Sala Restobar
In this kitchen, ‘fun’ is the secret ingredient.
“So my philosophy as a chef is that no matter what it is that you're doing, no matter what you're making or who you're making it for, you have to have fun doing it. If you don't have fun doing it, the food is not going to come out in a way that you want it to, and your guests aren't going to enjoy it as much as you think they're going to. If you're having fun while you cook it, you end up being fun and original without even trying.”
And you’ll find food, fun and flavor at Sala Restobar.
Set in this stylish spot on Rantoul Street in Beverly, Sala Restobar is the place where passionate chef Alex Curran brings all of his favorite dishes to life in a menu of globally inspired tapas.
“The menu is just a collage of all the foods that I like stuffing my face with. I love Asian food. I love Latin food. I love anything spicy. That is what I like doing here. It's the food I like to eat. We are a Latin and Asian fusion restaurant with some contemporary American. Many of our guests do enjoy our food tapas style, but we can do it in the form of traditional à la carte.”
And the second you walk in, it feels like you’ve left the suburbs behind.
“I want the first timer to feel like they're not in Beverly. We have live music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and we have some of the best cocktails, if not the best cocktails, in Beverly. I want them to feel like they just got off the train and they're in Boston. We're a little hard to find, but once you walk in, you feel like you just stumbled upon a hidden gem.”
The menu at Sala is stacked with shareable dishes influenced by flavors from around the globe. Like jumbo chicken wings coated in a sticky Korean BBQ sauce. These beauties are cooked slowly in chicken fat, then fried, so they’re unbelievably tender.
“The skin is very, very crunchy and the meat is super, super tender after having been cooked in its own fat. If one person has this, everyone's going to want to take a bite of it. And before you know it, someone's ordered a second round of them.”
There are a trio of sweet potato dumplings to pop back, and a scallion pancake topped with marinated short rib and kimchi that eats more like a pizza.
For the Duck Mole Tacos, Alex tapped into one of his kitchen staff’s family recipes, and the result is unforgettable.
“It is probably the best mole sauce I've ever had that was not in Mexico. You have a lot of complexity from the dark chocolate and hits of cinnamon, lots of smoky spice in there as well. And it has a really buttery, rich mouthfeel. It is delicious. Without a doubt.”
And guests just can’t get enough of the Korean Street Tacos, packed with marinated short rib, sushi rice, salsa verde and a scallion slaw.
“They just taste amazing. And I have regulars who come back and they want to try other things, but then they just end up going for the Korean street taco because they don't want to walk out without having had their taco fix.”
Other handheld favorites include pork belly bao — a perfect bite balancing savory pork with kimchi and a cilantro lime sauce — or this cheeseburger version, topped with Vermont cheddar and a red onion compote and paired with a foie gras black garlic dipping sauce.
“It is a super rich bite of food, but it's cut beautifully by the sharpness of the cheddar and the acid that you get from the red onion compote. And the foie gras is just absolute decadence, especially with the black garlic. It gives it an extra layer of complexity. You’ve got to try it.”
If you’re craving something you can really sink your teeth into, the Sala Burger delivers, topped with bacon, caramelized onions, melted brie and chipotle aioli.
“This is my kind of burger. You have all the butteriness that you want from brioche. It's just like biting into a pillow. And then you’ve got the beef just bursting with flavor. The bit of smokiness of the North Country bacon pairs beautifully with that chipotle and that nice buttery richness of some melted brie. That is a burger that I love eating. I could eat it every day.”
Designed for sharing, the Porterhouse Table Feast is the ultimate centerpiece for the table. This interactive meal comes with a beautiful 32-ounce porterhouse steak, squishy bao, corn and flour tortillas and an arsenal of sauces.
“Who doesn't love just a gigantic amount of beef and bone sticking out?It's like a higher-end fajita platter. It's the most decadent fajita platter that you could possibly even think of. Porterhouse is also one of my favorites because I love filet. I love sirloin. You get to have both with porterhouse. What's not to love about that? You get to have both here.”
The cameras come out before the forks when the Pineapple Pork Belly Fried Rice hits the table.
“The pineapple fried rice is something that always makes people's eyes pop when they see it. They're always really excited when it comes out, and they're always super glad that they ordered it.”
And save room for dessert, because the churros are so good you may want them all for yourself.
“They’re miniature churros. We toss them in sugar and cinnamon, and it comes with Mexican cinnamon chocolate ganache and dulce de leche. I absolutely love them.”
And whether it’s the flavor or the fun, you too will absolutely love Sala Restobar.
