Jason Santos is chef-owner of the new Blue Inc., in the former Lobby space on the Greenway. He gained respect locally as chef at Somerville’s just-closed Gargoyles on the Square. He gained recognition nationally as a contestant on Fox cooking competition “Hell’s Kitchen,’’ in which he placed second. At Gargoyles, his quirky dishes nudged the envelope. At Blue Inc., this approach is amped up. The menu is high-pitched and hyper, half cooking, half cartwheels. It portrays him as a wild and crazy guy. (And the restaurant’s name ensures he’ll be dyeing his hair blue forever.)
The Financial District is an interesting choice of location, without the visibility of Back Bay or the South End. One might have expected something more high-profile from a chef returned from the land of television. The restaurant features blue paint and blue accents, with (why?) a large picture of Twiggy’s face adorned with undulating blue patterns. Every surface is hard, and the small room is almost unbearably loud. Servers are generally a pleasure to interact with, even when neither of you can hear a word the other is saying.
Blue Inc.’s dinner menu is a 12-dish affair, six appetizers and six main courses, so succinct the kitchen ought to nail every one. It doesn’t.
It has moments. Pork belly is luscious, a fatty, rich, and tender block of meat, crisp on top. It’s the kind of thing that has you licking your lips even after it’s gone. It’s a pretty presentation, served over rectangles of honeydew melon on a plate sprinkled with pink peppercorns. If the melon were ripe, this would be a sexy dish. Instead, it tastes like it grew on a vine nourished by the fluorescent glow of supermarket lights.
