Canteen

Reserve

Canteen Review

Blink, and you'll miss this place. Chef-owner Dennis Leary has transformed this narrow coffee shop into one of the most sought-after dinner reservations in town. The homey place has just 20 counter seats and a quartet of wooden booths. But that's all Leary, with a modest open kitchen and a single assistant, can handle. The dinner menu, which changes often, offers only four first courses, four mains, and three or four desserts. A typical meal might start with veal meatballs with fennel-artichoke puree, followed by a gratin of chanterelles and tomatoes, or pork tenderloin with braised cranberry beans and fig-olive jus, and then a dreamy vanilla soufflé or almond torte. On Tuesday night a three-course prix-fixe menu is in force (no choices within each course) for $35 (seatings are at 6 pm and 8 pm). Because this is a one-man band, there are set times to dine other nights in the week: 6 pm, 7:30 pm, and 9:15 pm.