The Cellar
Welcome back to The Phantom Gourmet. When you hear the name The Cellar, you might picture your grandma’s dark, cold basement. But a restaurant named The Cellar is anything but. The Cellar is the perfect spot for an intimate, delicious dinner. It’s warm, welcoming, and buzzing with the energy of highly flavorful dishes and generous portions of pasta, meats, cheeses, and, of course, plenty of wine.
The man behind The Cellar is chef and co-owner Edvin Hasani. He says he set out to give the neighborhood a place that offers not only a great meal, but also a great glass of wine to go with it.
“This is Mediterranean-inspired cuisine, meaning that we have created certain types of dishes to bring that Mediterranean taste that everybody loves, because we wanted to create a restaurant that had a great selection of wine, hence The Cellar. So we tried to implement that everywhere — building a wholesaler right across the bar so you can see all the wines displayed nice and beautifully, with Tuscany vibes.”
Those pairings start with the appetizers, and if you’re going Mediterranean, there’s no better way to start than with the antipasti. At The Cellar, they’re giving you the whole board, filled with a chef’s selection of meats ranging from salty to spicy, like aged pepperoni and prosciutto, along with cheeses that range from creamy to crumbly. This massive board allows you to create your own perfect bite, along with crackers, artichokes, and marinated peppers.
The Sauvignon Blanc steamed mussels bring a local favorite to the menu. They take Prince Edward Island mussels, steam them in crisp white wine with grape tomatoes and leeks, and those flavors come together to make one delectable sauce. And the perfect pairings don’t end there. For their number one appetizer, Chef Edvin suggests the goat cheese and prosciutto crostini.
“The goat cheese and prosciutto crostini is the most popular appetizer that we have. It’s simple, yet elegant and full of flavor. It’s toasted Italian bread smeared with fig jam, prosciutto, and goat cheese, drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette and fresh basil. Very simple, but very delicious.”
At The Cellar, they are mixing, rolling, and cutting their own homemade pasta. And those noodles appear in some truly delicious dishes, like the Tuscan Garlic Chicken Pasta. Fresh fettuccine is tossed in a fragrant garlic white wine sauce with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, then coated in their creamy homemade pesto, so it’s bold, rich, and guaranteed to keep you twirling your fork until the end.
They also nail the classics, like the slow-simmered Bolognese. Rigatoni is blanketed in a rich, hearty sauce made with beef, pork, and tomatoes, simmered low and slow for more than four hours. The result is a deep, layered flavor that is definitely worth the wait.
And for some Mediterranean by way of New England, you have to get the lobster ravioli.
“Lobster ravioli — I would say it’s one of the best I’ve ever had. It’s lobster-stuffed ravioli topped with creamy Newburg sauce and more lobster on top. You get double the lobster with sweet ricotta filling and lobster chunks. And the sauce that we make really complements the whole dish. It’s incredible.”
The entrees section of the menu delivers massive flavor as well. The Australian Delight is The Cellar’s showstopping take on surf and turf. A juicy 12-ounce sirloin steak is paired with baked scallops, sweet lump crab meat, and house-made stuffing, then finished with a savory mushroom sauce. It’s land and sea coming together in one over-the-top entrée that is big, bold, and decadent.
The lamb rack is marinated in their own secret sauce, perfectly cooked and served on the bone over a bed of roasted potatoes, carrots, and homemade pepper aioli. And the Portuguese pan-seared haddock brings those coastal Mediterranean flavors right to your mouth. The Cellar delivers on this dish with fresh haddock, littleneck clams, roasted potatoes, and chorizo, all in a white wine and leek sauce.
And for something a little unexpected, Chef Edvin and his team offer a colorful and bountiful seared ahi tuna.
“For tuna lovers, that is the ultimate dish. It’s pan-seared ahi tuna with a sesame-crusted finish, sliced and drizzled with our own homemade Asian vinaigrette. And it’s absolutely delicious.”
I mean, do you really need me to convince you anymore? You have the diverse tastes of the Mediterranean, the comforting dishes you know and love, along with a great glass of red or white to go along with it. You just gotta go down to The Cellar in Northborough.
