Cafe Sauvage

Let’s all give a big “bonjour” to the Back Bay’s latest eatery, Café Sauvage, the modern bistro that’s now bringing some je ne sais quoi to Mass Ave. Embodying the essence of a quaint neighborhood café one might stumble upon in the streets of Paris, this place is striving to show off contemporary French cuisine from a more culturally holistic point of view. Bien sûr, all of those conventional classics the world has come to love will still be coming out of the kitchen and gracing the handful of tables that are snugly tucked into this lush little oasis. However, guests will also discover dishes that draw influence from the entire Francophonie and spotlight other cooking traditions that have made their mark in France, like Vietnamese, Moroccan and West African. We personally suggest that folks spice things up and try the injera crêpe—it’s topped with ras el hanout, coconut swiss chard, mushrooms, pickled red onions and piri piri sauce— or the chicken and jollof rice with sauce vert and fried plantains. But if you’re set on sticking to those more stereotypically French staples, we won’t fault you; go ahead and get that French onion soup, steak frites or quiche lorraine—just be sure to wash it all down with a glass of bissap, a refreshingly floral hibiscus tea with mint and lemon, from the bar.