Best of Boston

In a city with no shortage of "industrial-chic" small-plates spots, it’s refreshing to find a restaurant that marches to its own beat. Prixe fixe and prix fixe only is the beat at this small collaboration between chef Alex Crabb and partner Shish Parsigian, giving diners the chance to sample a number of the chef’s playful creations (like pan-seared monkfish with grilled lettuce and a smoky bacon-infused sauce; and spheres of trout roe, turnip, and potato in a squid-ink broth) in one three-, five-, or eight-course meal. Add that to the minimalist blond-wood-and-brick interior and shockingly good desserts, and you have a quirky yet cerebral spot that’s in an exciting class all its own.