Better Half

For nearly three years, Christina and Zach Meloy (who met in Costa Rica, Christina’s home country) served weekly dinners at their PushStart Kitchen supper club, first out of a basement studio in the Goat Farm Arts Center and then out of their own loft. With the help of a Kickstarter funding campaign (they raised $71,950, exceeding their $50,000 goal), the couple opened a permanent restaurant space in the Home Park building previously occupied by Kool Korner Groceries. The pace of meals is still getting up to speed, but Zach turns out some meticulous compositions—often inflected with Latin American ingredients—that can taste as stunning as they look. The menu is concise, offering four or five nightly changing choices among appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Zach is always tinkering. One night an oozy, slow-cooked egg was perched over leek jam, paired with a dollop of romesco sauce, and dotted with roasted garlic cloves and rounds of crisp masa dough that served as de facto croutons. A week later, the same egg preparation was arranged over pearl-shaped pasta with fennel jam and bacony lardons. Both impressed.