Thank You, Highland Kitchen

Five years since it opened, Highland Kitchen, in Somerville, is still a wonderful neighborhood restaurant. In fact, it might be my favorite restaurant in town. It includes a number of the culinary trends popular in restaurants during the same time span -- local ingredients, somewhat Southern comfort food, carefully considered mixed drinks -- but without any of the shtick that so many restaurants have. The ambience is so pleasingly free of pretense. When I was there most recently for dinner, two weekends ago about 6:30, the crowd went from a surprising number of young children to older couples to younger hipster couples to neighborhood residents quite easily -- and they played "Being There" as background music. Few restaurants succeed so effortlessly.

For some reason, my wife and I ordered two servings of their buffalo brussels sprouts appetizer. At first blush, this is a pretty gross dish, but it's actually quite satisfying: Sometimes, spicy buffalo sauce hits the spot and this version delivers it without having to eat subpar chicken at the end; instead, you get brussels sprouts, which are always a winner. It's also remarkably heavy. Then again, I'm traveling to New Orleans in two days, where the food makes buffalo brussels sprouts seem positively airy.