The re-opening of Olives in City Square will come not a day too soon.
Its re-opening in its newest and best incarnation, will bring back to this neighborhood a destination that helped to give the new Charlestown so much of it culinary panache.
Todd English is a culinary artist and icon of the first order. What he has done to raise the mark relative to Boston’s restaurant culture cannot be weighed or measured except to say that his influence has been profound.
The new Olives will revive this neighborhood’s true connection to fine food delicately seasoned and prepared and then served to an adoring customer base who will flock back to this famous restaurant.
In years past, Olives was a hopping place and alternately a legacy kind of stop for people who had eaten there many, many times.
The go go 1980’s when it came into being are absolutely gone, a thing of the distant past receding into the stuff of mythology.
The new restaurant will succeed because English knows what he’s doing and has refined his entire program in the past few years.
The new Olives will cater to its old crowd and to an entirely new crowd that will experiment with its atmosphere and its food.
The atmosphere is a no brainer – open space, warm colors and tones, gorgeous accoutrement and detail.
However it is ultimately the combination of fabulous food served well which will propel the new Olives when it comes into being again.
The exact opening day remains a mystery but it is getting closer everyday.
Not only will Charlestown get another fine restaurant among its list of them but it gets 40 or 50 new jobs, a huge payroll, vendors and purveyors providing food and everything it takes to run a modern American restaurant.
The reopening of Olives is a win win for everyone.