The "Shells" section includes salt-roasted Maine clams ($11), a neat gloss on clams casino, here topped with chorizo breadcrumbs and oregano mojo. Oyster stew ($12) is perhaps the happiest echo of Catch's seafood glories, surrounding a few plump, barely poached Virginia oysters with smoked hake, good bacon, big slices of leek, and bits of potato in a not-overthickened broth with a paprika dusting and wee chive biscuits on top. It's a dreamy wisp of cream, smoke, and ocean brine, evanescing far too quickly. Desserts manage to combine eye-catching platings with sublime flavors, as in black-sesame ice cream ($9), a delicate necklace of nutty, pearly, gelato-like ice cream alternating with chunks of chiffon cake and dollops of baked meringue. Start to finish, this place has to represent the swankest, most complete restaurant package Milton has ever seen, though the chirpy, efficient service and mid-century garage atmosphere keep the vibe casual. Maybe if Boston keeps making it so hard for independent chefs to thrive, Steel & Rye betokens a future of reverse commutes, where discerning urbanites routinely head to the suburbs to dine. This one is worth the trip.
>> @MCSLIMJB
STEEL & RYE :: 95 Eliot St, Milton :: 617.690.2787 or steelandrye.com
Related:
Time for a big change, Bedroom community, The new Combat Zone?, More 
- Time for a big change
Boston's political culture is fossilized, resistant to new ideas.
- Bedroom community
Okay, so Dead Cats Dead Rats are not actually from Boston.
- The new Combat Zone?
As such savage acts often do, the quadruple homicide in Mattapan this past month lured platoons of journalists to Boston's communities of color.
- Review: Norman
Cancer seems to be the breakout star of indie films this season. In Jonathan Segal's Norman , it gets its hands on the title character's father and is the catalyst for his emotional turmoil and social alienation, though you get the feeling he was never too well adjusted to begin with.
- I learned to love the grape — and so can you, at the Boston Wine Expo
I have never been a stranger to wine.
- On the Cheap: Ecco Pizzeria
I'm not sure when Allston woke up and decided it needed a new pizza joint on every other block, but I'm not complaining, and neither is my fridge.
- Review: Catalyst Restaurant
So you have this very high-end chef, William Kovel, running a fancy hotel dining room, Aujourd'hui at the Four Seasons.
- Review: The Salty Pig
A number of restaurants have failed in this odd multilevel space, stuck in a kind of cultural canyon between the Copley Place mall and the Tent City apartment complex.
- On the Cheap: Render Coffee
Don't-give-a-shit hipster baristas, move aside — Render Coffee is raising the bar on specialty coffee shops in Boston.
- Valentine's Day for the Frugal and Savvy Diner
On the Cheap thinks you should take your honey out to a fabulous dinner in February. But fine dining on Valentine's Day, with its overpriced prix fixes, cheap Champagne, and harried servers is a rookie choice, like clubbing on New Year's Eve.
- Photos: Gabbie's Goodies in Hanover, MA
Gabbie's Goodies in Hanover, MA is bringing back the bon bon.
- Less
Topics:
Restaurant Reviews
, suburbs, Milton, food features, More
, suburbs, Milton, food features, Steel & Rye, Less
