The Other Critics

Masked Dining at 62 Restaurant & Wine Bar; Acitron Is Aces

• Mat Schaffer dons a mask and dines in darkness at 62 Restaurant & Wine Bar in Salem. They’re currently offering a three-course Italian dinner that must be consumed whilst sporting padded blindfolds that eliminate all light. Oh, and “the menu is a secret.” The meal is accompanied by a narrator and “thematic music.” Schaffer cautions that “blindfolded guests will initially feel a little vulnerable” and that “they will pay much more attention to what it is they are putting into their mouths.” [Herald]

• Kathleen Burge visits lounge-a-licious Acitron in Arlington, where you won’t find typicalities like burritos and chimichangas on the menu. Instead: a “creative take on Mexican, with New England ingredients” in a “small but sophisticated dining room.” Tuck into the camarones en mole de tamarindo, “a blend of shrimp and a thick, sweet sauce served over small pieces of cornbread” or opt for the sopes surtido, preferably topped with potato and Mexican chorizo. [Globe]

• Devra First offers a quickie preview of Area Four, close to Kendall Square, “the right concept in the right place.” Part coffeehouse, part restaurant, and “surrounded by MIT and tech firms,” she thinks that the place “should have no trouble drawing traffic.” [Globe]

• Corby Kummer visits Michael Schlow’s nearly new Back Bay venture, Tico. Despite a questionable corporate locale (which is “slick, a bit dark, and comfortable in a Westin sort of way”) and a menu that’s apparently “aimed at blunting raw spice or rough sauces,” he likes it. Simply find “dishes that deliver flavor and don’t crumble into blandness.” Tender pork and cuke tacos are a “smart mix” of tastes; vegetables (especially Brussels sprouts) are “reliably vibrant.” [Boston]

• Robert Nadeau checks in on newish, noir-ish Inman Square favorite Trina’s Starlite Lounge, to which he awards three stars. He finds the dimly lit spot hard to classify (and hard to find), but categorization and location becomes unimportant after a nibble of the onion strings, “which have actual sweet onion flavor.” The restaurant also plays fast and loose with the Reuben concept (served on scali bread, with too much Thousand Island), but who cares, when the dressing is fresh and the cole-slaw is “house-made and good”? [Phoenix]

• MC Slim JB wishes he had a Lorenz Island Kuisine in his neighborhood. The “slow-moving” Codman Square Jamaican hangout features a “gorgeous, rich” curry goat glossed with “ebony” gravy and “juicily roasted” jerk chicken (the tangy house-made jerk sauce is “superb”). “Dreamy” Jamaican fruit cake is the way to end a meal. All in all, the vibe is as “comfortable as a warm Caribbean breeze.” [Phoenix]

Masked Dining at 62 Restaurant & Wine Bar; Acitron Is Aces