks. But also to eat food that sounds as handsome and American as they are: crab cakes, steamed lobster, turkey pot pie, steak. For dessert, there is (naturally) pie. Outside, there are four seasons. On the menu, it always feels like Thanksgiving or the Fourth of July.

The intention here is to create very good versions of standard dishes, made with high-quality ingredients: an “urban tavern,’’ as Post 390’s creators would have it. Chef Eric Brennan, formerly of Excelsior, Harvest, and the Federalist, seems like a good man to handle this concept. He’s smoking the St. Louis ribs in house. He’s serving his mom’s meatloaf. He’s even brewing the root beer. Everything looks good on paper. On the plate, things are still coming along. This, you suddenly remember, is a brand new restaurant.

Those ribs, with the right amount of tenderness and smoke, come to the table cold. They’re cooked earlier in the day, then reheated on the grill. Not enough. (The bread-and-butter pickles they come with are great, though.) That meatloaf, a rich mix of veal, beef, and pork, is stuffed with ham and fontina cheese. It’s too much and too salty; the meatloaf would be better off with . . . more meatloaf.

Crisped Point Judith calamari come with excellent tartar sauce, but the squid is chewy, the batter greasy and less-than-crisped. Oysters grilled in their shells, with linguica and garlic butter, sound alluring; they are more Rockefeller-esque than their description indicates, the oysters lost beneath the Portuguese sausage and rich topping. Crab and spinach dip buries lovely fresh crab in goo. Suddenly it’s the ’70s at your table, and this spread with its sliced up baguette is the hit of the cocktail party.