It is written: Mystic reaches new culinary Milestone

September 04, 2024 11:57 am • Last Updated: September 04, 2024 4:58 pm

By Rick Koster
Day Arts/Features writer

Exterior of Milestone Mystic (Rick Koster/The Day)
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Backyard Burger at Milestone Mystic (Rick Koster/The Day)
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It can be dangerous inviting two professional writers and a just-retired teacher along on a restaurant review assignment — particularly when I solicited written opinions on their impressions of the outing. I mean, they can WRITE.

But that’s what happened last week when I targeted Milestone Mystic for evaluation.

The restaurant, which was opened last November by Pete and Andi Fine, is a separate, across-the-state sibling entity of their long-popular Milestone Georgetown. It’s also the happy result of the couple’s appreciation for Mystic in general. The Fines started out visiting friends in Mystic a few years back and eventually decided to open Milestone Mystic and purchase a home in the area.

The result?

Welcome to the neighborhood!

And good for us. Simply put: In a tourist town full of fine culinary destinations — including dueling James Beard-ian chefs — Milestone Mystic is terrific.

Perhaps it’s so terrific that it exceeds my feeble capacity to describe the experience. I mean, I’ve been doing this a long time, and I thought I had it down. In fact, I’d already started writing when my requested analyses started popping up in my email box.

Consider:

RICK: “Milestone is durn purty. Why, one wall has a mural of shiny, bright colors! And the roof is WAY up there! I think at one time or another there mighta been an Asian food joint here.”

PRO WRITER #1: “Built in the oft-repurposed shell of what was once a part of the Reliance Machine Company complex, Milestone Restaurant takes advantage of the lofted wood beam ceilings to create an expansive, welcoming space with pleasant amber lighting.”

And the ambience as it related to the menu:

RICK: “Peter Fine worked at Tipitina’s in New Orleans and I guess he mighta ‘borrowed’ some posters from the place. There are framed images of the Meters and Professor Longhair, but I didn’t see any gumbo on the menu. How’s that make sense?! Maybe the ‘live entertainment’ band would at least play ‘Yellow Moon.’ Nope.”

PRO WRITER #2: “There’s a lengthy bar and vintage posters advertising the Meters and Professor Longhair, but don’t be misled by the slight New Orleans-themed touches; the food on offer is predominantly standard New England pub fare, albeit with modern twists. On this night, the entertainment is also standard New England fare, with a competent duo belting out rock radio standards from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s — a shadow crossed Longhair’s smiling face when the table ahead of him began braying for “Salt! Salt! Salt!” during the most repeated (and most obnoxious) AM radio standard of the night, ‘Margaritaville.’”

That’s enough! I’m not unwilling to share some credit, but I’m not gonna be outshined for an entire review.

RETIRED SCHOOLTEACHER: “I think that’s a triple-negative, Rick.”

A pleasant place to be

Milestone is in fact a lovely spot, with comfort and décor such that the most casual diners fit alongside the more formal “big night out” folks. There’s an industrial feel with painted brick and polished wooden floors; a handsome bar area that parallels a dining section with high back booths, suspended light globes and tall windows overlooking Water Street; and a space with lounge seating that doubles as a stage (live music a few nights a week). Out back — which also serves as the restaurant entrance; you’ll figure it out — is a handsome covered deck with a separate bar.

Brunch is available on Sunday, and Milestone is open for lunch Friday and Saturday. At dinner, there are several options in the following categories: Small Plates, Salads, Burgers, Pies (red and white pizzas), Plates and Sides.

Every dish a winner

We split two Small Plates, the Good Beets ($12) and Fresh Fish Bites ($18). Regarding the former: all four of us love beets. That’s arguably a mathematical impossibility. But we were rewarded in a big way. The presentation included large dices of red and golden beets in a port balsamic and citrus honey glaze with herbed ricotta and basil oil pistachio crumble. There were just the right proportions of each element, and each bite of cool beet segment seemed to offer a subtly distinct twist.

If there’s any complaint, it’s that it would be helpful to have a serving utensil to place them on individual plates. We had to try to skewer a beet or scrape them onto our individual plates with knives in order to avoid using our own forks.

There was a generous abundance of fried cod bites, some of which seemed to be the size of ping pong balls. The breading was light and served as an accent to the tasty cod therein. The house-made tartar sauce had a playful dill component, and the bed of fries underneath weren’t just afterthoughts or decorative – they were stars unto themselves.

For the main courses, we sampled widely.

A Good Bowl ($16) was declared to be a VERY good bowl, and it was refreshing to find a vegetarian dish so thoughtfully crafted. The al dente quinoa base was topped with a pie chart design of toasted pepitas, thinly sliced radish, diced creamy sweet potato, avocado and pickled red onion — and on top of THAT was cilantro and a vinaigrette that tartly infused miso, tahini and lemon. A light but genuinely satisfying entrée.

The Popeye ($19) was a white pizza including spinach, pancetta and garlic. The cheesy crust was flavorful, and the trio of ingredients comingled politely. In a region inundated with great pizza, The Popeye was at least competitive.

We tried the Backyard Burger ($23), with a necessarily sturdy bun housing two thick patties, oversized and crispy bacon, tart slaw, sharp cheddar, a barbecue sauce that, for once, got the point across without overkill, and crackly frizzled onions. Outstanding — and more of the addictive fries.

From the Plates section, which also boasts respective variations on meatballs (called “Balls”), hangar steak, shrimp, pork chops and a half-chicken, we opted for Pan Roasted Salmon ($30). The brick-like cut of fresh fish was seared with a sorcerer’s mixture of black lentils, blood orange beurre blanc and coriander — and the moist salmon was superbly contrasted with the crispy exterior. For added taste contrast, it was reverentially laid across a colorful salad of corn, scallions and celery.

Dessert? Sometime soon, we hope. But we were full and happy. It’s worth noting there are plenty of drink specials, a nice wine list and craft beers a-plenty.

It’s also worth noting that our server, “Emily Z,” was a thoughtful and efficient representative for the whole restaurant.