Terra

Terra Review

For old-school romance and service, many diners return year after year to this quiet favorite in an 1884 fieldstone building. Since 1988, chef Hiro Sone has been giving an unexpected twist to Italian and southern French cuisine in such dishes as mussel soup with caramelized onions and garlic croutons, heavily perfumed with saffron. A few standouts, like the signature sake-marinated black cod in a shiso broth, draw on Sone's Japanese background. Homey yet elegant desserts, courtesy of Sone's wife, Lissa Doumani, might include a chocolate caramel tart topped with fleur de sel (a kind of sea salt). Next door, the livelier Bar Terra serves inventive cocktails, local wines, and a menu of smaller, lighter dishes, among them succulent fried rock shrimp with a chive-and-mustard sauce.