Openings

49 Social: Go for the Scallops, Not for Trashed Dancing

Photo: Christopher X. Wong

49 Social opens tomorrow in the old Ivy space on Temple Place in Downtown Crossing. Manager Samir Zaiter tells Grub Street that while you’re not going to visit to “get trashed and start dancing,” you will enjoy delicious scallops and a very competitive burger.

“We do have a bar menu, because there’s nightlife in Downtown Crossing. People still want to go out. But we’re never going to be an ultra-lounge. After 10 p.m., the music will have more beat and rhythm; we’ll turn it up a tiny bit. But you’re not going to come here and get trashed and start dancing, you know?”

And so (soberly) we’ll tuck into seared scallops served over lightly curried red lentils and blood orange emulsion, which Zaiter predicts will be the breakout menu hit. There’s also an “exceptional” house burger festooned with fried leeks that he envisions competing in the city’s cutthroat burger battles in the months to come. The chef is Michael Lishchynsky, formerly at Boston’s Four Seasons and at davidburke townhouse in New York.

Speaking of New York: Zaiter likens Downtown Crossing’s revival to the gentrification of Times Square. “It’s the heart of Boston,” he tells us. “A block from the Common. People actually do live and work here. A lot of neighborhood folks are knocking on the door, walking in, saying they can’t wait for us to open.”

The wait is over at 5 p.m. tomorrow (with lunch service to follow in a few weeks).

Earlier: 49 Social Will Replace Ivy

49 Social: Go for the Scallops, Not for Trashed Dancing