Highland Kitchen's Owner Reflects on Restaurant's First 6 Years

For many people, Highland Kitchen is one of the best things about Somerville.

The unassuming neighborhood restaurant regularly wins "best of" awards from from the local press—Boston Magazine, Improper Bostonian, the Boston Globe, the Boston Phoenix, may it rest in peace, and even the venerable Somerville Patch—and from national outlets, like Zagat.

Stop by on a weeknight, and it's packed. On Sundays, folks line up for brunch.

We sat down briefly with Highland Kitchen's chef and owner, Mark Romano, to talk about the restaurant, which celebrates its birthday this December.

Somerville Patch: How long has Highland Kitchen been here?

Mark Romano: "We've been here since December of '07, so this is our sixth year … coming up this Christmas, roughly, will be our sixth year."

Somerville Patch: Why did you chose this location?

Mark Romano: "I worked in Cambridge for years, a little bit in Boston but mostly Cambridge, and my wife wanted to open up a place, and we preferred this side of the river ... There's a lot of empty restaurants, but they're not all good. Some are more risky than others. Some you need to take on an investor, and we were really looking to do it with our own money. So this was on the market for a while, and it just worked out. We kind of took a chance. No one really wanted it. It was on the market for a while. We thought it would be a good spot for Spring Hill. What we wanted was a good neighborhood spot, and it's become a destination spot as well, so, so far it's worked out."

Somerville Patch: What was here before?

Mark Romano: "For years and years and years it was Virgie's Rendezvous. If you talk to any old Somerville residents or anyone who grew up in Somerville, they'll know Virgie's Rendezvous … for years and years it was kind of your old neighborhood bar and Italian restaurant, and then they sold it. It was a place called Devlin's for a couple of years … and they sold it to these guys who I bought it from. And they were called Madison's on the Ave … they kind of re-did it. They put in new bathrooms, and they kind of changed the layout."

Somerville Patch: Since opening in 2007, do you think this area has changed at all?

Mark Romano: "Yeah, I think it has. It's changed as far as, there's more restaurants coming in. On the real estate end, it seems like more people are moving in who can't afford Cambridge."

Somerville Patch: Do you feel you're part of that change?

Mark Romano: "I guess. We were here, and we kind of opened up without fanfare. We opened the doors and kind of let the place become itself without any PR. I think I sent out one press release when I got the liquor license. We kind of opened and let it grow organically. And what we're happy about most is the neighborhood really loved it. It became a place to go get a nice drink and a meal, but still keep it comfortable and casual enough that everybody's welcome. People who [went to] Virgie's, they still come in here and feel comfortable."

Somerville Patch: If someone asked you how to describe your food, how would you describe it?

Mark Romano: "I call it seasonal American comfort food. Our regular menu, we change a few things four times a year. We've got a bunch of stuff that people love and it's kind of hard to take off [the menu]. There would be a rebellion. The burger, the brussels sprouts. I can't believe I'm serving brussels sprouts in the summer, but that's the way it is. And then we have our blackboard nightly specials, where we do two entrees, two appetizers, always a grilled fish. We do a raw bar, a vegetarian soup, sometimes a dessert, we do drink specials, and that's our ultra seasonal stuff. So me and the chefs, there's a lot of freedom to do whatever they want. But as far as the style goes I call it American because it's a mix. There's Southern stuff, there's some Caribbean stuff, there's some Italian stuff. We call it eclectic I guess. But I just call it American ...

"... Because we do have some Southern stuff on there, we do a Southern themed brunch, and we do kind of get pigeonholed as a Southern restaurant, too, which is fine. I never intended to open up a Southern restaurant. But that's fine. We won Best of Boston this year for Best Southern Restaurant."

Somerville Patch: You've received a lot of awards. How does that make you feel?

Mark Romano: "It feels great. I'm proud. I'm proud of the staff. We've got regular customers. We've got a loyal fan base, if you want to call it that, that writes nice things about us. I guess that's how you win those awards, right? To have a lot of people who like your restaurant, you've got to be proud of that ...

"... We keep trying to make it better, you know. It's a lot of pressure now. Brunch: People are waiting in line to get in. You feel like you have to deliver. I feel bad, people waiting. You know there's a lot of anticipation for getting a great meal and great service."

Somerville Patch: Do you have any plans to open up Saturday brunch?

Mark Romano: "We tried to do that when we first opened. And it just didn't work ... It's kind of weird to say, but we were just too busy on Friday and Saturday night, and we have a small kitchen. We couldn't get ready for Saturday night. We couldn't do a big service on Friday night, turn around, try to prep for Saturday night and then Sunday brunch, and then do it while we're doing brunch on Saturday. We just don't have the space to do it."

Somerville Patch: Do you have any thoughts about opening a new place?

Mark Romano: "I kind of dabbled here or there, you know. I think it would have to be a good fit, the right situation. I don't want to do it just to do it. I used to work with a guy … [who said] when you have one restaurant you want two, when you have two you want one. You really have to be ready to do it. It's like having a kid. Opening a restaurant is a lot of work if you do it right."

Somerville Patch: Do you have a favorite cocktail here?

Mark Romano: "I don't really drink cocktails. Beer. I'd say our margaritas are probably the best in town. For a place that serves our kind of food you might not think of that, but the bartenders do a really great job here and make them super fresh."

Somerville Patch: Do you think there are any ways the city of Somerville could make life easier for small businesses?

Mark Romano: "I think they're pretty good. They're doing a good job of brining in a lot of new businesses. We had a great experience. I haven't really analyzed it. I think they do a great job, and I think you see that by all the new stuff that's happening. Not just restaurants, but there are other shops opening up, just on Highland Ave. since we've opened up … it's a long stretch, but there are pockets of activity."