Time Out Market Boston will have a new spot for Italian cuisine—with a twist. POE-Lenta, an Italian café by chefs Brian Poe and Guillermo Guzman of the Tip Tap Room in Beacon Hill, is opening November 4 at the Fenway food hall and cultural market, with the chefs’ signature playfulness on the menu.
From the seasonal “POE-Lenta of the moment” to roasted tomato soup with a grilled cheese-crouton to wild game bolognese, dishes are deceptively simple and bursting with flavor and fresh ingredients, Poe says.
Poe’s career in Boston spans more than 20 years and is associated with a world of cuisines and unusual proteins; the likes of wild boar meatloaf and antelope tacos have graced his menus. He was a longtime toque at the Bostonian Hotel before embarking on a partnership that had him overseeing Poe’s Kitchen at the Rattlesnake on Boylston Street (which shuttered in 2018), Bukowski Tavern and Parish Café.
Poe opened the Tip Tap Room in 2012, and after dissolving his partnership with the Wilcox Group, he became the sole owner there in 2021. Poe has since opened Crane River Cheese Club, a sandwich shop and grocer next door, with partner Nicolas Giannotti, the general manager of the Tip Tap Room. Today, in addition to his two Beacon Hill spots, Poe owns a micro herb farm and a coffee roasting company, both on the North Shore.
The Tip Tap menu is built around a selection of “tips”—from steak to turkey to swordfish, elk and more—and dozens of craft beers on tap. The format allows for a lot of room to mix things up with different sauces, sets and ingredients. Guzman, who joined the team in 2021, has imbued new energy into it, Poe says. “With the style and the techniques that chef Guzman has, we can actually make a great system even more fun, because we're both well-traveled,” Poe says.
Guzman, originally from Pueblo, Mexico, had been the executive chef at Pellana Prime Steakhouse in Peabody for a decade (incidentally, chef Poe's favorite restaurant!). He was looking to change his pace, he says, and sought a line cook job at the Tip Tap Room. After a few months getting creative in the kitchen with Poe, Guzman stepped up as chef de cuisine of the restaurant as well as Crane River Cheese Club, which offers catering services in addition to made-to-order sandwiches and groceries.
POE-Lenta at Time Out Market, a partnership between Poe and Guzman, combines ideas from both Beacon Hill spots. Menu staples will include a new riff on Tip Tap’s beloved wild game ragu, here served with hand-cut pappardelle pasta; and Crane River sandwiches like the #1 Prosciutto, topped with olive tapenade, Auntie Em's mustard, cornichons, herbs and bloomy cheese on toasted ciabatta.
Other highlights include the aforementioned roasted tomato soup, poured around a crispy-fried, bite-size grilled cheese sandwich; burrata served with seasonal accouterments (citrus-roasted beets, mushrooms, arugula, toast points and a truffle-herb vinaigrette, to start) and hearty salads, including one inspired by Crane River’s Italian sub.
Guzman’s brother, Sergio, works alongside the chef at Tip Tap and will also be involved at Time Out Market, along with other team members and one new hire. Guzman’s teenage stepdaughter, Suri, a high school senior, is an aspiring pastry chef helping out with desserts; expect Italian-inspired delights, like a cannoli or tiramisu, to add to the menu at POE-Lenta in the coming months, Guzman says.
The chefs are excited to launch their new, collaborative concept at Time Out Market, they say. Shortly after Guzman started at Tip Tap, the duo began envisioning what they could do together. “It can be hard in this industry, and Time Out covers all the stuff that's a pain, like midnight phone calls about the dishwasher,” Poe says. “Here, there are all these great chefs around us and great concepts to be inspired by, and you're given an opportunity to test your ideas.”
And the chefs have a lot. “The two of us cooking together the past few years, it's really exploded,” Poe says. “We know each other. We know that we have the skill set, and that's where it leaves us room to play.”
POE-Lenta at Time Out Market will be open the first week of November. Follow @timeoutmarketboston for the official launch.
