Where Friends and Family Feel at Home
Located in the Garrison Inn
11 Brown Square, Newburyport, MA
978-462-8077
for Reservations and Information
David's
Tavern on Brown Square as reviewed by
the Boston Globe
Maybe it was all the leaf-peepers in Newburyport that weekend.
When we showed up at the basement pub of David's Tavern on Brown Square on a recent Saturday evening at 7, we were told the wait for a table was a solid hour. We decided instead to grab one of the two open tables in the dining area upstairs, where the atmosphere is lower decibel and slightly more formal. But only slightly — a man at the next table wearing a T-shirt looked perfectly at home.
Both floors, oddly enough, use the same (reasonably priced) menu, which means you can freely choose between new American cuisine and and pizza-and-burger pub grub. David's Tavern occupies the ground floor and cavernous cellar of the 24-room Garrison Inn, an 1809 National Historic Landmark named after abolitionist William LLoyd Garrison, a Newburyport native son. The red-brick hotel has had a dining room here for close to a century, but there's nothing old-fashioned about chef-owner Stephen Pfingst's cooking.
The soup du jour ($4) was a sweet potato puree, tangy and thick. It came embellished with a filigree of creme fraiche on top, which reminded us of a snowflake, or maybe the marbled endpapers of of a fancy book. Another successful appetizer was a pair of hot and crispy phyllo dough packets stuffed with herbed goat cheese ($7) and garnished with grilled vegetables. The dish was topped with a tangle of what the menu identified as "frizzled leaks." These were actually leeks, fried until curly and crisp, and we could have eaten a tower of them. We also could have eaten more than the two rather small goat-cheese packets. Maybe David's could expand this to an entrée. We'd happily pay double.
It seemed like a good night for seafood, so we ordered two kinds of fish. The "bronzed" salmon ($19) spicy and sweet, was pan-seared and served with roasted peppers and lemon-grass bouillon. The salmon was actually closer to blackened than bronzed, reminding of us of that old Cajun standby, blackened redfish. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It arrived on a bed of broiled spinach, which looked delicious but... well, we're having a spinach holiday at the moment.
A second fish dish, Tilapia Picata ($17) sautéed in lemon and wine sauce with prosciutto and capers, was tasty and moist though the sauce was fairly salty, however, and both the prosciutto and the capers made it saltier still. You might want to pass this up if your on a salt-restricted diet.
Our 14-year-old, who's undergoing an inch-a-month growth spurt and is voracious, ordered the 8-0unce "petite sirloin" ($16). Since when is a half-pound steak small? He couldn't finish it. An oversized steak knife came with it but the marinated meat was tender enough to slice with a butter knife. The dish included a mound of French fries arranged in a little spiral — someone had clearly taken care with the presentation.
Presentation is an important part of what David's Tavern is about, from the oversized and delightfully mismatched plates with inscrutable messages in Chinese to the oil lamps burning in the brick fireplace and the colorful abstract paintings on the dark red walls.
For desert, we enjoyed the ginger creme brulée with its hard crack-sugar top, whipped cream, and for good measure, candied ginger ($6). For the requisite chocolate fix, we devoured a serving of the flourless chocolate torte ($6). If you really love chocolate, why dilute its gooey goodness with flour?
... David's is definitely worth the trip.
COCO McCABE and DOUG STEWART
David's Tavern on Brown Square special events testimonials
Dear Shannah
My husband and I would like to thank you very much for the wonderful job that you and your staff did for our son's rehearsal dinner. The food was excellent and the staff was very attentive and accommodating to any needs that we might have had. The room was just lovely and inviting, and a great time was had by all. My husband and I would highly recommend having any small or intimate event at David's. Thank you and your staff for making a memorable evening just perfect!
Bryan and Denise
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Hi Shannah:
I want to thank you and all the David's staff for your help in planning and arranging our wedding rehearsal dinner on September 30. The food was delicious and wonderfully presented. The service was outstanding and the wait-staff friendly and attentive. Also, the room was arranged perfectly for the size of our party. We received many positive comments from our guests at the end of the evening.
Sincerely,
Dave Mackie
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Subject: Thank You for a Great Wedding Day!
Hi Steve and Shannah -- sorry for the delay of this message. We have been busy with our "merger" and getting Rich moved out of his condo and into Plum Island. We can now see the light at the ned of the tunnel. Yeah!
Rich and I want to thank you both for making our wedding day extra special. Everything was perfect and you both did a great job to ensure that. We have been told continuously by our guests that the food was the best wedding meal they ever had -- appetizers, especially the lobster cakes, salads, entrées and dessert -- everything was delicious. Felicity did a great job baking our cake and the ice cream made it even better.
Shannah -- your service was terrific and we appreciate that you were there to oversee it all. You made all the decisions for me so easy and stress free. Helping me through the many choices was a really important service and I appreciate all you did to make it simple. I really appreciate that you were able to adjust the table settings when one of my guests decided to change the seating plan when we arrived. I was able to just ignore it all and enjoy my day. Steve is very lucky to have you on his staff.
Thank you so much for everything! Please use us as a reference if you care to.
Sincerely,
Susan and Rich Grillo