Tag: Crisped Fontina Cheese

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Roasted Chicken with Mushrooms from Lock 50

Roasted Chicken with Mushrooms from Lock 50 on Water Street in Worcester, MA

Next up on the MassFoodies dining tour was Lock 50 Restaurant and Cafe in Worcester’s up and coming Canal District. There is no doubt in my mind, this restaurant has elevated dining in Worcester and will become a cornerstone in the re-development of this neighborhood. For our dinner, we were seated in the Cafe, a comfortable room with dim lighting, rich dark wood, exposed brick walls and huge windows, creating the perfect atmosphere for the food we were about to encounter. An additional dining room and bar located down a few stairs has the same look and feel as the cafe with the ability to seat what looked like 50-60 people.

As we scanned a very adventurous menu, our server Madison promptly greeted us with a big smile, took our drink order and explained the concept of dining at Lock 50. She told us the menu changes regularly, the ingredients are sourced locally and each dish is prepared individually and from scratch.

I promptly ordered a Dogfish Head Namaste, which to me, seemed more than appropriate for the flavors I was about to enjoy.

First to the table, an assortment of crusty homemade bread accompanied with cultured butter and sweet olive oil, was promptly shared and enjoyed around the table. Next came a large wedge of Crisped Fontina Cheese over herb salad and crostini. The cheese was dipped in a flavorful, salty batter and fried to perfection. Again smiles all around our table. Not to be deterred by a full stomach, my dining partner and I ordered a third shareable plate, this time the Polenta board. Served warm, the creamy polenta was topped with bacon pieces and shaved asparagus. The dense, rich polenta was a bit salty for some (not for me) and combined with an ice cold Session Lager, could have been the end of an amazing meal, but not for us. We really were just getting started!

For my main dish I ordered the Roasted Half Chicken with mushrooms, marsala syrup and fried sage. The perfectly seasoned chicken was a bit crispy on the outside and tender and moist on the inside. But what really stole the show were the amazingly flavored mushrooms. The rich, earthy mushrooms paired well with the moist and tender chicken (and the creamy leftover polenta). Both the chicken and the mushrooms were drizzled with slightly sweet marsala syrup that finished the dish off perfectly.

I suggested to Chef Tim Russo later on the mushrooms were so good on their own, they could certainly stand alone as a starter or small plate dish.

And as if the food to this point wasn’t enough, our table shared an amazing Chocolate Hazelnut Bread Pudding that was topped with caramelized orange served on top of a bed of whipped ricotta.

The service at Lock 50 was great. Madison was our main server and was extremely attentive, knowledgeable and prompt. The GM made his way to our table and talked wine with everyone, the owner and the head chef individually made sure they said hello and inquired about our dining experience.

Overall, Lock 50 is a winner and will be one of the restaurants to elevate Worcester’s overall dining scene. The combination of menu, atmosphere, service and drinks was outstanding. I certainly will return and encourage everyone to give it a try.

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Crisped Fontina Cheese – Small Plates at Lock 50

Crisped Fontina Cheese from Lock 50 on Water Street in Worcester, MA

Lock 50 is a fairly modern looking place, with crisp clean decor and a full wall of street facing windows. They have a medium sized room upstairs and a separate room downstairs that also serves as a function room. They also have a nice little patio with outdoor seating. Everyone seemed to be having a good time with lots of bustle and fun, but if you’re looking for a quiet dinner, this might not be the place for you.

My wife and I started with 3 “small plates.” First up was the cured meat board, which contains whatever the chef has that day. This day, it consisted of a fresh salami, speck, and another smoky cured meat I can’t remember, along with the house spreadable pepperoni and some pickled veggies. The meats were delicious and the pepperoni spread, on crostini, was a little slice of heaven with a nice amount of spice/heat. This was really a nice selection of flavors. Then came the Crisped Fontina Cheese. This was a decent sized wedge of fontina, dipped in a batter and fried to perfection. This was absolutely amazing, the flavor of the batter complimented the cheese perfectly and again, the crostini it came with was the perfect vehicle for the cheese. Lastly, the buttermilk quail. Think buttermilk fried chicken, only with little quail pieces instead. While this was perfectly nice, it’s completely overshadowed by the rest of the food and seem underwhelming compared to everything else. Once the small plates were done, we had our “Shareable Plate” of Porchetta, short rib, sausage, stewed lentils and fried polenta. This was a good size for sharing and the meats were delicious. The porchetta was flavorful and tender, the short rib was melt in your mouth fantastic and the sausage was very flavorful. The lentils provided a very nice softer counterpoint to the hard flavors of the meat and together generated a great overall taste. My only real complaint for the evening was the fried polenta. This was so salty it was inedible (I did bring this to the attention of the chef and he was thankful for the input and said he’d look into it). Otherwise, everything was really amazing.

Our server, Madison, was on point. She knew the menu up and down, made great recommendations and was quick and attentive. Her personality added to the great food made for a terrific overall experience.

Overall, I’d have to say Lock 50 is a real keeper. The small plates idea makes for a more interactive dining experience, promotes sharing and makes for a more fun and festive atmosphere. Even though the dining room as a bit on the loud side, even that fit the overall feel and the place.