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Cliff Long, owner of the Chandler Inn, Chandler Studios across the street, and now Trophy Room which soft opens tonight after taking over the old Fritz Lounge, is no newbie to the South End life.
“I came here in 1981,” he says outside of the crisply renovated ground-floor space. “I’ve seen the changes, and I want to help facilitate that more with a corner spot like this. I want it to feel new again.”
Awaiting inside: a sculpted faux-white deer head overlooking the nitid space, adorned with red floor-to-ceiling-ish collapsing doors (yes, they’re planning on claiming some bricks out front for a seasonal patio), custom-made furniture, wood tables, and pressed leather booths right out of a French bistro. Which makes sense, since the designers are the same creatives behind Eastern Standard’s look, as well as South End neighbors Gaslight and Cinquecento.
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That Parisian touch is probably why GM and Julie Delpy-accented Delphine Chauffier is so comfortable here. And her French palate is responsible for the killer espresso as well as bringing in over 50 different wine distributors to sample and taste and spit until she found a full and robust menu that in the end hovers at $12 for a glass (note: their continental breakfast is also capped at $12).
As for the food, Chef Evan Campbell, star of the show you’ll get if claiming one of the four stools at the marble “chef’s bar”, says the key to what they’re serving there relies on freshness and accessibility.
“You can only eat squid ink foam so many days in a row,” he says.
The menu will focus on Northeast cheeses, fresh morning pastries made in-house daily, and feature gullet-busting dinner fare like spicy duck boudin, scotch eggs, honey-bourbon steak tips, flatbread pizzas, and mussels steamed in beer. Oh, and a daily continental breakfast involving Fritz’s old diesel Bloody Mary’s.
With spots like Wink & Nod and Merrill and Co. having just opened around the corner, Long hopes this spot channels that “newness” electricity he feels is igniting the neighborhood.
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“It’s reaching a critical mass here” he said, citing how 40 Berkeley Street (recently sold to Mount Vernon Co. for $17.2 million) is being transformed, and likely to open a restaurant. Ultimately, the overhaul and revitalization of the area, from someone who’s seen it first hand over the years, will ensure the constant evolution of a lively and ever-mutating corner of the South End.
“That’s what changes neighborhoods, and that’s what keeps them vibrant”.
TROPHY ROOM. SOFT OPEN NOW. 26 CHANDLER ST., BOSTON. 617-482-3540. TROPHYROOMBOSTON.COM
