Blackshop Welcome

Fine dining with an emphasis on fine

By Drew Edwards,
For NightLife

September 15, 2010

OK, I’ll be honest: I had low expectations for Cambridge’s fine dining institution the Blackshop. Despite hearing generally positive word-of-mouth, I was not particularly impressed with the online menu, which appeared heavy on the European-influenced classics — steak tartar anyone? — and light on the kind of innovative, locally driven cuisine that is generally turning my crank this days. I’m also suspicious of fine dining restaurants located in strip malls — very snobbish I know. But generally speaking, if you can see a Pet Smart sign from your seat in the dining room, that’s probably not a good sign. Boy, was I wrong. ...

A change for the better

Andrew P. Coppolino,
For NightLife

Diners are fickle creatures of habit, so a change to a restaurant that includes picking up lock, soup stock, and barrel and moving it several kilometres from its original location is risky business indeed.However, judging by the steady stream of customers on a sleety Friday evening, the Blackshop's recent move from its quaint and cosy home of 15 years on Hobson Street has been well received.The mainstay Cambridge restaurant is settling nicely into its new digs in a thoroughly stripped down and fully renovated building ...