Rapscallion- Acton, MA

My one and only request to my parents when I came home for the holidays was to go to Acton. Not to Lexington, not Concord, Acton. Why you may ask? We’re going back to Table and Tap.

For those of you who may not have seen my previous post about Rapscallion should go read it now. It will help you better understand why this place is so incredible. Aside from the fact that the restaurant is housed in a farmhouse from the 1700s and that they make and serve their own beer, the food is out of this world and the staff is like family. 

The hospitality level at Rapscallion is truly amazing. They take care of you and make your dining experience special. They don’t just take your order and go on with their day, they talk to you and engage in conversation. They always make sure you have a drink and check in to make sure you’re enjoying your time, and not just by your one waiter/waitress. Several people, including  co-owner Peter Daniel, took the time to make sure our dining experience was memorable. This is one of the many reasons we go back to Rapscallion and recommend it to everyone. Peter and all of the wait staff are passionate about what they do and what they represent, that’s what sets Rapscallion above everywhere else. 

Along with the amazing service is the food! Everything coming from farm to table, from local farms, makes it much more special. I say we dive right in, I’ve got my crisp, light flagship Honey ale in front of me and ready to devour all the deliciousness. 

Now in my previous post I talked about the poutine, and it’s still a family favorite of ours, but we also decided to try the Fried Brussel Sprouts. Let me just say tasty. The brussel sprouts were cooked perfectly and the fry was spot on, it wasn’t heavy at all. It came with a maple cranberry aioli that only enhanced the vegetable. It was such a great combination of flavors and it didn’t take long for them to disappear. 

Now onto the main courses. Grab an Acton Ale and sit down because we have a Mac and cheese battle tonight readers! Lobster vs. Beef. 

First on judges table is the Pulled Beef Mac and cheese. What we have is Rapscallion’s Honey Ale BBQ beef, smoked white cheddar and  yellow cheddar with scallions and jalapeños topped with buttery breadcrumbs. I know, try to control yourself. It really was insane. The beef is on the sweeter side, due to their Honey ale braise, but this sweetness combined with the smoky savory cheeses was harmonious. The waitress had asked if I wanted extra jalapeños or the dish as it’s served and I should have asked for extra. There wasn’t a lot, which from a chefs perspective is smart because you don’t want to overpower the dish or the customers mouth. So, if you like spicy and are adventurous ask for extra jalapeños. The beef was tender and with the yellow and white cheddars the flavor combinations were delectable. 

Second up is the Lobster Mac and cheese. They are quite clever at Rapscallion, they took their lobster grilled cheese (love, read about it in my previous post!) and turned it into a more hearty choice. A great move because the reason we were first drawn here from the start was because of that menu item! I almost started crying again. Thanks to Table and Tap fontina and lobster is my new favorite combo. With that being said, this item has lobster cream as its base and herbed cream cheese in there too, and of course topped with breadcrumbs. They must have made their own lobster stock because the lobster cream enhanced the lobster flavor and it came across when you tasted the cream by itself. The cheese blend was out of this world and there were chunks of lobster throughout. I couldn’t stop eating it, it was like the grilled cheese, “I never wanted the taste to leave my mouth.”

Shall I reveal my favorite Mac and cheese now? Let’s keep reading to find out because we had to have dessert too! Rapscallion is probably the only restaurant I’ll get dessert from because I know it’s that good. Just like their dinner menu, the desserts are all homemade. We had trouble deciding what to get so we asked our sweet waitress her opinion, “chocolate mousse hands down” she said. “It’s a recipe that was left from the previous restaurant and we’re happy they left it with us.” Chocolate mousse it was then. And oh my gosh if you could take fudge and make it into a soft mousse this is it. It didn’t seem possible, it was so chocolatey and rich like fudge, but it wasn’t dense, it was light! Thank goodness for the previous restaurant and for chef Ian Michaud and sous chef Ryan Flisher for perfecting it.

Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten while my mouth’s been watering. It’s time to reveal my favorite Mac and cheese! I’m sure you could guess, but hands down Lobster wins. Trust me you should get both and share with the family, but it was creamier and just that much more flavorful. 

At the end of the meal Peter Daniel came by again to thank us and talk to us, he seemed to recognize my parents from the many times they’ve been. Even if he didn’t he was incredibly gracious and eager to share his passion for Rapscallion Brewery (located in Sturbridge, MA) and Table and Tap. Once I came up with the courage to tell him about my extracurricular activity of blogging, he was curious and wanted to know more about it! He said the staff loves hearing good feedback and I know from day job it’s the best feeling, too. It was really cool, me being a quiet blogger, to have an owner curious about my blog and getting the opportunity to talk about food with him! 

So to everyone and the Daniel brothers at Rapscallion thank you, you’ve done it again. I can’t wait for March when I’ll be back in New England again, because Rapscallion Table and Tap will be the first thing on my to do list. I hope some readers take my advice and head up to Acton to experience the wonderful hospitality of the Rapscallion family.

Rapscallion- Acton, MA

This is the story of how I found my last meal. Last meal referring to ones final meal before departing Earth. People sometimes talk and joke about this after a meal they have, saying they will return to have that meal. I will tell you now that that meal could not compare to the food of Rapscallion.

It’s a restaurant that just pops up when you search “nearby restaurants” on Google. You drive up to the house, built in the 1700s, and it’s quaint and New England-esque. The smell from the smoker is most inviting, especially after a long day of furniture shopping. A lovely outdoor seating area is enticing, being in nature and looking out across the street into a green forest. The inside is rustic, the bar completely full of who appear to be “usuals”. Little rooms in the house divide the dining areas, lending an intimate setting with only a few other tables along with yours. 

The atmosphere is incredible, with amazing background music of Southern rock and a vintage homie feel. The staff is excited to serve you the astounding creations of Chef Ian Michaud (read his bio located towards the bottom of the attached link). They are equally as excited to serve you the beer of the Rapscallion brewery, located in Sturbridge, MA. The model of the brewery and restaurant are liberating: “Rapscallion is a MA-only microbrewery that puts freshness, quality and consistency above all else, honoring the craft, the Rapscallion customer and the communities we call home.” This home is where I intend to not only have, but share my last meal. 

Because all the beers not only sound delicious, but are also brewed by these guys, we wanted to try a couple before picking just one. We got a flight of four, left to right: Honey, Lager, Blonde, and White IPA. My favorites were probably their flagship, the Honey, and the White IPA. From the photo you can tell how different they are. The Honey was crisp, light and refreshing. The IPA is cloudy and almost looks like orange juice, but the hops were equally as refreshing and ended up being my favorite.

The menu has such an array of foods, from BBQ out of the smoker to chickpea fritters. One appetizer that caught our eye was the poutine. Poutine is a French Canadian dish that is French fries in gravy sauce with cheese curds. What caught our eye about this poutine was the use of their Black IPA. Let me just say that I want that gravy on everything. It was tangy and luscious, it took all the class not to drink the remains out of the dish. They use cheddar cheese curds, which isn’t common for poutine, but it was a light cheddar and worked perfectly with the IPA glaze. Other notable appetizers are the mussels, cooked similarly to cataplana style, and the chickpea fritters which were cooked perfectly and sat on a bed of smoked tomato sauce from the smoker.

The entree that practically brought me to tears upon the first bite and is, what I have decided to be, the best meal I have ever had is the Lobster Grilled Cheese. It is exactly what it sounds like: “fresh shucked lobster, herbed cream cheese, fontina, baby spinach on toasted sourdough with a cup of lobster bisque”. Let’s just start with the first bite, heavenly. The cheeses were light and there was just a perfect balance of both that it didn’t overwhelm the lobster meat. The herbs and spinach, which you don’t typically put with lobster, worked harmoniously with the meat . And this was all in the first bite. I tried so very hard to savor each bite and not just gobble it down. I knew that I wanted this to be my final bite of the meal, so I started on the sides. The pickled vegetables were delicious, especially pickled asparagus. They weren’t extremely vinegar tasting, adding a refreshing bite to the meal. The bisque was sublime, so thin and full of lobster flavor. I think the best bisque I’ve ever had. However, I never wanted the taste of the grilled cheese to leave my mouth, I kept saying that I wouldn’t eat again so as not to lose it.

We asked the waiter about the meal and once he informed us that everything was made from scratch and the ingredients were all local, we had to ask about dessert. Those, too, were made from scratch. We had to keep this spectacular meal going and after the waiter relayed the dessert menu, which consisted of an IPA crusted chocolate cheesecake, we went with a Massachusite choice of blueberry crisp. As we ate lunch everything certainly tasted homemade, from scratch, and local, but this crisp was all of that and more. You could tell that they had just made the crisp to order. The blueberries were so plump and full of flavor you wondered whose farm they came from. The fresh apples in the crisp were also mouth watering and whole walnuts added an amazing crunch. The crisp topping was divine and the ice cream tasted like home.

Just writing this post makes my eyes and mouth water, causing me to contemplate getting in the car and going a mere two days later. This is a top notch restaurant, and if it wasn’t for the drum shop we had to stop at down the road, if we hadn’t searched for nearby restaurants, if we hadn’t given the colonial house a chance, we never would have had the best meal of our lives. All this in Acton, just 40 minutes from Boston. If anyone from Rapscallion who may come across this amateur blog, thank you for honestly the best American meal of my life. To those reading this, make the trip.