Mass Ave. Diner Opens Alice In Wonderland Themed M.A.D. City

CAMBRIDGE, MA - For years, Cambridge Chef Harvard Aninye has dreamed of fun, imaginative dishes that would be right at home at a dinner party in Wonderland. Now, with the opening of M.A.D. City, a new restaurant run out of the Mass Ave. Diner in Central Square, he's getting his chance.

Think steak and eggs served with caviar and a cured yolk, oysters served with beer foam and orange zest, and scallops mixed with coconut and pineapple.

Aninye said he has two goals with the new restaurant; have fun and make delicious food.

"We're trying to put a new spin on fine dining," he said. "We really like the idea of the Mad Hatter and what would happen if you gave him his own restaurant. This is what we think would happen."

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Aninye said he and many on his team including his brother and General Manager Calvertt 'Justin' Aninye and Sous Chef Julianna Wright have been trained in fine dinign restaurants.

Aninye worked at the popular Somerville restaurant Journeyman, located in Union Square, until September.

"We think that fine dining deserves a makeover," he said."We want to bring it to a crowd of people who aren't used to it."

For example, Aninye explained the "Spagetti-O."

Aninye said he's taking a classic Italian ravioli dish and creating a large ravioli with a hole in the middle, garnished with fried garlic, parmesan foam and fried basil.

"We're turning childhood memories into fine dining dishes," he said.

M.A.D. City Chef Harvard Aninye / Photo by Dana Forsythe

Dave Barlam owns the Mass Ave. Diner with his wife Caroline and mother. Barlam said he's run the Central Square diner for 10 years, but after appying for a receiving a beer and wine license, he wanted to do something new.

"We got Harvard who's one of the best chefs in Boston and we decided to take a leap," he said. "Running two restaurants is a tough concept but we're confident in what we're offering."

Barlam said the restaurant will focus on small plates and entrees for dinner in the vein of tapas.

"The menu is loaded with puns, like the Pear-Miso desert made with miso ice cream and honey butter cake and the Jalapina Colada, a scallop plate Harvard's dreamed up," he said. "I would eat everything on this menu."

The opening night menu at M.A.D. City restaurant in Central Square, Cambridge. / Photo by Dana Forsythe

Barlow said the Mass. Ave Diner will run as it always has, from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. everyday. M.A.D. City would open around 3 p.m., hosting a "Tea Time" with small finger sandwiches until 5 p.m., when the full menu would kick in.

M.A.D. City will open from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. every Wednesday through Sunday night, he said.

M.A.D. City General Manager Calvertt 'Justin' Aninye started at the restaurant last month alongside his brother, but he's been coming to the diner for over 10 years as a neighborhood regular.

"It's been a successful diner for years but they wanted to try something new," he said. "My brother and I have always been playful with food. We've thought about this for a while, in particular giving people who have been left out of fine dining a comfortable place to get quality service and food."

Photos by Dana Forsythe

Top: M.A.D. City Chef Harvard Aninye (center) and his crew including General Manager Calvertt 'Justin' Aninye and Sous Chef Julianna Wright.

For more information, visit the Mass. Ave. Diner online.